In a nearby town there is the most wonderful little store with an amazing collection of books at good prices. I have spent quite a bit of time and money there buying books for school. Occasionally, I stumble upon a really good deal or fantastic title. And this is one of them.
Biblioteca de los experimentos is an exceptional textbook filled with fun scientific information and activities. I’m not sure how something of this quality ended up in my little store, but I was quick to grab every last one so that I could share them with you.
The book is actually a compilation of four different books. Each section covers a different concept and includes a hands-on activity that reinforces the subject matter. Students are encouraged to make observations and to create their own hypotheses. At the beginning of each section there is a table of contents, a brief introduction, and a list of materials needed for the activities. There is also an index at the end of each section for quick reference.
The first book is on maps and cartography (mapas y cartografía). Children learn how to read a map and are introduced to related concepts such as scale, symbols, elevation, angle measurement, and latitude and longtitude.
Section two covers weather and climate (tiempo y clima). Students learn about the types of weather, seasons, the power of the sun, air pressure, changes in weather and meteorology/predicting the weather. This section has some of the best activities in my opinion.
Section three discusses rivers and oceans (ríos y océanos). It covers key concepts such as the water cycle, contamination, and glacier movement, as well as more detailed information about rivers (their origin, winding rivers, how they affect the land, etc.) and oceans (currents, waves, coast formation, filtration, etc.)
And finally, section four focuses on mountains and volcanoes (montañas y volcanes). Kids may like this section best for the fun activities (who doesn’t like making a volcano?). But fun activities aside, kids will learn about the layers of the earth’s crust, plate tectonics, earthquakes, mountain formation, erosion, fossils, igneous rocks, hot springs, etc.
This book is written completely in Spanish and I have not seen an English version. But bilingual families can easily translate the lessons. This textbook is definitely geared for older children (ages 7 and up).
This book seems to be extremely hard to find in this country. I don't know how my bookstore was able to get these, but there is only one on Amazon and it is crazy expensive. I haven't found any other stores on-line that carry it. If you’d like to purchase a copy, I have a few available on a first-come, first-served basis. Just visit the Mommy Maestra Specials page.