CliffsNotes Parent's Crash Course Elementary School Science Fair Projects (Cliffsnotes Literature Guides) [Paperback]

Faith Hickman Brynie (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cliffsnotes Literature Guides

When the science project is due, this book comes to the rescue

With the trend toward hands-on learning, millions of elementary students have to do science projects. Typically, they mention this to their parents the night before the project is due. This book helps busy parents help their children create last-minute science projects using materials commonly found around the house. It features chapter breakouts grouped by science project subject, two-page spreads devoted to specific science projects, and factoids to get kids interested in the subject. Parents can quickly pick an appropriate project and spur their future scientists toward success!

Faith Hickman Brynie (Bigfork, MT) is a writer specializing in science and health; she holds a PhD in science education, curriculum, and instruction and is a frequent writer for the children’s science magazine Odyssey, as well as the editor of various elementary school science textbooks.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A Parent's Stress-free Guide to Last-minute Science Projects

"But it's due by Friday!"

Investigating the effect of that familiar phrase on a parent's mood and blood pressure might make a good science project, but you probably already know the results. With CliffsNotes Parent's Crash Course: Elementary School Science Fair Projects, you can turn science-project panic time into constructive time with your child. When the project is due, this book comes to the rescue!

Choose from ideas and directions for 60 different projects in 12 categories:

• Physical changes
• Chemistry
• Forces and motion
• Heat
• Light
• Sound
• Electricity
• Magnets
• Soil, rocks, and minerals
• Microscopic life
• Plants
• Behavior

• Each project idea includes the discussion/investigation question, a list of supplies needed, step-by-step instructions, tips and tricks, and more.
• Each project features three variations: Go Easy (a simpler version for younger kids), Go (a complete project), and Go Far (a more in-depth or advanced examination of the question).
• Projects range from How much fat is in potato chips? and How reliable are eyewitness reports? to Does the sun's angle affect the output of a solar cell? and Will a ball bounce higher if dropped from a greater height?; there's a project to interest any budding young scientist (and his or her parents).
• Additional information helps kids create displays, present their results, and more.

About the Author

Faith Hickman Brynie is a writer specializing in science and health; she holds a Ph.D. in Science Education, Curriculum, and Instruction from the University of Colorado. She is a frequent writer for the children's science magazine Odyssey as well as the editor of various elementary school science textbooks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Cliffs Notes; 1 edition (September 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764599348
• ISBN-13: 978-0764599347
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #282,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Faith Brynie started getting lots of letters from enthusiastic readers when her 2009 book Brain Sense (Amacom) was released. "It only took me 18 years and 24 books to become an overnight sensation!" she says.

Brynie, who's been working steadily as a science and health writer since 1991, has written numerous books for children, teens, and adults. Her 101 Questions... series (Twenty-First Century Books) is a staple on the shelves of high school and public libraries. Her Six-Minute Science Experiments and Six-Minute Nature Experiments (Sterling) have been sending children to their kitchens and their backyards for hands-on science activities for more than a decade. Her Painless Science Projects (Barron's) and her Parent's Crash Course: Elementary Science Fair Projects (Wiley) are classics on the science fair circuit. And she even has a new series of animal books for early readers coming out from Enslow in 2010. Several of her books have won "Best of the Year" honors from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and she's received accolades from the International Reading Association and the National Science Teachers Association. But Brain Sense is the first book to "make it big" in the bookstores.

Brynie, a former science teacher who holds a PhD from the University of Colorado, is diverse in her interests and the writing she puts out. She writes and edits for textbook companies, science and health newsletters and magazines, film companies and television, and private clients who employ her for everything from travel writing to novel critiques. "I write. That's what I do," Brynie says, so the flurry of positive responses that Brain Sense has generated has come as a happy surprise. "I tell some wonderful stories about some wonderful people in Brain Sense," she says. "It's their stories that make the book." Read more of them at Brynie's Psychology Today blog, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-sense. Visit Brynie's web site at http://home.centurytel.net/brynie.