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Books in Do It Yourself series

  • Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions: You Can Build Yourself

    Maxine Anderson

    Paperback (Nomad Press, Jan. 1, 2006)
    Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself introduces readers to the life, world, and incredible mind of Leonardo da Vinci through hands-on building projects that explore his invention ideas. Most of Leonardo's inventions were never made in his lifetime—they remained sketches in his famous notebooks. Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself shows you how to bring these ideas to life using common household supplies. Detailed step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and templates for creating each project combine with historical facts and anecdotes, biographies and trivia about the real-life models for each project. Together they give kids a first-hand look intothe amazing mind of one the world’s greatest inventors.
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  • Simple Machines: Forces in Action

    Buffy Silverman, Megan Cotugno

    Paperback (Heinemann, Aug. 1, 2016)
    -How did the Ancient Egyptians build the pyramids? -What is an Archimedes’ screw? -Which wedge do you use every time you eat? Do It Yourself offers an exciting new approach to understanding and investigation. Each book helps you conduct your own experiments and activities to learn more about the world around you.
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  • Tools of the Ancient Greeks: A Kid's Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Greece

    Kris Bordessa

    Paperback (Nomad Press, March 1, 2006)
    Tools of the Ancient Greeks: A Kid’s Guide to the History and Science of Life in Ancient Greece explores the scientific discoveries, athletic innovations, engineering marvels, and innovative ideas created more than two thousand years ago. Through biographical sidebars, interesting facts, fascinating anecdotes, and fifteen hands-on activities, readers will learn how Greek innovations and ideas have shaped world history and our own world view.
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  • Great Medieval Projects: You Can Build Yourself

    Kris Bordessa, Shawn Braley

    Paperback (Nomad Press, Sept. 1, 2008)
    Great Medieval Projects You Can Build Yourself brings the Middle Ages in Europe alive through hands-on activities for kids ages 9-12. Addressing various aspects of medieval life, this book provides historically accurate details of the period leading up to the Renaissance. From monastic life to castle living, villages to towns, each section offers a glimpse into the daily existence of the people who lived in medieval Europe. Sidebars and fun trivia break up the text. Readers will expand their knowledge of this era beyond knights, fair maidens, and castles as they learn about siege warfare, life in a medieval village, medieval clothing, markets and fairs, the Plague, medieval medicine, and the Crusades.
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  • Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering with 25 Projects

    Donna Latham, Jenn Vaughn

    Paperback (Nomad Press, May 12, 2012)
    Bridges and tunnels are lifelinesPeople have tackled seemingly insurmountable obstacles, including vast canyons and mountain ranges, to design and construct these amazing passageways. Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering invites children ages 9 and up to explore the innovation and physical science behind structures our world depends on.Trivia and fun facts illustrate engineering ingenuity and achievements. Activities and projects encourage children to learn about the engineering process and to embrace trial and error. Children will engage in a hands-on exploration of Newton’s Third Law of Motion and of forces that push and pull on structures. They'll make an egg bungee jump and a soda pop can engine. They'll experiment with a triangular toothpick dome, liquefaction, and corrosion. In Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering, children will explore their own engineering and building skills as they create several bridge models.
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  • Seven Wonders of the World: Discover Amazing Monuments to Civilization with 20 Projects

    Carmella Van Vleet, Farah Rizvi

    Paperback (Nomad Press, April 1, 2011)
    Over 2,000 years ago, ancient Greek scholars named seven of the most wondrous monuments to civilization, including the Pyramids of Egypt and Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Through the centuries these treasures were known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Because all but the Egyptian pyramids have been lost to the ravages of time, a new list of seven wonders was established in 2007. These monuments, including Machu Picchu in Peru and the Great Wall of China, symbolize the creativity and ingenuity of human civilization.Seven Wonders of the World introduces kids ages 9–12 to the seven wonders on the original list and the seven wonders on the new list. Learning about these icons of world culture offers opportunities to discover amazing civilizations, technological innovations, and our shared world heritage. Sidebars, fun trivia, and entertaining illustrations break up the text, making it easily accessible and engaging, while hands-on projects encourage active learning
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  • Great Ancient Egypt Projects: You Can Build Yourself

    Carmella Van Vleet

    Paperback (Nomad Press, Nov. 1, 2006)
    From reed boats, papyrus, and amulets, to pyramids, pharaohs, and mummies, Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself explores the fascinating lives of ancient Egyptians through more than25 hands-on building projects and activities. Great Ancient Egypt Projects You Can Build Yourself gives readers today a chance to experience how the ancient Egyptians lived, cooked, worked, worshipped, entertained themselves, and interacted with their neighbors through building projects that use common household supplies.Detailed step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and templates for creating each project are combined with historical facts and anecdotes, biographies, and trivia for the real-life models of each project. Together they give kids a first-hand look at daily life in ancient Egypt.
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  • Robotics: DISCOVER THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF THE FUTURE with 20 PROJECTS

