Reference Shelf

Key: E = Elementary (K–5), I = Intermediate (6–8), HS = High School (9–12), C = College, G = General Public

DECISIONS BASED ON SCIENCE. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press, 1997. 144pp. ISBN 0-87355-165-6. (HS, C)
Making decisions is something we all need to do every day, but it is a skill that needs to be learned. This book provides a model for teaching students to use scientific, quantitative methods in their own decision making. It presents a four-step process: (1) What is the decision to be made? (2) What should happen following this decision? (3) What do we know that can help us make this decision? (4) What is the decision? The book is divided into three parts: background and curriculum, 10 guided activities, and 14 independent activities that are ready for use. Students assess risks and make decisions in areas such as smoking, diet, marine resources, old-growth forests, and growth hormones. Includes resources for finding more information.
Source: NSTA Recommends
E ENCYCLOPEDIA: THE ULTIMATE ONLINE LEARNING RESOURCE. DK Publishing and Google. NY: DK Publishing, 2003. 448 pp. ISBN 0789498693. (E, I, HS)
This book provides a general encyclopedic treatment of many academic areas. The text is accurate and easy to read, and the photographs and diagrams are eye-catching. DK Publishing has developed a website with Google.com that provides supplemental links via the Internet to various other “learning opportunities” on each of the topics it lists. This resource-within-a-resource is easy to navigate and use. The web resources include animations, videos, timelines, and real-time reports, and other related websites. This book and its companion website can eliminate wasted time surfing the web for specific information by providing the appropriate links directly from one website.
Source: NSTA Recommends
EUREKA! SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD. Leslie Alan Horvitz. NY: Wiley, 2002. 245 pp. ISBN 0-471-40276-1. (HS)
This collection of mini-biographies will provide students with a sense of the process of science, along with an appreciation of the role of chance in so many discoveries. Students will note the role of good academic preparation, because as Pasteur said: “Chance favors only the prepared mind.” This book will let your students share in historical scientific debates, and connect political and social events to progress in science. The discovery process is given life, as are the dreams of the discoverer. Students will be fascinated by stories of Priestley, Kekule, Mendeleyev, the truth about Newton’s apple, Einstein, Townes, Wegener, Darwin, Crick and Watson, and Mandelbrot. There is no bibliography of sources cited, but there is an index and a list of recommended readings.
Source: NSTA Recommends

Copyright © 2004 American Chemical Society