As a teacher, I was always creating teaching units. Each chapter became one as I found or devised notes, work sheets, labs and more.
Once I started writing science books, this changed. The elements stayed the same. However, I could add so much more.
Trivia is interesting. My first science book “The Pumpkin Project” is full of fun facts about pumpkins.
Telling Stories
The trivia led me on to other interesting things about pumpkins. Since I garden, I buy those little seed packets. This book let me find out how those seeds get into the packets.
Then there are the giant pumpkins. These are not the big Halloween kinds. These are the monsters grown by people around the world that can easily top a hundred pounds with records now over a ton! Who grows these and how? I asked and wrote a story about them.
Creating Puzzles
Teaching classes I often used worksheets. These didn’t seem to fit well in my science book. I put in puzzles instead.
There are sites online to create puzzles. I prefer to make my own. Hidden words, skeletons, tales, deduction and sayings are some of them.
“The City Water Project”
Writing about pumpkins was so interesting I looked over my teaching units and found some about water. There are so many interesting things about water, this substance we depend on, but take for granted.
Using the same model, the book has lots of trivia, stories, puzzles (including coloring pages), investigations and activities. Since this was not for a class lab, I could include some activities like boiling water in a paper boat that I couldn’t use in school.
Creating Teaching Units
Few people were interested in my science books. This was very disappointing to me. Part of it was that few people knew about them. Part of it was how much the books had to cost to cover printing costs.
I loved teaching science. I want others to discover how interesting science is. So I am trying to make my science books more accessible by making them into teaching units.
What I’ve discovered is that I can’t just break up a book into units. As I separate each part, I have to make sure my results and puzzle answers are there. Each has an introduction.
Summer is the time to play with water. Maybe some people will enjoy doing these Investigations, Activities and puzzles this summer and find out science can be fun.
