Aliens and Energy

Aliens and Energyis another entry in the Monster Science series.

Agnieszka Biskup chose aliens as a method to teach children about energy. The book begins by introducing the readers to the relationship between matter and energy. The author uses illustrations to help children access the vocabulary and concepts. I do prefer when the the characters are more integrated into telling the story, but I've come to accept that some in this series are only going to use the characters as illustrations, not as storytellers.

The story continues by defining the types of energy for readers. I was impressed by the explanation of kinetic vs potential energy. The explanations were clear and the illustrations added provided humor and more ways for students to access the material. Sound, light, and electrical energy are also addressed.

Changing energy is lightly covered. I thought the best part of this section was the explanation that energy can be changed but it isn't created or destroyed. The examples are less consistent. I found some were good in this section, others less strong.

The end was the weakest when it discusses energy conservation and renewable sources of energy. It lacked the consistency of the previous sections.

Ghosts and Atoms

Ghosts and Atomsis another addition to the Monster Science series this one written by Jodi Wheeler-Toppen PhD.

I was very pleased that this book returned to the flavor of Zombies and Forces and Motion that made me start exploring the series.

The book uses ghosts as a theme to help children explore atoms. It begins with the history of scientists exploring matter and how theories and knowledge evolved to our current understanding of what atoms are and how they function. The book then moves on to defining an atom, describing what atoms are made of, explained positive and negative electrons, how liquids, gasses and liquids are formed, molecule formations, and several other topics.

I was pleased to see a fairly complex subject broken down with the help of the ghosts into language that is accessible to children. As I've said about this series in the past, the scientific language is kept intact, but the explanations are creative in helping make that language more user friendly.

This book does a great job of holding children's attentions and engaging them in a rather complicated topic. Just as you could see a child losing interest the author engages the ghosts to provide humor and reengages the child's attention. This is on my Christmas list for this year.

Eyes and Ears Seymour Simon

Eyes and Earsis a great resource for parents and teachers looking for a resource to teach the parts and functions of the ear and eye.

Simon uses photographs, diagrams and clear prose to help readers learn more about what make eyes and ears work. For anyone who has ever read a text and gotten lost in the first paragraph, Simon provides an alternative learning approach for elementary readers. Even older readers can benefit from the photographs and clear diagrams.

I have been collecting Simon's books for a younger relative and this is the latest purchase in the collection.