This was such a fun review to do! For this review, we were given the chance to try out some fun science experiments with Eat Your Science Homework Recipes for Inquiring Minds from Ann McCallum Books.
Eat Your Science Homework was written by Ann McCallum. The fun and wacky illustrations were created by Leeza Hernandez. Mrs. McCallum is an author of several hands-on books revolving around math and science. Eat Your Science Homework and Eat Your Math Homework really get the kids involved in learning. Beanstalk: The Measure of a Giant and Rabbits Rabbits Everywhere are two other books she has written. She has created some wonderful "living math" books for children. They are a great way to introduce math to children even at a young age.
Eat Your Science Homework is geared for children in grades 2nd-8th. I saw recommendations for different grade levels. The first said grades 4th-8th, while the second suggestion was for 2nd-5th. The actual reading of the book is closer to a 3rd and 4th grader level. It would be an easy read for children in the upper grade levels. The experiments are great for all ages! Who doesn't want to eat their homework or school lessons. She even jokes about the dog eating your homework on the ordering page online. I found it rather funny since I had a dog eat my homework a few times as a kid. One of our dog loved to eat paper. I doubt the teacher would have believed me but my mom wrote in a note. So yes a dog can eat your home work, but know you can too!
The book we received for this review was a soft cover book. The cover is thicker and seems very durable. It's a fairly short book with only 47 pages. Our copy came signed by the other with the message "With best science wishes!"
Eat Your Science Homework is divided into 9 chapters.
- Discovering Delicious: The Scientific Method
- Safety in the Lab
- Atomic Popcorn Balls
- Density Dressing and Veggie Sticks
- Invisible Ink Snack Pockets
- Loop, Whorl, and Arch Cookies
- Sedimentary Pizza Lasagna
- Blackhole Swallow-Ups
Following the nine chapters. Mrs McCallum provides a wonderful section for science review and a glossary filled with the scientific terms covered in the book. Great for helping kids to learn the meanings of some new words. Maybe a future spelling list?
She has even included a index for quick look up of the subjects. If you head online to Ann McCallum Books, you can download a free teachers guide to go along with the book. The teacher's guide provides more information to teach the lesson and a few more activities to do with the children.
So how did we use the book?
We added the lessons to a day for each week. First, we read the introduction on the scientific method and then read all about lab safety (or kitchen safety). Most of this was already known to Michael and Therese! We had to make a few modifications for some of the recipes because of Theresa's Celiacs Disease. The first experiment or recipe we tried was the Atomic Popcorn Balls. This was a fun lesson about Atoms and Molecules! Before each science experiment, there is a short lesson explaining all the science terms. It gets the children familiar with what the lesson is all about. In this case, we learned all about atoms and molecules. The science experiment was fun! Who doesn't love to pop some popcorn. While, Therese and Michael popped the popcorn, I collected all the other ingredients.
For this experiment, we needed popcorn, butter, mini-marshmallows, corn syrup, food dye, and you could add some dried fruit if you wanted. Simple and easy! After the Atomic Popcorn Balls experiment, we did a few of the additional activities suggested in the teachers guide. These provide a little more information for kids and parents.
Want to know more about the science experiments in the books, check out the book for your self. I promise your children and you will enjoy it!
What did we think of the book?
This books is a fun way to get kids interested in science. It's not overwhelming and doesn't take too much effort to put the recipes together. The book was an easy read for the kids and they had fun creating the different science recipes. This book is a great for a short science class. It couldn't be used as a full science curriculum, but it would be perfect for a quick science unit study! I think kids of all ages could use this book. Younger children could easily use this book with a little help from mom. Older students could read and make the recipes with little to no supervision. The books provides moms and teachers a great way to bring science into real life! I loved how she brought science down to their level. For example, she describe atoms and molecules with legos! What child doesn't love legos. She has a wonderful gift of getting children to understand and enjoy learning about science! I'm looking forward to checking out her other "Eat Your Homework" books.
For this experiment, we needed popcorn, butter, mini-marshmallows, corn syrup, food dye, and you could add some dried fruit if you wanted. Simple and easy! After the Atomic Popcorn Balls experiment, we did a few of the additional activities suggested in the teachers guide. These provide a little more information for kids and parents.
Want to know more about the science experiments in the books, check out the book for your self. I promise your children and you will enjoy it!
What did we think of the book?
This books is a fun way to get kids interested in science. It's not overwhelming and doesn't take too much effort to put the recipes together. The book was an easy read for the kids and they had fun creating the different science recipes. This book is a great for a short science class. It couldn't be used as a full science curriculum, but it would be perfect for a quick science unit study! I think kids of all ages could use this book. Younger children could easily use this book with a little help from mom. Older students could read and make the recipes with little to no supervision. The books provides moms and teachers a great way to bring science into real life! I loved how she brought science down to their level. For example, she describe atoms and molecules with legos! What child doesn't love legos. She has a wonderful gift of getting children to understand and enjoy learning about science! I'm looking forward to checking out her other "Eat Your Homework" books.
Just click on the graphic below!
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