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What's the Big Idea?: Amazing Science Questions for the Curious Kid
Why does a rolling ball stop rolling? Why doesn’t the sun burn out? Why can’t you unscramble an egg? Why can’t we live forever? These are all questions that a curious kid might ask. In What’s the BIG Idea? , renowned juvenile science educator Vicki Cobb answers these and thirty-one other fascinating questions to help kids learn more about the world through the wonders of science.
A big idea is one that has no simple or easy answer, and there are four big ideas in this motion, energy, matter, and life. The motion of nonliving objects—rolling balls, falling stones, the moon and stars—seems so ordinary and familiar that most people take it for granted. Matter, on the other hand, comes in so many different forms—solids, liquids, gases, metals, nonmetals, living material—it is hard to imagine anything that all matter has in common. Energy is an idea that is in the news just about every day, yet most people couldn’t tell you what the big idea of energy is. And life seems mind-boggling and infinitely complicated. How do we bend our brains around it?
Scientists learn by asking questions. And What’s the Big Idea? is designed to make young readers stop and think about each of the thirty-five questions before reading what scientists have learned that answers each question. They’ll be able to do simple things to see for themselves and build their own scientific knowledge in the process. By the time they’ve finished this book, they’ll have a pretty good idea of what science is all about.
A big idea is one that has no simple or easy answer, and there are four big ideas in this motion, energy, matter, and life. The motion of nonliving objects—rolling balls, falling stones, the moon and stars—seems so ordinary and familiar that most people take it for granted. Matter, on the other hand, comes in so many different forms—solids, liquids, gases, metals, nonmetals, living material—it is hard to imagine anything that all matter has in common. Energy is an idea that is in the news just about every day, yet most people couldn’t tell you what the big idea of energy is. And life seems mind-boggling and infinitely complicated. How do we bend our brains around it?
Scientists learn by asking questions. And What’s the Big Idea? is designed to make young readers stop and think about each of the thirty-five questions before reading what scientists have learned that answers each question. They’ll be able to do simple things to see for themselves and build their own scientific knowledge in the process. By the time they’ve finished this book, they’ll have a pretty good idea of what science is all about.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2010
60 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Vicki Cobb
115 books106 followers Vicki Cobb, the “Master Chef of Hands-on Science,” a graduate of Barnard College and Columbia’s Teachers College, is a former science teacher with a M.A. in secondary school science. The publication of her classic book, Science Experiments You Can Eat, (an updated, revised edition was released in 2016 by HarperCollins) established her as an innovator in hands-on science. Take a look on her website www.vickicobb.com to get a sense of her playful and accessible approach to science in her 90+ books for grades K-8 that cover physics, chemistry and biology, biographies, geography, and the human body.
She is also pioneering a video project based on her book We Dare You! Check out the hilarious videos at www.wedareyouvideos.com
She has performed “Science Surprises,” her interactive and engrossing show for kids, in 49 of the fifty states (missing only North Dakota) as well as internationally. A veteran motivator/professional development presenter of day-long in-services/keynote speaker, Vicki uses her expertise, humor, wit and background as an educator to inspire teachers to make science teaching the highpoint of their day. Currently she is president and founder of iNK Think Tank, Inc., a nonprofit company that focuses on the contribution that nonfiction literature and its authors can make to education. She contributes to: The Nonfiction Minute, www.nonfictionminute.org/ (which has had 5+ million page views over the past five years) and has been a Contributor to the Huffington Post and has recently launched www.vickicobbsblog.com in connection with the Nonfiction Minute, where she writes commentary on education and reviews nonfiction books as inspiring reading for children hungry to learn about the real world. .
Vicki Cobb received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012.
She is also pioneering a video project based on her book We Dare You! Check out the hilarious videos at www.wedareyouvideos.com
She has performed “Science Surprises,” her interactive and engrossing show for kids, in 49 of the fifty states (missing only North Dakota) as well as internationally. A veteran motivator/professional development presenter of day-long in-services/keynote speaker, Vicki uses her expertise, humor, wit and background as an educator to inspire teachers to make science teaching the highpoint of their day. Currently she is president and founder of iNK Think Tank, Inc., a nonprofit company that focuses on the contribution that nonfiction literature and its authors can make to education. She contributes to: The Nonfiction Minute, www.nonfictionminute.org/ (which has had 5+ million page views over the past five years) and has been a Contributor to the Huffington Post and has recently launched www.vickicobbsblog.com in connection with the Nonfiction Minute, where she writes commentary on education and reviews nonfiction books as inspiring reading for children hungry to learn about the real world. .
Vicki Cobb received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012.
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