A full-color introduction to the engines that power our world, packed with STEM activities and text-to-world connections that invite kids ages 7 to 10 to discovery the wonderful world of engines and motors!
From ancient times to now, engines have powered the activities of people’s lives. Engines! With Science Projects for Kids invites readers ages 7 to 10 to explore engines through hands-on STEM projects that deepen their understanding of engines, what makes them hum, and all the special jobs they do for humans.
• Learn about heat engines that power everything from trains to cars to planes to nuclear power plants.
• Examine some of the ways mechanical innovation has backfired, such as how the cotton gin extended the history of slavery in eighteenth-century America.
• Explore electric motors and the magnetism that makes them run.
• Discover pneumatic motors that power tools and torpedoes, working with air squeezed under pressure.
• Learn about hydraulic motors with fluids under pressure that power things like cranes, lawn trimmers, garbage disposals, and drilling rigs.
• Study clockwork motors powered by a spiral spring and gears that move watches, wind-up toys, and music boxes.
• Interact with engaging text that’s reinforced with 25 hands-on, science-minded projects, including building a catapult, a milk-carton conveyor belt, and a magnet-powered car, while fascinating trivia, essential questions, links to online resources, text-to-world connections, and even jokes help support deeper learning!
About the Explore Your World series and Nomad Press
Nomad Press books in the Explore Your World series integrate content with participation, encouraging readers to engage in student-directed learning. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad’s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.
All books are leveled for Guided Reading level and Lexile and align with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.
All titles are available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats.
Donna B. McKinney is the author of more than 10 nonfiction books for kids on topics ranging from science and technology to history to sports. Some of those titles include STEM in Snowboarding; Careers for Tech Girls in Graphic Design; Getting to Know JavaScript; and It’s Great to Be a Fan in North Carolina. Before she wrote for children, she spent many years writing about science and technology topics, including chemistry, space science, and robotics, at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. She has a BA in English from Campbell University and an MA in Professional Writing and Editing from George Mason University. She lives in North Carolina.
Tom Casteel is an illustrator and cartoonist that graduated from the Center for Cartoon Studies in 2011. He has illustrated more than two dozen books for Nomad Press. Tom lives in South Bend, Indiana with his wife, son, two smelly dogs and one old cat.
