Jodi Wheeler-Toppen is a former science teacher with a PhD in science education. She has been fascinated by insects for years, and even raised dung beetles in her classroom! Jodi is the author of a number of science books for children and teachers. Her activity book Science Experiments that Explode and Implode was a Junior Library Guild Selection in 2011. Jodi lives in Atlanta with her family.
The activities are appropriate for elementary and middle school
interest and include many experiments that my STEM school had
already planned as part of our curriculum this year. I can't wait
to see the teachers' faces when I present them with this title. We
use the Science NSRC kits and the Engineering is Elementary Kits in
our science integration throughout the curriculum. Some of these
activities are explored in the kits, but none of them explain and
extend the learning in such an exciting way as this series. . .
.STEM schools will naturally want to purchase the entire set. It is
essential that more school and public libraries carry titles like
this.-- "Practically Paradise blog"
This book is a great way to get girls interested in chemistry. . .
.Highly Recommended.-- "Tucson Unified School District (Tucson,
AZ)"
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.-- "Library Media
Connection"
2 Stars! The 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 Chemistry
Activities for Girls is spot on! Each activity is clearly explained
with both step by step instructions and photo illustrations. The
page layout is clean and colorful with the first activity, "Festive
Fountain" immediately hooking the child into the book. The supplies
are materials that are generally available--even for girls living
in remote areas. At the end of each activity is a section marked
"Insider Info" with clear explanations that briefly explain the
underlying science. For example, the "Insider Info" on page 13
explains the nature of a surfactant as "...One end of a soap
molecule dissolves in water. The other end dissolves in oils."
Wheeler-Toppen, the author, consistently writes in language
appropriate to a young elementary student. Her choices for the
activities included are all fun; "Stress-Relieving Putty" (pp.
14-15) is a time tested polymer activity that is a guaranteed hit!
Even my high school students enjoy making the putty. Our camp will
definitely test "Earth-Friendly Plastic" (pp. 16-17) and the
"Apple-Cinnamon Air Freshener" (pp.18-19) activities. The kids will
love these! The experiments lend themselves to a home kitchen or
even the kitchen of a social hall where Girl Scouts meet. The
author includes a crystal project, "Sweet Jewels" (pp. 26-28) that
takes a few days and might evolve into a science fair project
testing the success of a variety of crystal types: sugar, alum, or
Epson salts. 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!-- "Science Books & Films"
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