Best how things work books for children according to redditors

Stembox seems cool, although I haven't had the budget for it (the price is not unreasonable).



That said... I find most of my science ideas on Pinterest and YouTube. (scishow and scishow kids, veritaseum, how it's made, etc. Also vi hart's doodling in math class thing about phi and plants).

We are usually learning more in depth about something that we encountered in real life, trying to solve a problem, or learning more about the underlying reasoning and mechanics behind something.

One thing that I would like to say is that making something "for girls" is a slippery slope. Remember that girls are diverse and three dimensional. We are not split up into fashion lovers, pet lovers, tomboys/sports lovers, geeks, and family focused.... You can, and do, find all those in the same kid. Wonder Woman, for example, resonates because she is three dimensional: good at sports, smart to the point of being geeky (reads teaching stuff for fun), enjoys dressing pretty, and loves babies.

I think Goldie Blox really screwed up their idea to engage girls, by having cool mechanical stuff and then wanting to make cutesy rhyming books that do not adequately explain the methodology and usage of their kits.

For example,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/155453707X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ZYMvzbT1XC61M this is the best book, and https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkmP5w6G4UM_N1uXdIATJ3BfXVcPHoXhf these are great videos about simple machines like ramps and levers.

Something at this level that helps kids understand the the concepts all the way at the basic level, then applied into a project for the box (say it's about levers: make a catapult, then make changes based on this info that help it to shoot farther), then explained into some situations that you might experience (building a pillow fort [https://youtu.be/iPZEwqkY5TQ] riding a seesaw with a smaller friend, lifting something to move it), allows them to engage with the project emotionally and be able to apply it to every leverage situation that they come up with later in life.

Same would apply for other fields, although those aren't as easy to provide glib examples for in a reddit comment.

In my experience, girls tend to be more socially oriented, not meaning more EXTRAVERTED, but thinking about how things they encounter will fit into situations with other people. They are more likely to be enthusiastic about something cute (eg puss in boots' sad face, fuzzy baby things etc), which boys usually like but won't necessarily get excited about. Lego did market research and found that girls are more concerned than boys with the appearance of something, specifically making sure that the pieces match and looking for symmetry, than boys are. The girls' fine motor skills develop faster/earlier, while their spatial reasoning skills lag a little - so maybe when building a kit, to ensure girls stay engaged, show things from multiple angles.

So some concrete ideas:

• Don't just show an abstract 2D diagram, but also a photo or 3D representation of the thing.
  
• Have both cute (a kitten) and icky things (a germ or a monster) in the margins, making helpful comments.
  
• If you provide decoration materials for a finished product, include twice as much so it can be twice as fancy, or they can decorate something else to match.
  
• Make an effort to color coordinate the pieces. All shades of the same color, like a paint swatch, is a good bet. (maybe keep it to no more than 3 complementary colors per kit - 2 bold and one light/pastel)
  
• Be sure to include descriptions of how this item can be used to connect to the world around them, particularly for conflict resolution and being helpful or supportive.
  
• Don't just provide a project and tell why that exact set of steps works, but ensure that the underlying concept will be understood well enough to apply it to other situations.
  
  Hope this is helpful.

We have snap circuits too, those are great. Also, LEGOS! I have an engineer minded dude, too, and he's loved Legos his whole life. I have big 6 foot table with drawers for organizing, set up in his room for him to build on. We don't have robotic Legos, but those are a thing, too, hope to get some for him soon. If you're in a bigger city, you probably have a First Lego League your son can play on, they often do stuff with robotics! As far as books, idk, what's he interested in? "The Way Things Work" by David McCauley is a cool book. So is this one:https://www.amazon.com/Basher-Science-Engineering-Riveting-Buildings/dp/0753473119/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=23W3GNNF2QZDC0REKGZ3&ref_=zg_bs_3250_17

Any books in the Dorling Kindersley series are great.

http://www.amazon.ca/Science-Encyclopedia-Dorling-JOANNA-Kindersley/dp/0756642965/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332634566&sr=1-2

www.amazon.ca/Dorling-Kindersley-Science-Encyclopedia/dp/0751356417/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332634566&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.ca/Cool-Stuff-Exploded-Dorling-Kindersley/dp/0756673267/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332634605&sr=1-1

Any other books with exploded views are great.

