Experiments With . . .

Students are curious about all kinds of scientific processes. Trevor Cook's Science Lab series, including Experiments with Heat and Experiments with States of Matter will allow them to extend their curiosity beyond the science lab. Each title includes basic background information, a list of necessary materials (my favorite supply is "friends can help"), and about a dozen experiments students can complete to learn more about the world around them.

Each process is clearly photographed, step-by-step, and a basic explanation of what is happening is given. However, maybe the best part is that there is a section at the end of each experiment that asks, "What else can you do?" and then provides extensions beyond the basic experiment. The book also includes "jargon busters" to help students with unfamiliar language and the author includes a glossary and website to help students further their knowledge.

Many times students read about scientific processes in connection with their classwork. These books present experiments that will help students understand the concepts from a hands-on perspective, as well as think deeply about how the process connects to their lives.

Common Core State Standards Connections:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.

In addition to Experiments with Heat and Experiments with States of Matter, other titles in the series include Experiments with Electricity and Magnetism, Experiments with Forces, Experiments with Light and Sound, and Experiments with Plants and Other Living Things. Maple Street, Milwood Magnet, Linden Grove, and Hillside all own Heat and States of Matter. Would you like to see the other titles in your library?

Follow That Food Chain

In sixth grade science, the students learn about food webs. Specifically, they work to understand the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers. The series "Follow That Food Chain: A Who Eats What Adventure," by Rebecca Hogue Wojahn and Donald Wojahn, provides twelve titles that explore the interrelationships of organisms in the food web throughout various parts of the world. In each title, animals are classified as a consumer (tertiary, primary, or secondary), a producer, or a decomposer. At the beginning of each book in the series, students are asked to choose a tertiary consumer. Once the tertiary consumer is chosen, the student turns to the appropriate page and learns more about what this consumer eats within the food web and can then take a closer look at any of those organisms and what they consume, produce, or decompose. Each organism is labeled using a color-coded shape. These books have the feel of a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book because students can turn to any page and learn something new without following a specific page-by-page path throughout the book. There are many interesting facts and details and different paths to choose--most readers will probably immerse themselves for hours in these books.

Lerner, the publisher of "Follow That Food Chain," provides some sample activities through their eSource Downloads that can be used along with the books. Further reading and websites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index are also included.

Michigan Science Curriculum Connections:

L.OL.M.5 Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers – Producers are mainly green plants that obtain energy from the sun by the process of photosynthesis. All animals, including humans, are consumers that meet their energy needs by eating other organisms or their products. Consumers break down the structures of the organisms they eat to make the materials they need to grow and function. Decomposers, including bacteria and fungi, use dead organisms or their products to meet their energy needs. *

    

L.OL.06.51 Classify producers, consumers, and decomposers based on their source of food (the source of energy and building materials). *

L.OL.06.52 Distinguish between the ways in which consumers and decomposers obtain energy.

Common Core State Standards Connections:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.9 Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.

Titles currently available at Milwood Magnet, Hillside Middle School, and Maple Street Magnet School.