Crazy Contraptions by Laura Perdew

Crazy Contraptions by Laura Perdew

An exciting book about the chain reaction world of Rube Goldberg for middle schoolers, including 25 engineering design projects that get middle schoolers applying the laws of physics to their own inventions as they learn the scientific principles behind the actions and reactions they create.

Why use a simple hand motion to wipe your mouth when you can build a machine to do it for you? Toppling dominoes, rolling marbles, racing balloon cars, springing catapults, and whizzing zip-lines are all elements used to build Rube Goldberg machines in Crazy Contraptions: Build Rube Goldberg Machines that Swoop, Spin, Stack, and Swivel with Hands-On Engineering Activities. The book introduces kids ages 9-12 (and beyond ) to the wacky machines designed by Goldberg, which were based on complicated chain reactions used to accomplish very simple, sometimes ridiculous, tasks.

- Through contraptions, the book discusses the basics of physics, including force, motion, and work. Each chapter introduces one of the six simple machines and how they can be used in Rube Goldberg contraptions--inclined planes, levers, wheels and axles, wedges, screws, and pulleys.

- Kids are challenged to design, build, and evaluate dozens of increasingly complex contraptions that do things like unscrew a lid, turn the page of a book, and pop a balloon.

- Projects use materials already in most homes--reimagining and repurposing everyday items, as well as mining the recycling

- Contraption hints, essential questions, short sidebars, and links to online primary resources help readers learn the basics of force, work, motion, and simple machines, while exploring their creativity as they design and build their own crazy contraptions.

About the Build It Engineering set and Nomad Press
Crazy Contraptions is part of a set of two Build It Engineering books that explore the engineering technology behind our daily lives. The other titles in this series is Bots Robotic Engineering with Hands-On Makerspace Activities.

Nomad Press books in the Build It series integrate content with participation. 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.

Laura Perdew is an author, writing consultant, and former middle school teacher. She has written more than 30 books for the education market on a wide range of subjects including, wetlands conservation, renewable energy, animal adaptations, and extinction. Her book Biodiversity: Explore the Diversity of Life on Earth (Nomad Press, 2019) earned a Booklist starred review and was a Junior Library Guild selection. Laura is a long-time member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and an avid runner and hiker. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Shululu (Hui Li) has always been driven by curiosity. She is the illustrator of several nonfiction picture books from Nomad Press. She earned a PhD in computational chemistry from the University of Chicago and her research has been published in the world's most influential science journals, including Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. She lives with her family in New York, New York.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781619308268
ISBN 10	1619308266
Title	Crazy Contraptions
Author	Laura Perdew
Series	Build It Yourself
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Nomad Press
Year published	2019-10-08
Number of pages	128
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable