Janice VanCleave's Teaching the Fun of Science to Young Learners

The book's 75 lessons and reproducible activities touch on all areas of science and provide the key to a world of science magic and mystery. While kids will have fun doing the activities and learning to love science, they are also being encouraged to develop other skills, including reading, writing, math, and art.

The book is designed to help young students catch the "science bug" and find the answers for themselves to these and other questions:

• Why do cats have whiskers?
• How does a caterpillar change into a butterfly?
• Why do elephants have such large ears?
• How does a grasshopper grow?
• Why is the skin on my elbows so wrinkled?
• Why does food taste different when I have a cold?
• How can we make perfume from flower petals?
• Why does my shadow change during the day?

Acknowledgments vii

From the Author 1

Guidelines for Using Science Activities and Investigations Successfully in the Classroom 3

I. Investigating 7

1. The Scientific Method 9

2. Cause and Effect 28

II. Observing 37

3. Sight 39

4. Hearing 50

5. Smell 61

6. Taste 67

7. Touch 76

III. Communication 89

8. Model 91

9. Data 100

IV. Making and Using Definitions 111

10. New Words 113

11. Dictionary Skills 122

V. Measuring and Estimating 135

12. Length 137

13. Capacity 146

14. Weight 152

15. Time 158

16. Temperature 165

VI. Grouping 179

17. Classifying 181

18. Sequencing 189

Glossary 195

Index 199

JANICE VANCLEAVE is a former science teacher who now spends her time writing and giving science workshops. She is the author of over forty-five children's science books with sales totaling over 2 million copies.

FUN SCIENCE PROJECTS THAT INTRODUCE SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS

There's plenty for you to choose from in this treasure chest of educational and fun science activities, experiments, and worksheets for Pre-K through 2nd grade. Written by well-known children's science writer Janice VanCleave, this book offers teachers a much-needed resource for preparing young students with a solid grounding in science inquiry as recommended by the national science education standards.

The book's 75 lessons and reproducible activities touch on all areas of science and provide the key to a world of science magic and mystery. While kids will have fun doing the activities and learning to love science, they are also being encouraged to develop other skills, including reading, writing, math, and art.

The book is designed to help young students catch the "science bug" and find the answers for themselves to these and other questions:

• Why do cats have whiskers?
• How does a caterpillar change into a butterfly?
• Why do elephants have such large ears?
• How does a grasshopper grow?
• Why is the skin on my elbows so wrinkled?
• Why does food taste different when I have a cold?
• How can we make perfume from flower petals?
• Why does my shadow change during the day?

In addition, budding young scientist investigators will be learning these fundamental science process skills: observing, communicating, making and using definitions, measuring and estimating, grouping, and investigating. The book's activities can be done using easy-to-find materials in the classroom or at home just for fun!