    Kathy Ceceri, Sam Carbaugh

    Paperback (Nomad Press, Aug. 1, 2012)
    ***THERE IS A NEWER EDITION OF THIS BOOK! For 2019, Nomad Press has re-issued this book under the title BOTS! There's up-to-date content and new and improved projects! Check it out at amzn.to/2PS6Afh***Named to the 2012 Chicago Public Library's "Best of the Best" Reading List for Informational Books for Older Readers, Robotics: Discover the Science and Technology of the Future is a fun and educational introduction to the exciting field of designing, building, and operating robots. Along with background material and clear explanations of how robots work, Robotics features step-by-step instructions for building real robot models using ordinary craft materials and parts salvaged from recycled toys and other household devices. Budding roboticists will learn how to create working robot hands, hydraulic arms, sensors, solar-powered robots, light-seeking robots and more. A great way to get kids interested in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math), the activities encourage kids to use all their talents to come up with creative solutions to tricky problems and figure out how things work.
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  • Innovators: The Stories Behind the People Who Shaped the World With 25 Projects

    Marcia Amidon Lusted, Tom Casteel

    Paperback (Nomad Press, July 11, 2017)
    Most people have heard of Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg, but how about Daniel Hale Williams, Mae Jemison, and Mary Anderson? The world owes a lot to the unsung heroes of innovation, people who used their ideas to make the world a better place through advances in health, technology, food science, and discovery! In Innovators: The Stories Behind the People Who Shaped the World, readers ages 9 to 12 learn about many inventions, products, processes, and improvements people have made to create the reality in which we live.For example, in 1938, Ruth Wakefield added bits of chocolate to her cookies and invented Toll House chocolate chip cookies. In 2012, at the age of just 15, Jack Andraka developed a speedy and cheap method to detect pancreatic cancer. Being innovative means thinking creatively and critically to solve problems and find improvements―all it takes is an open mind, curiosity, and a desire to come up with ideas! Hands-on activities use the engineering design process and include creating a homemade version of Silly Putty and figuring out how to make a solar-powered oven. Links to primary sources, videos, and relevant websites offer a digital experience for deeper, independent learning and inspiration.Nomad Press books in the Build It Yourself series integrate content with participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad’s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.
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  • Great Colonial America Projects: You Can Build Yourself

    Kris Bordessa

    Paperback (Nomad Press, July 1, 2006)
    Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself introduces readers ages 9–12 to colonial America through hands-on building projects. From dyeing and spinning yarn to weaving cloth, from creating tin plates and lanterns to learning wattle and daub construction. Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself gives readers a chance to experience how colonial Americans lived, cooked, entertained themselves, and interacted with their neighbors.
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  • Tools of the Ancient Romans: A Kid's Guide to the History & Science of Life in Ancient Rome

    Rachel Dickinson

    Paperback (Nomad Press, Jan. 1, 2006)
    Tools of the Ancient Greeks: A Kid’s Guide to the History and Science of Life in Ancient Greece explores the scientific discoveries, athletic innovations, engineering marvels, and innovative ideas created more than two thousand years ago. Through biographical sidebars, interesting facts, fascinating anecdotes, and fifteen hands-on activities, readers will learn how Greek innovations and ideas have shaped world history and our own world view.
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  • Bots! Robotics Engineering: with Hands-On Makerspace Activities

    Kathy Ceceri, Lena Chandhok

    Paperback (Nomad Press, Oct. 8, 2019)
    Robots are everywhere! They vacuum our houses, work in our factories, help us learn at school, and play with us at home. They sample rocks from other planets, survey disaster zones from the air, and bring back images from the bottom of the ocean. Explore the roles robots play in our world and learn about the history, engineering, and key players from STEAM education expert Kathy Ceceri. Bots! Robotics Engineering with Makerspace Activities for Kids contains loads of hands-on robotics projects that help kids learn design, engineering, and coding. Find out what the future of robotics may bring, and how to develop your own innovative robots!In Bots! Robotics Engineering with Makerspace Activities for Kids, you'll learn the how, why, and who behind the robots we have today. Explore the history of robots and artificial intelligence and read about important innovators such as Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage, Nikola Tesla, Alan Turing, Dean Kamen, and Cynthia Breazeal -- along with kids who are making their own mark in the world of robotics!Use the Design Thinking Process as you create projects such as a hydraulic robot arm, an ArtBot with a programmable body, a Solar Powered Wobblebot made from recycled parts, and a gravity-powered mini robot walker.Learn coding basics through pen-and-paper activities and explore free online programming languages such as MIT's Scratch and Microsoft's MakeCode. You can even discover how hardware and software interact by coding your own recycled robot!Essential questions, links to online primary resources, fascinating facts and brief sidebars help readers learn the basics of robotics while exploring their creativity as they design and build their own robots and robotic components.About the Build It Engineering set and Nomad PressBots! is part of a set of two Build It Engineering books that explore the engineering technology behind our daily lives. The other title in this series is Crazy Contraptions: Build Machines that Swoop, Spin, Stack, and Swivel with Engineering Activities for Kids. Nomad Press books in the Build It series integrate content with participation. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad's unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers. All books are leveled for Guided Reading level and Lexile and align with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. All titles are available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats.
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