Books in Science in Action series

Using everything from electric motors, balloons, and gears to water jets, steam, chemical reactions, and even gravity, this clever handbook offers a variety of choices for propelling homemade vessels across a pool. Through step-by-step instructions with clear photos, kids will learn how to build more than 20 different model boats for traveling above water and several different submarine projects for traveling below the surface. In addition to the boatbuilding activities included within, young naval architects will find instructions for building an “ocean” to test the boats and a variety of accessories, including four different water pumps, a waterproof battery and motor case, and a working foghorn. Most of the watercrafts are built from recycled and easy-to-find materials, but an appendix also lists local and online sources for wire, plastic propellers, small motors, and more. Do-it-yourselfers and kids with an interest in how things work will find hours of educational entertainment in the projects offered within.

In this engaging title, young readers learn about different forms of energy! Different forms of energy such a potential and kinetic are explained, as are gravity, acceleration, velocity, g-forces, and centripetal force. These properties are illustrated by the design and operation of roller coasters. Colorful infographics make joules and shifting energy easily accessible, and prominent contributors such as LaMarcus Thompson are featured. A fun experiment with potential and kinetic energy brings the science of energy to life! Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Checkerboard Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

In this engaging title, young readers learn about the form of energy that is sound! Sound waves and their wavelengths are discussed, as are the vibrations of molecules, acoustics, and how the ear interprets sound. These properties are illustrated by the making and hearing of music. Colorful infographics make decibels, amplitude, frequency, and ear anatomy easily accessible, and prominent contributors such as Ludwig van Beethoven are featured. A fun experiment with vibrations brings the science of sound to life! Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Checkerboard Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

In this engaging title, young readers learn how visible light is the key to color! Discover how light begins with the sun and travels to Earth on electromagnetic waves, how white light actually holds the whole color spectrum, and how the eye perceives color. These properties are illustrated by the mixing of paints and pixels. Colorful infographics make the electromagnetic spectrum, wavelength, and eye anatomy easily accessible, and prominent contributors such as Sir Isaac Newton and Russell Kirsch are featured. A fun experiment with light and water brings the science of color to life! Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Checkerboard Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

2012 Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award Winner in Technology Category Calling all future Amelia Earharts and Chuck Yeagers—there’s more than one way to get off the ground! The Flying Machine Book will show you how to construct 35 easy-to-build and fun-to-fly contraptions that can be used indoors or out. Better still, each of these rockets, gliders, boomerangs, launchers, and helicopters can be made for little or no cost using recycled materials. Rubber bands, paper clips, straws, plastic bottles, and index cards can all be transformed into amazing, gravity-defying flyers, from Bottle Rockets to Grape Bazookas, Plastic Zippers to Maple Key Helicopters.Each project contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos, as well as an explanation of the science behind the flyer. Use this information to modify and improve your designs, or explain to your teacher why throwing a paper airplane is a mini science lesson.

In this engaging title, young readers learn how temperature works! Different temperature scales are explained, as is temperature's effect on molecules and different states of matter. These properties are illustrated by the creation, movement, and melting of glaciers. Ice ages and global warming are included, as are their effects on the delicate temperature balance of Earth. Colorful infographics make atoms, atomic structure, how the sun heats Earth, and the greenhouse effect easily accessible, and prominent contributors such as Robert Brown and Daniel Fahrenheit are featured. A fun experiment with ice brings the science of temperature to life! Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Checkerboard Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

In this engaging title, young readers learn about the different states of matter! Atoms and molecules are explained, as are elements and the periodic table. The three main states of matter solid, liquid, gas are covered, as are the properties of each and the role of energy in their changing from one form to another. These properties are illustrated by the birth and collapse of stars. The rare states of matter plasma and Bose-Einstein condensate are introduced. Colorful infographics make measuring matter, the parts of an atom, the movement of atoms and the layers of Earth's atmosphere easily accessible, and prominent contributors such as Satyendra Nath Bose and Albert Einstein are featured. A fun experiment with gas brings the science of matter to life! Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Checkerboard Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

When it comes to lightweight avionics, there’s no beating a paper boomerang. Let all the others chase after their dull folded airplanes--you can now build a flying device that comes right back to you, every time! And unlike expensive, heavy wooden boomerangs, you won’t endanger windows and skulls with paper boomerangs. The Paper Boomerang Book is the first-of-its-kind guide to this fascinating toy. Expert Mark Latno not only tells you how to build, perfect, and troubleshoot your paper boomerang, but about the 20,000-year history of the device, including Egyptian throwing sticks found in pharaoh's tombs, and the physics behind their circuitous flights. And once you’ve mastered the basic throw, return, and catch, it’s on to more impressive tricks--the Behind-the-Back Toss, the Boomerang Juggle, the Under-the-Leg Catch, and the dreaded Double-Handed, Backward, Double-Boomerang Throw. For those who don’t have the luxury of the wide-open outback on a clear Australian day, author Latno includes plans for Little Dragons, miniature versions of the paper boomerang that can be used indoors in almost any sized room, rain or shine.

Drones, RC cars, artificial limbs, Roombas—the robots have arrived! Don’t you want your own? Author and physics teacher Bobby Mercer will show you how to turn common household objects and repurposed materials into 20 easy-to-build robots for little or no cost. Turn a toothbrush, an old cell phone or pager, and scrap wire into a Brush Bot, or hack a toy car to hotwire a Not-So-Remote Bot. A small electric fan, several craft sticks, and rubber bands make a Fan-Tastic Dancing Machine, and drinking straws, string, tape, and glue can be used to construct a working model of the human hand. Every hands-on project contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos for easy assembly. Mercer also explains the science and technology behind each robot, including concepts such as friction, weight and mass, center of gravity, kinetic and potential energy, electric circuitry, DC vs. AC current, and more. These projects are also perfect for science fairs or design competitions.

You may not be old enough to drive, but that doesn’t mean you can’t satisfy your need for speed. Author and physics teacher Bobby Mercer shows how to use mousetraps, rubber bands, chemical reactions, gravity, and air pressure to power fast-moving vehicles. Each of the 25 easy-to-build racecars is constructed for little or no cost using recycled and repurposed materials. Retrofit a toy car with a model plane propeller to make an air-powered Prop Car. Turn a potato chip can, a rubber band, and weights into a Chip-Can Dancer. Or use an effervescent tablet in a small canister as an impressive rocket engine for a Mini Pop Car. Every project in The Racecar Book contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos for easy assembly. Mercer also includes explanations of the science behind each racecar, including concepts such as friction, Newton’s laws of motion, kinetic and potential energy, and more. These projects are perfect for science fairs or design competitions, or just having fun!