Customer Reviews

Amazing Kitchen Chemistry Projects You Can Build Yourself

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This tidy kid-friendly book has 122 pages crammed with activities and information on chemistry as well as support material in each chapter focused onWords to Know, Did You Know? and What's Happening? as well as a brief list of Supplies and boldly numbered steps of how to do each project. Featured projects (they do not call them experiments) include Make Your Own Buckyball; Make a Model of a Water Molecule; Separate Leaves and Dirt; Make a Chroma-Color Bookmark; Extract Iron from Cold Cereal; Make an AlkaSeltzer Rocket; Make Rusty Shapes; Clean Your Pennies; Make a Foamy Volcano; Make Eggs Lose Their Shells; Make Invisible Messages; Make Your Own Crystals; Make Rock Candy; Make a Candy-Glass House; Make a Wave Tank; Layering Liquids; Make an Octopus Diver; Put an Egg in a Bottle; Exploding Mentos; Swimming Raisins; Stretchy Taffy; Prove that Hot Water Freezes Faster Than Cold Water; Make Vanilla Ice Cream; Make Oobleck and Silly Putty. Lots of science information is mixed with the how-to of the projects and there is hardly a blank space on a page anywhere in the book. Lots of sidebars on related topics, small factoids that tie to the subject fill each chapter to the tippy top. There are 10 chapters: Atoms, Mixtures, Reactions, Acids/Bases, Solids, Liquids, Gases, Change of State, Polymers, Water as well as a glossary, index, extensive list of websites, and book resources. Most projects are safe enough for kids to do without too much adult supervision, and there is a great deal of information packed into this volume. The illustrations don't have kids in them, so it could even be used with adults. A very nicely done and reasonably priced collection.

Kitchen Chemistry is a terrific book of science activities. (Shhh! Don't call them "experiments"! That's a scary word.) I did most of them myself, as well as others, while I researched my own science activity books. Some books of science activities promise simple projects and realiable reactions, but this one really does deliver. And, as with all of Nomad Press's books, the text is well written, enlived with factual stories, and appropriate for the age group.

I purchased this book for my son Neal, who, I must admit, is not the biggest science fan. But when he got his hands on this book crammed with fun ideas and activities, his love for science blossomed!!!

Every day he tried another project and not only did he have a blast (no explosions were involved), he learned so much!

His favorite project was making ice cream--he made the whole family try it when we got together for the holidays and everyone loved it! He was so proud! I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves to learn or explore science, young or old, and even if science may not be your cup of tea, try it anyways! There is bound to be something everyone can enjoy from the Exploding Mentos project to Rock Candy.

Cynthia puts it all together--the supplies you need, interesting and insightful information about each project, and helpful illustrations!

This book was VERY basic. I bought it because I was teaching a chemistry class to 5th and 6th graders at a summer camp. I wanted to do a morning on Kitchen Chemistry but this book did not provide me with any good ideas. All of the labs they present are extremely simple and you could very easily find better ones for free on the internet.

This is a nice book for kids to do projects by themselves or with a parent, my son is 11 and we had fun finding projects to do on a sunday, rainny afternoon.

My son has always loved science, so we've gone through many books like this over the years. As a parent, I have to say this is my favorite one so far. Why? First, all the supplies and ingredients are already in my house or readily available. Yay! He can pick a project and we can DO it, rather than make a shopping list and get back to it when I've collected all the hard-to-find necessities. Second, the science concepts behind the projects and any specialized vocabulary words are explained in a clear, accessible way. Finally, the projects themselves as well as the layout, fun facts, sidebars, and illustrations, are just plain FUN!

Topics include atoms and molecules, mixtures, reactions, acids and bases, solids, liquids, gases, state changes, polymers, and water. Some of things you can make are a buckyball, a chroma-color bookmark, an Alka-Seltzer rocket, invisible messages, crystals, rock candy, a wave tank, a Mentos explosion, taffy, ice cream, oobleck, meringue cookies, paper, bubble solution, and more!

I think this is a book that young scientists, as well as their parents and teachers, will appreciate.

In the interests of "keeping it real," though, I have to share my son's one and only complaint: "It's not even in color!" With so much great stuff happening on every page, I honestly hadn't even noticed. He's very visual, so it was a big drawback for him. I don't know if other kids would be as sensitive, and I'm sure most adults will appreciate the cost savings.

This book also includes a table of contents, an introduction, a glossary, recommended resources, and index.

FAVORITE FUN FACT: On page 18, I learned that Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds was based on a real event! In 1961, birds started crashing into houses in the middle of the night in a coastal California town. People went out with flashlights to investigate, and the birds flew toward the lights and pecked at the people, who ran back inside for cover. The next day, they found the streets full of dead and confused birds. 26 years later, scientists finally discovered it was caused by a neurotoxin that can build up in sea creatures that eat a dangerous type of phytoplankton, and the birds-or people-that in turn eat those sea creatures! Who knew?

(Disclaimer: I received this copy for free directly from the publisher for review.)