Astronomy for Every Kid

101 Easy Experiments that Really Work
Book cover: Astronomy for Every Kid
Author(s): 
Janice VanCleave
Number of pages: 
229 pages
Copyright: 
1991
ISBN: 
9780471535737
Publisher: 
John Wiley and Sons
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

Offering "Exciting ideas, project, and activities for schools, science fairs, and just plain fun," this book is one in a series that is very popular with homeschoolers (and understandably so). The book covers seven major topics - Planets, Space Movement, The Sun, The Moon, The Stars, Space Instruments and Space/Space Travel. Each experiment uses simple experiments and explains (briefly) the purpose, the procedure, the expected result and a brief but very understandable explanation of why it happened. Black and white sketches illustrate each experiment as well. To give you an idea of the kind of material that is covered, here are a few of the experiment descriptions/purposes (out of 101 total):

  • "To determine how color affects a planet's surface temperature"
  • "To demonstrate a method of proving that the Earth rotates"
  • "To determine why planets move smoothly around the Sun"
  • "To simulate aiming a spacecraft for the Moon"
  • "To determine why stars appear to rotate"
  • "To determine why radio wave receivers are curved"

I found the "why" segments of each experiment helpful background reading for me to brush up on my science knowledge.

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
Jan 29, 2001