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The following listing includes books that
pertain to solids, liquids, gases, and their properties. One book
considers the effects of taking these forms of matter into extreme
temperature conditions. Several books show phase change, evaporation,
heat transfer and filtration to explain how refrigeration and
air conditioning work and how water is purified.
A Chilling Story: How Things Cool Down
Everybody Needs a Rock
Hot-Air Henry
The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks
Splash! All About Baths
Supersuits
Very Last First Time
Water’s Way
A Chilling Story: How Things Cool Down
by Eve and Albert Stwertka; illustrated by Mena Dolobowsky
Julian Messner/Simon & Schuster, New York. 1991
Grades: 4–8
How refrigeration and air conditioning work are explained
simply, with sections on heat transfer, evaporation, and expansion.
Humorous black and white drawings show a family and its cat testing
out the principles in their home. This book connects well to the
experiments involving dry ice and liquid nitrogen in the GEMS
guide.
Return to title list.
Everybody Needs a Rock
by Byrd Baylor; illustrated by Peter Parnall
Aladdin Books, New York. 1974
Grades: K–5
This book describes the qualities to consider when selecting
the perfect rock for play and pleasure. In so doing, the properties
of color, size, shape, texture, and smell are discussed in such
a way that you’ll want to rush out and find a rock of your
own. Nice introduction or follow-up to a discussion of the properties
of solids.
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Hot-Air Henry
by Mary Calhoun; illustrated by Erick Ingraham
William Morrow, New York. 1981
Grades: K–3
Henry, a spunky Siamese cat, stows away on a hot air balloon
and accidentally gets a solo flight. He learns that there is more
to ballooning than just watching as he deals with air currents,
power lines, and manipulating the gas burner. Though the format
and style of the book are aimed at primary grades, information
on ballooning and the more complex concept that hot air becomes
less dense are also presented.
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The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks
by Joanna Cole; illustrated by Bruce Degen
Scholastic, New York. 1986
Grades: K–6
When Ms. Frizzle takes her class on a field trip to the waterworks,
everyone ends up experiencing the water purification system from
the inside. Evaporation, the water cycle, and filtration are just
a few of the concepts explored in this whimsical field trip. The
phase changes of water, from solid to liquid to gas, provide a
familiar example for all ages of some of the concepts explored
in this assembly presenter’s guide.
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Splash! All About Baths
by Susan K. Buxbaum and Rita G. Gelman; illustrated
by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Little, Brown & 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. Received the American
Institute of Physics Science Writing Award.
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Supersuits
by Vicki Cobb; illustrated by Peter Lippman
J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia. 1975
Grades: 4–7
This book describes severe environmental conditions that require
special clothing for survival such as freezing cold, fire, underwater
work, and thin or non-existent air. “Going Where It’s
Cold” talks about solids, liquids, and gases at cold temperatures.
Return to title list.
Very Last First Time
by Jan Andrews; illustrated by Ian Wallace
Atheneum, New York. 1986
Grades: 2–4
An Inuit girl, Eva, walks by herself (for the “very first
last time”) in a sea-floor cavern under the frozen ocean
ice when the tide goes out, gathering mussels and making discoveries.
Later, her candle goes out, and the tide starts to come in, roaring
louder, while the ice shrieks and creaks. Terrified at first,
Eva recovers, and eventually finds her way to the surface and
her waiting mother. Although the book does not scientifically
explain the freezing of the top of the sea or the action of the
tides, you and your class may want to discuss these questions:
“Why does only the top part of the water freeze?” “Why
does the ice stay intact even when the water underneath it goes
out with the tide?” The images of Eva on the sea floor beneath
the ice are unique and fascinating. The descriptive language and
Eva’s intense interest in nature exemplify excellent scientific
observation skills.
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Water’s Way
by Lisa W. Peters; illustrated by Ted Rand
Arcade Publishing/Little, Brown & Co., New York. 1991
Grades: K–3
“Water has a way of changing” inside and outside
Tony’s house, from clouds to steam to fog and other forms.
Innovative illustrations show the changes in the weather outside
while highlighting water changes inside the house.
Return to title list.
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