Ace Your Math and Measuring Science Project: Great Science Fair Ideas

Math and measurements have played a big role in scientific discovery since ancient times. Use math and measurement to figure out how big a raindrop is, discover the first units of measure, and more! Learn about the scientific method with the great experiments in this book. Many experiments include ideas you can use for your science fair project.

Children's Literature

Part of the "Ace Your Science Project" series by award-winning author Robert Gardner, the book starts with units of measure and their origins. A fathom was originally the length of an adult's arm spread, from finger-tip to finger-tip, and half a fathom, or one yard, was the length from the adult's nose to the outstretched fingers. Since this is a science project book, however, and not a dictionary, Gardner immediately challenges the reader to check out her own "fathom" and measure it. Is it the two standard yards? How far off is it? In a breezy style that does not belabor the obvious, the book covers basics that readers will need for their experiments but then moves on quickly. For example, readers learn how to find the surface area of an object but then apply that knowledge by experimenting with surface area and heat loss. Other topics include areas and acres, math, temperature and heat, and indirect measurements. The last category has my favorite project in this book. Students are asked to find out how big a raindrop is. Using cardboard covered with flour, they can see and measure the droplets. Many of the projects have science fair call outs, offering questions and suggestions to expand the project into a science fair type experiment. Backmatter includes an appendix with conversion tables, lists of further reading, and an index. Reviewer: Amy S. Hansen