Cool Chemistry: Great Experiments With Simple Stuff [Hardcover]

Steven W. Moje (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 1999 | Age Level: 9 and up

Build your own lab using ordinary items you can find right in your home. This hands-on beginner's chemistry book for kids ages 8-12 offers 71 fun, easy, and safe experiments. Make a coin bottle-burper. Blow a balloon into a bottle. Race a soap-propelled boat. Explode your own Vinegar Volcano. Send your friends secret messages with invisible inks, and amaze them with the mysterious multiplying pennies experiment. Black-and-white diagrams throughout show how. 96 pages, 100 b/w illus., 5 3/8 x 8 1/4. NEW IN PAPERBACK

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-These 48 activities are designed to stimulate understanding, knowledge, and appreciation of our ecosystem. They are organized into five chapters: "A Breath of Fresh Air," "Waterworks," "Earthborn," "All Fired Up," and "Our Fine Feathered (and Leafy) Friends." A two-page explanatory overview precedes each section. Activities include making a solar water heater, paper, a composter can, and natural cleansers. Each project has a list of supplies needed, step-by-step instructions, an explanation of what's going on, and "More ideas-" that offers additional things to do. Safety tips are included and the more dangerous procedures recommend adult assistance. Illustrations enhance the lively text, which can be used in the classroom or at home.

Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley College, Mt. Carmel, IL

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Grade 4-6-This text presents six categories of chemical experiments including "Physical Properties," "Liquids," and "Acids and Bases." Each one begins with a list of required materials (generally available in the home), followed by an explanation of "What to do" and "How it works," and some additional suggestions for activities. While the experiments are not difficult, the explanations can be a bit technical and rely on readers' understanding of the definitions provided in the first few pages. Simple black-and-white drawings complement the text. The book is similar in content to Janice VanCleave's Chemistry for Every Kid (Wiley, 1989); however, VanCleave's work has more experiments and a more appealing layout. Detailed experiments appropriate for science fairs can be found in Robert Gardner's Science Projects about Chemistry (Enslow, 1994). Libraries needing additional titles on experiments should consider Moje's, but with this note of caution: safety guidelines (working with ammonia, rubbing alcohol, etc.) are considered in the preface and in an introductory chapter but not repeated under the individual experiments.
Maren Ostergard, Bellevue Regional Library, WA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (June 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806963492
• ISBN-13: 978-0806963495
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,051,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chemistry on a budget, June 23, 2001

By 

Charles Vandergrift (Cumming, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cool Chemistry: Great Experiments With Simple Stuff (Hardcover)

I am a teacher with few supplies at my disposal. This book showed me ways to use common items from a grocery store to demonstrate chemistry without spending a fortune or needing hard to find supplies. The book includes a section on safety, which is very important. It also describes why each experiment works the way it does. This book is best for the elementary or middle school science teacher.