Solids, Liquids, Guess Who's Got Gas?: Lucy's Lab #2

Lucy's Lab #2

by Michelle Houts, Elizabeth Zechel (Illustrator)

Autumn has arrived, and at Granite City Elementary School everyone is gearing up for the biggest and best event of the year, the Harvest Festival. The whole school is excited about the games, the contests, the food, and, most of all, the costumes! Everyone except Lucy. She doesn’t like dressing up, and has no desire to be a fairy princess or rock star, even for one day.

But Lucy is excited about the new science unit Miss Flippo has started: the states of matter. Lucy and her friends understand solids and liquids. They’re easy. But gasses are more difficult to grasp.

When the class goes on a field trip to an orchard and Stewart Swinefest eats too many apples, and gets a serious stomachache, Lucy suddenly understands that even if you can’t see gasses they can fill space and expand, and even make you move.

And with Stewart feeling better, she has a really great idea for her Harvest Festival costume, too.

The second book in a new chapter book series from IRA Children’s Book Award-winner, Michelle Houts, Solids, Liquids, Guess Who’s Got Gas? draws on STEM themes and is aligned with curriculum guidelines to bring a love of science to young readers, inspiring them to start their own labs and explore their world.

Genres: Science

104 pages, Paperback

First published June 17, 2019

About the author

"My first memory of writing was when I was in first grade. I wrote an awesome retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk using my friends and myself as the characters. I don’t think my best friend was very happy when I cast her as the giant. The person who was happy, however, was my first grade teacher, Miss Course. She was so impressed that she sent me over to the second grade teacher’s classroom to show her what I had created. I remember knocking on the door of the second grade classroom and being very nervous that all those “big kids” would be looking at me when it opened. The second grade teacher, Mrs. Bryant, made a really big deal about my story! I think I decided then and there that I wanted to be a writer. Thank you, Miss Course and Mrs. Bryant!

"Fast forward A LOT of years… I always liked school, so when it came time to decide on a career, I chose to be a teacher. I went to the Ohio State University to study special education. After teaching for several years, I went back to school for a master’s degree in early childhood education. After having three children, I went back to school again for another master’s degree in speech pathology. I finished that one in 2009. See? I told you I always liked school.

"While I was at Ohio State, I met the farmer of my dreams. I always did want to live on a farm when I was a kid. I think that’s because most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins were farm folks and some of my favorite memories are from days spent in their barns, pastures, and haymows. When you fall in love with a farmer, you move to a farm, because he sure isn’t going to move to the city! So here I am.

"Here on the farm, we are raising three kids, calves, hogs, cats by the dozens, one adorable golden retriever and a goat who believes he’s a golden retriever. But that’s another story…"

Reviews

[Katrina Kieren]

Layla and I’s first book (reading independently, together) the little girl’s class learns about the states of matter, including plasma. With an intro to the chemist, Irving Langmuir who won a Nobel Prize in chemistry. Adorably written, my 10 year old enjoyed it.

[Lisa Holloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) based chapter book series geared toward 7 to 9 year old children. My 10 year old has really enjoyed this series and I think others this age would also be interested and entertained by it. The books are a combination of science (nonfiction) and a realistic fiction story that has science dispersed throughout it. The science is presented simply and not with an over abundance of detail, so it holds kid's attention. The fictional story has lovable, well developed characters and the story takes place all over a small town which keeps children engaged through the action and movement.

The focus of this second book is on the states of matter- solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. I liked that the states of matter worksheet Lucy did in the story was in the book, so my son could do it. This way I could see if he understood the science concepts. The material is presented with fun and humor which makes it memorable. I can see a child recalling the information easily.

My son and I liked the second book in the series even more than the first. The science and story were woven together more seamlessly and my son did not have the feeling the story was not finished which he did after reading the first. I also liked that science vocabulary that was presented in the first book was repeated in this one which helps my son to remember new words, especially long ones. New vocabulary such as properties, hypothesis, and atmosphere were introduced in this book.

This book taught that science is all around us, there are different ways to test a hypothesis, and that there is more than one way to solve a problem. It taught manners, safety, the importance of family, the value of studying and the usefulness of the library. I thought it was a wonderful book for autumn, not only because it was about a harvest festival, but because the students went to an apple farm and learned all about picking apples and making cider.

I recommend this book for anyone who has a child interested in science. This book and series is a fantastic way to introduce children to science. It is a terrific story for homeschoolers to read along with their states of matter lesson. Also, Lucy, the main character in the story, has her very own Pinterest page that has the science activities Lucy did in the book (and more), so children can do the same experiments as Lucy.

I was provided with a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in the Lucy's Lab series and my 6 year old twins enjoyed it even more than the first. They learned a lot about solids, liquids, and gases as we read. The best part for me was that they started applying what they learned to our every day life. These books are well written and perfect for kids, especially girls, who are interested in STEM topics. We are looking forward to reading the third book in the series.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so cute!! This book is about a girl named Lucy who loves science. Her 2nd grade class is learning about the states of matter and she really digs into it. She discovers the 4th state (plasma) on her own so she gets to present to her class. The whole class goes to an apple orchard and one kid eats a TON of apples and the excess fiber gives him gas, ha! I loved how many experiments they did and that they included one of their worksheets. We did it all at home. So fun!