Even More Everyday Science Mysteries: Stories for Inquiry-Based Science Teaching

What are the odds of a meteor hitting your house? What are "warm" clothes anyway? Do you get "more" sunlight from Daylight Saving Time? Everyone loves a good mystery and these unfold in the 15 stories presented in Even More Everyday Science Mysteries, the third volume in author Richard Konicek-Moran's award-winning series. Again, the author uses stories without endings to teach a science principle, allowing the students to investigate how each story can be resolved. All the stories relate to the world around us and encourage students to "take ownership" of their learning. In "Here's the Crusher," family members ponder what could have crushed a plastic soda bottle sitting on a table. By exploring each family member's idea, common misconceptions are uncovered and discussed. In "Florida Cars?" Amber seeks out the causes of rust on cars from Florida. She experiments with nails to try to discover what ingredients produce rust. Your students will tackle Amber's problem and reach their own conclusions. Science topics explored include evaporation, erosion, thermal energy, atmospheric pressure, buoyancy, and density. "These stories are bound to reveal the wonderful ideas all students have, give them the confidence to explore their own thinking, and provide opportunities for them to 'do' science rather than have science 'done' to them." --Page Keeley, NSTA President 2008-09