2 Stars! These two books, Cool Chemistry Activities for Girls and Cool Engineering Activities for Girls by Jodi Wheeler- Toppen and Heather E. Swartz, respectively, are part of the Girls Science Club set which also includes Cool Biology Activities for Girls and Cool Physics Activities for Girls. (These two titles are not part of this review.) The books are written by women scientists and are part of Capstone Publisher’s Snap brand. As a science teacher and consultant, my chief role is to promote science— especially inquiry-based science. My work as a consultant means interacting with private, public, and home-school teachers in a wide variety of contexts, especially during the summer. The most demanding setting every summer is science camp, which draws about 40 children who range in age from 3-12, many of whom come every year, challenging the adult volunteers to develop a new program each year. Each of these books offers some great ideas to try. Cool Engineering Activities for Girls literally grabs a child’s attention with its first project, a “Litter Grabber” (pp. 6-7) using simple materials: a wire hanger, a wooden dowel, and duct tape. The author, Heather E. Swartz, understands her audience. Girls are different from boys; they do tend to be more altruistic and want to do projects with a purpose. What could be better than making a tool to pick up litter? The “Paper Table” (pp.10-11) with its extension activity to make a four-legged table demonstrate the strength of triangles with a practical application. It would be fun to make the base using different types of cardboard or foam-core. Swartz includes a “Carnival Secret Revealed” (pp. 12-13) that uses balloons, cardboard, masking tape, and darts. The project is simple, inexpensive, and would be a great addition to a school fair or carnival, with kids explaining the science underlying the secret. Cool! Swartz also includes water filters (pp14-15), tie-dye (pp. 20-21), and solar energy activities (pp22-23). Most of the projects are simple and inexpensive making them accessible to a wide range of girls in a variety of settings. Swartz hits the mark with this engineering book for girls; both elementary and middle school-aged girls will enjoy trying these projects. At the end of each book are a glossary, “Read More” section, and “Internet Sites”, and an index. The “Read More” guides the reader to other project books. In both books under the Internet Sites section is a link to www.facthound.com with a number to enter into the site for more references—which works! The books explain that the website, FactHound, is a safe site for kids. The FactHound site requests a child’s grade before entering the code listed in the book; both age groups retrieve the same sites when the code is entered for these books. The www.capstonekids.com website is also available in each book and links to different games, crafts, recipes, etc. available to children. These two books are coming to the first planning meeting for our summer science camp before going to our school’s community library. Both books are sure to be checked out often! They belong in every library and have broad appeal to teachers, elementary and middle school aged students, Girl Scout leaders, and science camp directors. Capstone publishers have done due diligence in selecting authors to write these engaging books sure to capture the imagination of any girl. Well done!
This series is an excellent choice for fun with friends or for science experiments. The books appeal to girls with bright colored, flowery covers and pictures of girls and women. Each experiment has an introduction, a list of supplies, step-by-step directions with photos, and a follow-up paragraph explaining terms and how the experiment fits into science. While the experiments can be used by anyone, this set is most appropriate for upper elementary and lower middle level students. Recommended.
Need a great engineering book for your STEM reading or collection? This is the book for you.
A consultant for this book is a director in the Society of Women Engineers. So although several of the activities, such as making jewelry and tie dye engineering, may seem stereotypical, the book is worth another look. If activities like these are what it takes for a girl to get interested in engineering then I'm all for it. There are ten activities in all and each present the science behind the activity with vocabulary explained in a section called "Insider Info" for each one. In fact, this is where I learned that there are several kinds of CDs, a music CD and a CD–R (recordable disc), and if you use a CD–R the jewelry project will not work since in a CD–R the layers will peel off. The two types of discs are made differently with the music CD being pressed using the injection molding process. Other activities, not specifically gender related, include constructing a litter grabber, a paper table, a water filter, and figuring out a carnival secret. Each activity lists supplies and the book gives step–by–step instructions with photographs of girls making the object or figuring out the science of what and why something works. There is a glossary and a "Read More" section with three current books listed. There are also two Internet sites listed that lead to other web sites that are very good and easy for students to use. The web sites have been researched by the publishing staff. I would have this book in my science library for upper elementary students and students with special needs (with reading assistance) and if any of the girls in my class were reluctant to pursue an activity I would point out this book and say "Happy sciencing," "Be sure to check out the web sites," and "You too can begin thinking like an engineer."
A consultant for this book is a director in the Society of Women Engineers. So although several of the activities, such as making jewelry and tie-dye engineering, may seem stereotypical, the books is worth another look. If activities like these are what it takes for a girl to get interested in engineering then I’m all for it. There are 10 activities in all and each present the science behind the activity with vocabulary explained in a section called “Insider Info’ for each one. In fact, this is where I learned that there are several kinds of CDs, a music CD and a CD-R (recording disc), and if you use a CD-R, the jewelry project will not work since in a CD-R the layers will peel off. The two types of discs are made differently with the music CD being pressed using the injection molding process. Other activities, not specifically gender related, include constructing a litter grabber, a paper table, a water filter, and figuring out a carnival secret. Each activity lists supplies and the book gives step-by-step instructions with photographs of girls making the object or figuring out the science of what and why something works. There is a glossary and a “Read More” section with three current books listed. There are also two internet sites listed that lead to other websites that are very good and easy for students to use. The websites have been researched by the publishing staff. I would have this book in my science library for upper elementary students and students with special needs (with reading assistance) and if any of the girls in my class were reluctant to pursue an activity I would point out this book and say “Happy sciencing,” “Be sure to check out the websites,” and “You too can begin thinking like and engineer.
