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Several books pertain to technology and inventions, relating
nicely to Activity 1. There are also two books which relate to
aerodynamics and dynamic lift, a perfect complement to Activity
4. There’s a book of poems about color providing a good extension
to Activity 5. A question and answer type book focuses on bubbles,
soap, water, and baths in general. An excellent “ecological
mystery” explores many subjects, including phosphates in
detergents. We expected to find many more connections
to the wide-ranging bubble- and physical science-related activities
in this guide, and look forward to your suggestions.
Better Mousetraps: Product Improvements
That Led to Success
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car
Danny Dunn and the Heat Ray
Glorious Flight
Hailstones and Halibut Bones: Adventures in Color
The Missing ‘Gator of Gumbo Limbo:
An Ecological Mystery
The Paper Airplane Book
The Rejects: People and Products that
Outsmarted the Experts
Ruby Mae Has Something To Say
Splash! All About Baths
The Toothpaste Millionaire
The Unsung Heroes: Unheralded People Who
Invented Famous Products
Better Mousetraps:
Product Improvements That Led to Success
by Nathan Aaseng
Lerner Publications, Minneapolis. 1990
Grades: 5–10
The book’s focus is on “improvers, refiners, and
polishers”
and not on pioneers or trailblazers. To dramatize the results
of safety testing, Elisha Otis set up an elevator at a big exposition
in New York and had an assistant intentionally cut the cable with
Otis aboard! The safety device brought the elevator
to a halt in midfall. Getting heavy machinery to travel over muddy
ground was the challenge faced by Caterpillar Tractor Company—what
was learned in product development was
applied to tank technology in World War I. The chapter on Eastman
Kodak introduces the concept of a brand name, showing how Eastman
promoted the names “Kodak” and “Brownie.”
Return to title list.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical
Car
by Ian Fleming; illustrated by John Burningham
Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1964
Grades: 6–Adult
Wonderful series of adventures featuring a magical transforming
car, an eccentric explorer and inventor, and his 8-year-old twins.
It’s a nice combination of technical and scientific information,
much of it accurate, with a magical sense of how some machines
seem to have a mind of their own. This one definitely does; it
flies when it encounters traffic jams, becomes a boat when the
tide comes in, senses a trap, and helps catch some gangsters.
The inventing challenges in the book relate well to Activity 1.
Return to title list.
Danny Dunn and the Heat Ray
by Jay Williams and Raymond Abrashkin; illustrated
by Owen Kampen
McGraw-Hill, New York. 1962
Out of print
Grades: 4–6
Danny and his friend explore various science fair project
possibilities. They choose one that demonstrates how airplanes
fly. The story includes an explanation of dynamic lift that relates
perfectly to Activity 4.
Return to title list.
Glorious Flight
by Alice and Martin Provensen
Viking Press, New York. 1983
Grades: 2–4
This is the true story of Louis Bleriot, a pioneer of aviation,
who developed and flew a plane over the English Channel in 1909.
The evolution of the various prototypes of flying machines from
Bleriot I which “flaps like a chicken,” Bleriot II,
a glider without a motor, Bleriot VII, a “real aeroplane
that will fly,” to Bleriot XI which makes the 36-minute flight
is shown. The charming watercolor illustrations of the French
village, the Bleriot family in period costume, and the very rudimentary
aircraft emphasize the audacity of the attempt. Relates to Activity
4 of the GEMS guide, which explores principles of aerodynamics.
Caldecott award winner.
Return to title list.
Hailstones and Halibut Bones:
Adventures in Color
by Mary O’Neill; illustrated by John Wallner
Doubleday, New York. 1961, 1989
Grades: All
Twelve two-page poems of impressions of various colors. The
perceptions go far beyond visual descriptions, painting a full
spectrum of images. Connects nicely to Activity 5 of the GEMS
guide, in which students very carefully observe bubble color changes.
Return to title list.
