Review
Anonymous

The Best of WonderScience: over 400 Hands-on Elementary Science Activities published by Delmar Publishers/International Thomson Publishing Company, 531 + xxv pages (1997)

I have used The Best of Wonder Science as a recommended, supplemental text for a one-quarter (10 week) physics class I teach for pre-service elementary school teachers at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. As one of their course requirements, students must report on eight hands-on activities that they have performed on their own. They have used The Best of Wonder Science for many of these activities. The professors of the one-quarter chemistry course for the pre-service teachers also use The Best of Wonder Science.

The book helps to foster a positive attitude about science. Many of my students delay taking science until their last year. Some come to class the first session terrified of physics. My three major course objectives are to learn the concepts of physics, to develop a resource base, and to hopefully-have a little fun. Wonder Science helps with all of these goals. I use some of the science process skills (Section 1) as in-class activities the first session. They provide a good, non--threatening way to start the class and utilize what can be wasted time. The students like the activities. While they usually sell their physics text, they keep Wonder Science. Most plan to use the activities with their own classes.

The Best of Wonder Science is well written with explanations and directions that are easy to understand and follow. Very occasionally, the students misinterpret the activity or explanation. It seems to be less frequent than usual and I am not sure what can be done to totally prevent this.

While I have not had a chance to look at all the physics activities, I have found only one in error or misleading - Science Friction on page 406. My students reported no difference in rolling distance for the waxed paper, aluminum foil, or sandpaper. I tried it and found no difference. As long as the surface was flat, the marble rolled approximately the same distance after leaving the ramp. Only macroscopic bumpy surfaces (lots of large scale hills and valleys), like the towel or Berber carpeting, decreased the distance. Is that a result of friction or collisions with the bumps? Rolling friction is not the same as kinetic (or sliding) friction. An object sliding across sandpaper should stop more quickly than one sliding across waxed paper. One would almost expect the opposite to happen with rolling. I find the activity confusing and misleading.

For the most part The Best of Wonder Science gives guidelines for inquiry and asks questions without many detailed instructions. Some activities have more direction than others. Those activities that could pose a hazard have more step-by-step instructions. Specific warnings are given and steps that should be performed by an adult partner are clearly identified. Other activities, such as Playground Challenge, present questions and suggestions and are much more open-ended. The whole Science of the Playground Section is one of my favorites.

Overall, there is a great selection of activities - more than enough so that one can pick and chose for degree of direction and age level. I would recommend The Best of Wonder Science to any one who is trying to teach elementary science or anyone who is trying to teach elementary science teachers.

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