47 Easy-to-Do Classic Science Experiments

Hereisahighlymotivatingbookforgrade-schoolstudentsthatwillintroducethemtomanyoftheworld'smostpopular(andhistoricallysignificant)scientificexperiments.They'lllearnaboutgravitysimplybyfollowingtheacrobaticanticsofanordinarycoin.Bytryingtoblowaneggoutofacup,they'lldiscovertheprinciplesofairpressure.Dancingsoapbubbleswillhelpthemunderstandtheeffectsofstaticelectricity,andbydroppingquartersintoafullglassofwaterwithoutcausingittooverflow,they'llstudytheeffectsofsurfacetension.Theseandover40otherexperimentshavebeencarefullyselectedbynotededucatorsEugeneandAsterieBakerProvenzotofamiliarizechildrenwithclassicscienceexperimentsinvolvingoptics,inertia,airpressure,magnetism,sound,topology,light,density,vibration,prisms,elasticity,gases,vacuum,perspective,geometry,centrifugalforce,buoyancy,color,andmuchmore.Someexperiments,suchastheoptical"Newton'sRings"arehundredsofyearsold.Stillothers,likethestrawlevertest,arebasedonGreekexperimentswithleverageandthecenterofgravity—firstcarriedoutthousandsofyearsago.Easy-to-followinstructionsandillustrationsshowyoungstershowtoperformeachexperiment,mostofwhichareprefacedwithhistoricalbackground,alistofnecessarymaterialsandanexplanationofkeyterms.Almostallexperimentscanbecarriedoutwithcommonhouseholditems(tissuepaper,scissors,tapes,rubberballoons,pens,pencils,etc.)andcanbeworkedathomeorintheclassroomtodemonstratespecificscientificprinciplesortosupplementascience-curriculumunit.Sourcesforallhistoricalillustrationsgiveninthetextarelistedattheendofthebook.