The Missing ‘Gator of Gumbo Limbo:
An Ecological Mystery
by Jean C. George
HarperCollins, New York. 1992
Grades: 4–7
Sixth-grader Liza K and her mother live in a tent in the Florida
Everglades. She becomes a nature detective while searching for
Dajun, a giant alligator who plays a part in maintaining a waterhole’s
quality, and is marked for extinction by local officials. The
ecology of the area is changing along with new populations, condominiums,
the draining of the swamps, etc. One of the dangers noted by Liza
and her neighbor James James is the presence of PCP (from herbicides)
and phosphates (from detergents) in the water. “I checked
the detergents in the supermarket to see if the companies really
had gotten rid of the phosphates. It’s almost true. Some
laundry detergents have less than 0.5 percent, but some still
have 5 and 6 percent.” Ties in with Activities 2 and 3 of
the GEMS guide, which deal with
chemical composition of bubble solutions.
Return to title list.
The Paper Airplane Book
by Seymour Simon; illustrated by Byron Barton
Viking Press, New York. 1971
Grades: 4–8
Experiments in making paper airplanes with explanations of
the aerodynamic principles involved, which connect well to Activity
4
of this GEMS guide.
Return to title list.
The Rejects:
People and Products that Outsmarted the Experts
by Nathan Aaseng
Lerner Publications, Minneapolis. 1989
Grades: 5–10
Part of a quirky series about inventors and innovators. Some
of the rejects by “experts” include Graham Crackers,
Birdseye, Xerox, and Orville Redenbacher popcorn. Redenbacher
had a background in plant breeding and hired a genetics expert
to improve upon popcorn.
Return to title list.
Ruby Mae Has Something To Say
by David Small
Crown Publishers, New York. 1992
Grades: 2–6
This zany saga traces Ruby Mae Foote’s path from Nada,
Texas, to the United Nations. Her message of world peace cannot
be given until Billy Bob, Ruby Mae’s nephew, transforms her
tongue-tied and sometimes incomprehensible speech into earthshaking
eloquence with a Rube Goldberg-type invention—a hat she wears
called the Bobatron. The invention connects quite nicely with
the bubble-maker activities. (The photo of the author on the book
jacket wearing a Bobatron adds another laugh.)
Return to title list.
Splash! All About Baths
by Susan K. Buxbaum and Rita G. Gelman; illustrated by Maryann
Cocca-Leffler
Little, Brown and Co., Boston. 1987
Grades: K–6
Penguin answers his animal friends’ questions about baths
such as, “What shape is water?” “Why do soap and
water make you clean?” “What is a bubble?” “Why
does the water go up when you get in?” “Why do some
things float and others sink?” and other questions. Answers
to questions are both clear and simple. American Institute of
Physics Science Writing Award winner.
Return to title list.
The Toothpaste Millionaire
by Jean Merrill; illustrated by Jan Palmer
Houghton Mifflin, Boston. 1972
Grades: 5–8
Incensed by the price of a tube of toothpaste, twelve-year-old
Rufus tries making his own from bicarbonate of soda with peppermint
or vanilla flavoring. Assisted by his friend Kate and his math
class (which becomes known as Toothpaste l), his company grows
from a laundry room operation to a corporation with stocks and
bank loans. Beginning on page 47, Rufus designs a machine for
filling toothpaste tubes, which relates well to Activity 1 of
the GEMS guide.
Return to title list.
The Unsung Heroes:
Unheralded People Who Invented Famous Products
by Nathan Aaseng
Lerner Publications, Minneapolis. 1989
Grades: 5–10
This off-beat book tells the story of various products that
changed our world and their originators. Includes Coca-Cola (“Dr.
Pemberton’s Backyard Brew”), Bingo, Hoover Vacuum Cleaners
(“The Sickly Janitor”), pneumatic tires (Dunlop Corporation),
McDonald’s, and others. The archival photographs are great
fun and the positive message is that anyone’s crazy idea
might be a valid invention. Accompanies Activity 1 nicely, where
students become inventors.
Return to title list.
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