Eureka, Again! K 2 Science Activities and Stories - PB423X2

It's never too early to put a human face on science and engineering! Research shows that a child's ideas about how scientists and engineers look and what they do start to form in the earliest grades. Teachers can help students understand that everyone can do science by introducing inquiry activities in the primary grades. Like its best-selling counterpart for grades 3 5, Eureka, Again! K 2 Science Activities and Stories evokes Archimedes's famous cry. That's because it helps children make discoveries of their own about who scientists and engineers are and what they do. The book is so engaging and easy to use that it will become a resource you'll be excited to teach with every year.

Eureka, Again! is appealing because of its lively lessons, which are grounded in 27 children's trade books. Some of the biographies feature famous individuals, such as Rachel Carson and George Washington Carver. Others are not as well known, such as paleontologist Mary Anning and recycler Isatou Ceesay. All of their stories will help students see scientists and engineers not as stereotypes in lab coats but as real people whose success grows out of their life experiences and character traits. They may even inspire children to consider STEM-related careers.

Each chapter is designed to do the following: Focus on science and engineering practices. These include asking questions and defining problems, planning and carrying out investigations, and analyzing and interpreting data. Bring the processes to life through the trade books and related lessons. You'll introduce a skill-building, inquiry-based investigation while highlighting the scientists and engineers work and the character traits that helped each succeed. You can teach one lesson or all three from each chapter--whatever will enrich your curriculum the most. Be easy to use. In addition to supporting the Next Generation Science Standards, each chapter uses a learning-cycle format and begins with a personal story from the authors that provides valuable insights into teaching this exciting grade range.

Authors Donna Farland-Smith and Julie Thomas point out one other big benefit that makes Eureka, Again! a resource you'll keep coming back to. "We like to think of this book as a way to invite scientists and engineers into your classroom," they write, "without the hassle of finding and scheduling guest speakers."