Synopses & Reviews
Explore Your World! is divided into two chapters: one of zany, quirky science projects and tech crafts, and another of eye-opening explorations that make every child’s backyard seem like a haven for discovery. In the first chapter, kids experiment with electricity, magically squeeze an egg into a bottle, isolate their own DNA, make an eclipse-viewer, and have fun with optical illusions. In the second chapter, readers will learn how to collect water from a tree branch, recognize animal tracks, raise a butterfly, and make cool fossils.
This stealth-educational title gives kids the chance to learn and grow, without making them feel like they’re stuck in class.
Table of Contents
Science Project Chapter
Erupt a soda geyser
Squeeze an egg into a bottle
Bend water with static
Ring a bell with a tv
Light a room with a ponytail
Make tissue defy gravity
Tell time with a potato
Mold a bouncy ball
Grow a crystal initial
Lift a friend’s fingerprint
Isolate DNA
Encode notes with a scytale
Send secrets by morse code
Spy with a periscope
Write in invisible ink
Turn the world upside down
Spin a mini kaleidoscope
View an eclipse
Make a sun print
Get cooking in a solar oven
Rig a lightbulb
Trap shadows
Light up a lava lamp
Flash a matchbook light
Build a tiny robot
Set off an exploding volcano
Launch a rocket
Backyard Adventures Chapter
Estimate remaining daylight
Set up a solar compass
Make a magnetic compass
Locate the north star
Spot pictures in the moon
Identify moon phases
Find the south pole
Construct a lean-to shelter
Get water from dewy grass
Collect water in damp sand
Drink from a tree branch
Identify clouds
Predict a rainstorm
Blaze a trail
Identify scat and tracks
Learn dog body language
Greet a new dog
Read kitty’s body language
Make friends with a cat
Build a bat house
Set up a lizard lounge
Welcome butterflies
Make a hive for mason bees
Raise a butterfly
Start an ant farm
Spy on sea life
Construct a dam
Nurture tadpoles
Cultivate carnivorous plants
Hollow out a birdhouse
Personalize a melon
Dry and press flowers
Stain clothes on purpose
Save poppy seeds
Sprout an avocado pit
Dry tomato seeds
Pluck marigold seeds
Mix up seed paper
Dig up a lost civilization
Fossilize footprints
Synopsis
This DIY and environmentally friendly science book features more than 70 activities that give kids an amazing, science-tastic experience.Hey, science can be cool—who doesn’t want to grow their initials in crystal, or discover what carnivorous plants eat? The current DIY craze has created a generation of kids eager to make simple but rad machines and write in homemade invisible ink, while renewed environmental concern has kids building houses for bats and mixing up seed paper. This book features more than 70 activities that speak to both these trends, giving kids an amazing, science-tastic experience that’s far from boring.
Explore Your World! is divided into two chapters: one of zany, quirky science projects and tech crafts, and another of eye-opening explorations that make every child’s backyard seem like a haven for discovery. In the first chapter, kids experiment with electricity, magically squeeze an egg into a bottle, isolate their own DNA, make an eclipse-viewer, and have fun with optical illusions. In the second chapter, readers will learn how to collect water from a tree branch, recognize animal tracks, raise a butterfly, and make cool fossils.
This stealth-educational title gives kids the chance to learn and grow, without making them feel like they’re stuck in class.
About the Author
Sarah Hines Stephens first learned to cook in order to get out of doing the dishes, and she still prefers making messes to cleaning them. One of three creative sisters, Sarah hails from generations of do-it-yourselfers: quilters, artists, writers, and gardeners. When Sarah is not facilitating semiexplosive science experiments and kid-friendly crafts, she writes books for kids. She has written more than sixty books, some for kid-friendly brands such as Gymboree and Scholastic. She lives with her husband and two children in a home filled with glitter, fabric scraps, glue, and power tools in Oakland, California.
Bethany Mann is Sarah’s sister and partner in creative mess-making. With a rallying cry of, “Hey, we could totally make that ourselves!” she has fearlessly led her family and friends in numerous craft adventures. These days Bethany channels her artistic powers for good by using recycled materials and growing vegetables. Her projects have been featured in craft books for adults and on DIY TV. She lives with her husband, teenage son, and a menagerie of rescued pets in Santa Cruz, California. Read her blog at BitterBettyIndustries.blogspot.com.