Synopses & Reviews
Drones, RC cars, artificial limbs, Roombas—the robots have arrived! Dont you want your own? Author and physics teacher Bobby Mercer will show you how to turn common household objects and repurposed materials into 20 easy-to-build robots for little or no cost. Turn a toothbrush, an old cell phone or pager, and scrap wire into a Brush Bot, or hack a toy car to hotwire a Not-So-Remote Bot. A small electric fan, several craft sticks, and rubber bands make a Fan-Tastic Dancing Machine, and drinking straws, string, tape, and glue can be used to construct a working model of the human hand.
Every hands-on project contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos for easy assembly. Mercer also explains the science and technology behind each robot, including concepts such as friction, weight and mass, center of gravity, kinetic and potential energy, electric circuitry, DC vs. AC current, and more. These projects are also perfect for science fairs or design competitions.
Review
“It’s not always easy to find a project book for young designers that contains activities that don’t end up with the parents doing all the work. That’s not the case here…The Robot Book offers up 20 “gizmos, moving machines, and hacked toys” that offer up a number of amazing experiences for the young maker.” —GeekDad
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“It’s a solid starting point for readers with an interest in circuitry or engineering—or who simply like to take things apart to see how they work.” —Publishers Weekly
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“Those interested in tinkering with electronics will find the tasks engaging and thorough.” —School Library Journal
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"Highly recommended." —Midwest Book Review
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“Edible racers would be a smash hit at learning co-ops classes, science competitions and birthday parties. Who will win the main event: Chocolate Thunder, Spud Racer, Mallow Magic, Bun Fun, or Rice Car? Start your engines!” —Practical Homeschooling
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“More than enough to keep scientifically curious kids busy on rainy days.” —Publishers Weekly
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"Its the perfect book for the curious kid 9 to 14 who enjoys learning by doing and loves investigating not only how things work but why they work. With straightforward instructions, inexpensive and easy to find materials, plus photographs that illustrate key steps in each experiment, the book is definitely user friendly. The Science Behind It section sheds further light on each experiment and the science principles and terms it illustrates. This is an excellent book to keep your fourth to eighth grader busy, engaged and learning throughout the summer, as well as any other time of year." —About.com Children's Books
Review
“Mercers categorization of types of experiment—force, energy, momentum, light, magnetism and pressure—also describes his educational outlook. Theres no teaching more forceful or energetic—no pedagogical principle more suffused with light or magnetic force—than the one in Junk Drawer Physics.” —BookPage
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“Ive seen other books before that promised “easy” experiments for kids, but this one IS easy … and fun.” —NewsOK.com
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“These little experiments provide a great introduction to a lesson or can be used to as an activity to illustrate a physics concept. One word of warning—you might want to save the air horn for homework.” —NSTA Recommends
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“Accessibility can be a major factor in comprehending abstract concepts, and this book suggests that you hardly need a fancy laboratory to learn...Junk drawers are an almost universal fixture in most homes, and this book helps readers representing a wide range of readiness to experience basic scientific concepts for themselves.” —Booklist
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"Mercer shows readers that by being curious, by observing, and by understanding the basics of machines and electricity, they can make small, amusing robots. Several of the projects don’t even require electricity but still offer kids a chance to create something amazing.” —Booklist
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“It’s just the book to have with holiday time for hands-on creating.” —Scientist's Book Shelf
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"Hands-on activities that encourage imaginations to soar." —Kirkus Reviews
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"Easy-to-build and fun-to-fly contraptions." —Learning
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"Takes paper airplanes to a whole new level." —The Buffalo News
Synopsis
Drones, RC cars, artificial limbs, Roombas the robots have arrived Don t you want your own? Author and physics teacher Bobby Mercer will show you how to turn common household objects and repurposed materials into 20 easy-to-build robots for little or no cost. Turn a toothbrush, an old cell phone or pager, and scrap wire into a Brush Bot, or hack a toy car to hotwire a Not-So-Remote Bot. A small electric fan, several craft sticks, and rubber bands make a Fan-Tastic Dancing Machine, and drinking straws, string, tape, and glue can be used to construct a working model of the human hand.
Every hands-on project contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos for easy assembly. Mercer also explains the science and technology behind each robot, including concepts such as friction, weight and mass, center of gravity, kinetic and potential energy, electric circuitry, DC vs. AC current, and more. These projects are also perfect for science fairs or design competitions."
Synopsis
How to use reuse and recycle components and supplies to build a variety of devices
The 20 easy-to-build robots in this project book can be constructed for little or no cost using common household objects and repurposed materials. From learning how to turn a toothbrush, an old cell phone or pager, and scrap wire into a Brush Bot, or how to hack a toy car to hotwire a Not-So-Remote Bot, each hands-on project contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos. Explanations of the science and technology behind each robot—including concepts such as friction, weight and mass, center of gravity, kinetic and potential energy, electric circuitry, DC vs. AC current, and more—are also included.
Synopsis
You may not be old enough to drive, but that doesnt mean you cant satisfy your need for speed. Author and physics teacher Bobby Mercer shows how to use mousetraps, rubber bands, chemical reactions, gravity, and air pressure to power fast-moving vehicles. Each of the 25 easy-to-build racecars is constructed for little or no cost using recycled and repurposed materials. Retrofit a toy car with a model plane propeller to make an air-powered Prop Car. Turn a potato chip can, a rubber band, and weights into a Chip-Can Dancer. Or use an effervescent tablet in a small canister as an impressive rocket engine for a Mini Pop Car. Every project in The Racecar Book contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos for easy assembly. Mercer also includes explanations of the science behind each racecar, including concepts such as friction, Newtons laws of motion, kinetic and potential energy, and more. These projects are perfect for science fairs or design competitions, or just having fun!
Synopsis
Calling all future Amelia Earharts and Chuck Yeagers—theres more than one way to get off the ground! The Flying Machine Book will show you how to construct 35 easy-to-build and fun-to-fly contraptions that can be used indoors or out. Better still, each of these rockets, gliders, boomerangs, launchers, and helicopters can be made for little or no cost using recycled materials. Rubber bands, paper clips, straws, plastic bottles, and index cards can all be transformed into amazing, gravity-defying flyers, from Bottle Rockets to Grape Bazookas, Plastic Zippers to Maple Key Helicopters.
Each project contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos, as well as an explanation of the science behind the flyer. Use this information to modify and improve your designs, or explain to your teacher why throwing a paper airplane is a mini science lesson.
About the Author
Bobby Mercer is a high school physics teacher and the author of several books, including The Flying Machine Book, How Do You Light a Fart?, Quarterback Dad, and Smash It! Crash It! Launch It! He lives outside of Asheville, North Carolina.