More for when they're older but these books were amazing when I was a kid:

http://www.amazon.ca/Handy-Science-Answer-Book/dp/1578593212/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332634709&sr=1-2

Horrible science books are great too:

http://www.amazon.ca/Horrible-Science-Blood-Bones-Body/dp/0545993245/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332634757&sr=1-4

Big book of experiments are fun because you can read about them together at night and do them the next day. Definitely gets kids excited to do science and puts it in their head a little longer:

http://www.amazon.ca/Great-Science-Experiments-Dorling-Kindersley/dp/0756619181/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332634816&sr=1-1

There are bunch of other great resources too but I always found the best types of books are ones that are either very pictorial and visual, or ones that break complex subjects down into quick question and answer blocks. It's a great opportunity to learn, and to learn how to read, which I personally believe is the biggest key to being a great learner later in life.

Consider:

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Book-Cross-sections-DK-Publishing/dp/0789411954

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Complete-Vehicles-DK/dp/1465408746/ref=sr_1_2?

s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486531971&sr=1-2&keywords=star+wars+complete+cross+sections

https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Biestys-Cross-Sections-Man-War/dp/156458321X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486531994&sr=1-1&keywords=stephen+biesty+man+of+war

http://www.amazon.com/How-Things-Work-Parents-Technology/dp/0895776944/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1310244848&sr=8-11

• How Do You Lift a Lion? or What's Faster Than a Speeding Cheetah by Robert E. Wells
  
• Move It!: Motion, Forces and You by Adrienne Mason
  
• And Everyone Shouted, "Pull!": A First Look at Forces and Motion by Claire Llewellyn
  
• Baby Loves Quarks! by Ruth Spiro
  
• ABCs of Physics by A.C. Lemonwood
  
  Some of the target ages of those books are higher than what you're potentially looking for, but hopefully something in there could be what you need!

My favorite book like that was cutaway cars http://www.amazon.com/The-Usborne-Book-Cutaway-Cars/dp/0746017170

Not sure of the yellow cover, but it might be:

Stephen Biesty's Incredible Cross-Sections

Ultimate Book of Cross-sections

Stephen Biesty's Absolute Best Cross Section Book Ever

​

>but I do study secondary education in Australia.

Ah. That explains almost all of it.

Dude, you should've lead with that. America is a third world country, IMO.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/

If you go by test scores alone, Australia is around 4% better than the US (except in reading, it's 1%), and Australia is just an entirely different country. We have less in common with Australia than we do with Canada.

>[other bits in here]

America is all about money. Money is our god, our religion, our language. Education is seen as an expense by rich people and conservatives, not so much as an investment. It's how you get people like Bush 43 that "graduated" from Yale.

I went to public school on the east coast of the US and moved a few times around the Midatlantic and South, but the school districts that I've been in were always underfunded and had race problems all over.

> Education inequality leads to manipulation of the general populace.

I agree with what you said, and I while I would go further than this, you're definitely not wrong.

>You seem to be taking these quotes literally.

I'm going to pull the sovereign citizenship argument here. I'm in the US, I'm a neoliberal, and he's unfortunately the President of my country. I had to deal with his bullshit for 3+ years already and will have to do so for the rest of my days.

>However, that quote about shooting people was said as part of a public speech. He is using it as a 'figure of speech' to boast about his popularity, as he always does.

Speech/writing is the only communication tool that we, as humans, have, before resorting to violence, to get our way. He has been consistently racist, hateful, spiteful, petty, greedy, lusting, etc. since his entrance into the megarich (and America's popularity) in 1984.

That, and America's executive branch is probably the most powerful executive branch in a "free" country. He can launch nukes and declare war without Congressional approval, to say nothing of embezzlement, accepting bribes, profiting personally, etc., because the GOP won't impeach his clearly treasonous ass.

