Recreate Discoveries About Living Things

Although there is great value in providing opportunities for young scientists to investigate, create and invent on their own, there is also value in exposing them to some of the great ideas and discoveries of scientists who have gone before them. The “Recreate Scientific Discoveries” series by Crabtree Publishing is excellent at briefly summarizing the scientific theory behind each invention or discovery and giving students a hands-on activity to apply the knowledge.

Recreate Discoveries About Living Things is part of the “Recreate Scientific Discoveries” series. Like other books in this series, Recreate Discoveries About Living Things is filled with easy to follow step-by-step directions for projects based on a scientific theme, in this case the projects are about living things.

The instructions are clear and well-illustrated. The list of “What You Need” for each project requires items commonly found in your home. Some activities do recommend adult assistance or supervision.

Step 5
With an adult’s help, add one plant dye to the water, and let it simmer. For one pot of water, use a large handful of fruit or vegetables, or one package of turmeric. If you’re using beetroot, ask an adult to chop it into small pieces.

The series follows the standard nonfiction format, including a table of contents, glossary, index, and a short list of books and websites with further information on the topics.

Recreate Discoveries About Living Things is organized into 10 projects of increasing complexity in different areas of the Life Sciences, including plants, animals, the human body, DNA, and fossils. Each project provides some background information about a person who was originated or contributed to the knowledge in each area. For example, students will create a stethoscope from plastic tubing, funnels and a timer, based on the work of René Laennec (1781-1826).

In 1816, René Laennec was a busy doctor in a large hospital in Paris. One day, he was having problems checking a patient’s heartbeat. He remembered that he’d recently seen children playing with wooden tubes, making noises at one end and listening at the other. So he rolled several sheets of paper into a tube, held one end to the woman’s heart, and put his ear to the other. It worked! He heard the patient’s heartbeat loud and clear. Following this discovery Laennec designed a simple hollow wooden tube with a listening piece at one end. He had invented the first version of the stethoscope, which gets its name from the Greek words for “chest-looking”.

Students will find lots to do and learn in Recreate Discoveries About Living Things. The historic information combined with the simple projects will encourage young readers to think more deeply about each of the topics while experiencing the success of apply the knowledge through a simple hands-on activity. Sure to be popular with multimodal learners.