Melissa Stewart
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Down to Earth

Down to Earth

by Melis­sa Stewart

Com­pass Point Books, 2004

for Grades 1–3

ISBN 978–075650-595–0 (HC)

Pur­chase this book at your local inde­pen­dent book­seller or Amazon.com.

What’s the best way to learn about rocks and soil? By doing the inde­pen­dent activ­i­ties pre­sent­ed in this book. The text’s open-end­ed ques­tions and clear, age-appro­pri­ate expla­na­tions help stu­dents dis­cov­er the sci­ence all around them.

Scholas­tic Book Clubs now offers this book in a small­er for­mat that’s per­fect for out­door explorations.

Honors and Awards

  • Nation­al Sci­ence Teach­ers Asso­ci­a­tion Rec­om­mend­ed Titles
  • Sci­ence Books & Films Best Books for Children

Reviews

“Through­out these infor­ma­tive titles, the author pos­es ques­tions, asks stu­dents to make pre­dic­tions, and sug­gests sim­ple exper­i­ments and obser­va­tions that will enhance their under­stand­ing of basic sci­ence con­cepts. Empha­sis is placed on look­ing, but not dis­turb­ing one’s nat­ur­al sur­round­ings. Exper­i­ments are clear­ly marked with icons for read­ing direc­tions care­ful­ly, seek­ing adult help, and turn­ing to the Doing More sec­tion at the end of each book. Cap­tions rein­force the sci­en­tif­ic method. Stewart’s books will be espe­cial­ly wel­come in school libraries where the demand is high.” (School Library Jour­nal)

“Few books that I’ve seen so clear­ly empha­size the process of doing sci­ence: observ­ing, col­lect­ing, record­ing, and exper­i­ment­ing with nat­ur­al spec­i­mens, along with think­ing about them.” (Sci­ence Books & Film)

“I rec­om­mend the Inves­ti­gate Sci­ence series because of the author’s con­struc­tivist approach. The books set the stage for begin­ning read­ers to active­ly use inquiry skills with­in their sci­ence con­tent. Author Melis­sa Stew­art places a pre­mi­um on blend­ing read­ing and sci­ence inquiry skills. The kid-friend­ly text invites the read­er to observe using all five sens­es, gath­er data, orga­nize data, and make charts and draw­ings to describe what they observed. Based on the obser­va­tions and data, the read­er pre­dicts out­comes to the Doing More activ­i­ties with­in the book. The sci­ence con­tent is accu­rate and age appro­pri­ate … This is what learn­ing and teach­ing ele­men­tary sci­ence should be!” (NSTA)

Behind the Book

“When my edi­tor asked me to cre­ate a series of hands-on, inquiry-based sci­ence books for ear­ly ele­men­tary stu­dents, he left all the details of for­mat, design, and pre­sen­ta­tion up to me. My first task was to deter­mine which top­ics would be best for this lev­el. One of the sub­jects I chose was air. Next, I thought about the most engag­ing way to reach my read­ers. The result is a nov­el approach that uses ques­tions to get kids direct­ly involved in the science.”

Series at a Glance

You’ll also enjoy …

Inves­ti­gate Science

Air Is Everywhere
Animals All Around
Down to Earth
Fun with the Sun
A Parade of Plants
Use Your Senses
What's the Weather?
The Wonders of Water
Down to Earth

by Melis­sa Stewart

Com­pass Point Books, 2004

for Grades 1–3

ISBN 978–075650-595–0 (HC)

Pur­chase this book at your local inde­pen­dent book­seller or Amazon.com.