On Recommended Books
John L. Hubisz, Ph.D., Hubisz@unity.ncsu.edu

Many, many visitors to the site ask for specific recommendations for suitable textbooks to use in grades 6 through 9. Here, I list such books with only a few remarks about their usefulness. Some are for classroom use by students, some are only for teachers, and some are for teachers with lots of classroom suggestions. This essay will never be complete and I hope to continue to add more and more suggestions. Some of the recommendations herein are also reviewed elsewhere on the site in more detail. I have looked at materials produced by teachers to be used “in-house” and, for the most part, they are terrible. I understand the frustration of the teacher who can not find a suitable text, but the answer can not be – write your own without lots of outside criticism.

Science Curriculum, Inc., produces two books: Introductory Physical Science (IPS with a long positive history) and Force, Motion, and Energy (more recent) both by Haber-Schaim, et. al., are excellent non-encyclopedic introductions to physical science. The former requires a teacher who knows the discipline and how to get around a laboratory. The company conducts workshops to prepare teachers for use of the book. The latter is a response to those who criticized IPS for not having much on mechanics and is much closer to what teachers are familiar with. There is also a Teacher’s Guide and Resource Book for this volume that should go a long way toward reducing teacher anxiety. This guide also has suggested course outlines for those using IPS, before, after, or not.

The Enhanced Science Helper K-8 CD-ROM from The Learning Team is a collection of over 1,000 lessons and activities that can be searched easily for specific topics keyed to the U.S. National Science Education Standards. The collection comes from the alphabet soup of projects supported by the NSF in the 1960s and 1970s. Every school should have at least one on hand for each grade. If your text does not have a topic on a particular standard, it’s probably in this collection.

Powerful Ideas in Physical Science (PIPS) published by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT, every physical science teacher should be a member!) has been available in a variety of forms, but the most convenient is the current CD-ROM which has all six units of easy-to-use student materials and structured questioning patterns to guide teachers through a hands-on, inquiry-based course that models the way that science should be learned. The program was originally designed to prepare future teachers for the Middle School classroom. It’s expensive on the face, but you can edit for your particular circumstances and then print and copy materials for your class. Compared to the cost of encyclopedic textbooks, it’s a bargain.

Project Physics was published in 1970 by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. It was a program of physics with films, film loops, filmstrips, readers (classic papers in seven volumes), a laboratory handbook, resource book, test booklets, programmed instruction booklets, transparencies, and teacher training materials. If you find any of these materials, latch on to them! Springer has published a revised version entitled, Understanding Physics, by David Cassidy and two of the original authors, Holton and Rutherford. There is also a Student Guide that is quite valuable. Indications are that much of the multi-media will not be reproduced. I strongly recommend for teachers as a resource and for use with 9th grade students.

Understanding Physics by Isaac Asimov available at Barnes & Noble for about $10. This is a republication of his three-volume work of the same title. There is very little mathematics. This one is for teachers who would like some general background.

Great Ideas for Teaching Astronomy by Stephen M. Pompea and published by Brooks/Cole 3rd edition is a great resource for anyone who teaches any astronomy at any level. The previous editions are quite good as well, if you can find a copy. There are many misunderstandings about astronomy picked up in school.

Conceptual Physical Science Explorations by Hewitt, Suchocki, & Hewitt and published by Addison-Wesley. I recommend all books by Paul G. Hewitt as resource material for teachers but this book can be used in 9th grade and perhaps earlier. Although large and beautifully illustrated, each picture or drawing or diagram is there for a reason.

Integrated Science Book One & Book Two by Fraser, Gilchrist & Partridge and published by J.M. LeBel Enterprises. Easily handled by Middle School students.