FFS there's a running joke on /r/wallstreetbets that Trump tweets because he has S&P500 options positions (SPY PUT) and he wants to make a few million.

And we don't know how much money he has because he hasn't released his tax returns.

> I don't want to dismiss your sources as those are indeed evidence of serious corruption. But while I accept that, I don't see how even dozens of instances of corruption can allow for claims to be made about entire systems being corrupt and the US economy relying on them; that is a big leap.

Of course you wouldn't currently see how - you haven't seen enough evidence. That's the entire point of me providing the links. You wanted evidence, there you go.

>Unfortunately, the evidence that is available to those of us outside the elite is nowhere near enough to let us comment on what the elite are up to.

I have an insatiable lust for knowledge, a damn good memory, ADD, a mild form of autism, anxiety issues, a god complex and enough disposable income and time to absorb the following:

20 seasons of QI, 8 of 8 out of 10 cats

all of mythbusters

all of Top Gear

7 seasons of how it's made

300+ episodes of modern marvels

300+ episodes of planet money

150+ episodes of freakonomics

300+ episodes of rachel maddow

50 episodes of PBS frontline

150+ episodes of NOVA

all of secrets of war, WWII in HD Colour, Future Weapons, Lock and Load (note: I am a software programmer, and played 12 call of duties, guns are cool, IRL American gun owners, not so much)

100+ episodes of 99% invisible

all of more perfect

200+ episodes of radiolab

all of tell me something I don't know

7 years of car talk

all of slow burn: a podcast about watergate

all of the indicator from planet money

all of the colbert report (~200 episodes per year, 2007 to 2014)

15 years of the daily show (~200 episodes per year)

400+ episodes on khan academy's youtube

2000+ episodes of anime in sub (shoutout to /r/animemes)

all of Last Week Tonight

all of Adam Ruins Everything

Note: I grew up with more legos than I knew what to do with and basically memorized this book at age 6:

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Book-Cross-sections-DK-Publishing/dp/0789411954

The Star Wars cross section books are damn cool.

Currently grinding through about 40-60 episodes a week of old Planet Money from their website, starting from the beginning (I watch and listen to everything at 1.5 or 2x speed), which was a podcast literally created 2 days after the collapse of Lehman.

I've learned more history than most people in America, and the only reason that all of those programs were created was because of the 1st amendment protections. Rich people slip up/boast, it's just that the press is able to report, and then comedians are able to make fun of, chiefly because the rich can't clean up their messes by buying the press. Mostly.

Plus it helps that I'm a American white guy that's racist against American white people. To paraphrase Stephen Colbert - "I don't see race, but people tell me I'm white and I believe them because my driver takes to the country club every week."

It also helps that I never really fit in with anyone within 20 years of my age group until I was 18.

Brother died young, was effectively an only child after 3, parents had me late - after 35. Dad was never around (had to work nights in a lower middle class job), my aunt lived with us and was big in my family, as she was unable to have kids of her own (and was recently divorced because of it), so she helped pick up the slack because she taught english in the same school district once we moved after around 5th grade. About half of my best friends were nonwhite over the years, and those that were white were just privileged in comparison. I couldn't go over some friends' houses because their parents were afraid that I'd sue for being around gunshots.

Flatland is an awesome book. I read it in high school, and it's a nice social commentary mixed with the fun of life in multiple dimensions. Used copies are usually a dollar so I pick one up as a random gift whenever I go to the used bookstore. Plus it's free online.

I also suggest the Ultimate Book of Cross-sections. There's another informational book series I'll get then name of for you once I get home. I've been stockpiling books for my year old god daughter to read once she's older, and most of them I want to keep for myself.

How Things Work by Neil Ardley? It's from 1995, though.

If all else fails

All of the [DK Cross Section books ] (http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Book-Cross-sections-DK-Publishing/dp/0789411954) are awesome. All of my kids LOVE them.