Have you ever wondered why the ice cream inside a baked Alaska doesn’t melt? According to Jack Challoner’s new book — Maker Lab — you can thank the insulating property of air trapped inside whipped albumin molecules, but hey, why not use his recipe to make the dessert and learn about the scientific concepts while it bakes? The hands-on aspect of experimentation ensures that children have a deeper understanding of scientific concepts — and with Challoner’s new book, it’s also just plain fun.
The full-color, amply illustrated how-to tome contains detailed instructions and photographs for families to conduct 28 science experiments and activities that can be executed with objects found around the house. Among the highlights are pages of instructions for making sticky slime (a “non-Newtonian fluid”); creating invisible ink (and learning about chemical reactions); and even how to make sugar crystal lollipops (and why molecules form into crystals).
Recommended for readers ages eight (with guidance from an adult) to 12 and beyond, each project description has a time estimate and difficulty level. Challoner has written more than 30 books on science and technology and his experience shows with Maker Lab, which has all the info needed to conduct a successful experiment and learn why it works the way it does. His recipes and activities enable readers to discover that applying the scientific method can be absorbing, interesting, and often, delicious!
Maker Lab book by Jack Challoner, $19.99, www.dk.com.
