Bobby Mercer

"Biology is the study of life, and all the wonderful, squishy, messy parts that living things are made of. And children love messy science, especially hands-on experimentation! Junk Drawer Biology will demonstrate that you don't need high-tech equipment to make learning fun-just what you can find in your recycling bin and around the house. Aspiring doctors can build a model of human lungs with balloons and a soda bottle, and a homemade stethoscope...

For many children, geometry is best understood as a hands-on subject. What better way to explore concepts such as area, perimeter, and volume than actually measuring area, perimeter, and volume? With this handy resource, children will build polygons out of pipe cleaners and flexible drinking straws, explore Mobius strips made from index cards, and model the Pythagorean Theorem using cheese crackers. These activities and more can be found in Junk Drawer...

A project book for young readers with a need for speed, this work provides instruction on 25 easy-to-construct racecars that can be driven both indoors and out. They will learn how to use mousetraps, rubber bands, chemical reactions, gravity, and air pressure to power the cars that are made for little or no cost using recycled and repurposed materials. Readers will discover how to turn a potato chip can, a rubber band, and weights into a Chip-Can...

Learn how to create 50 physics experiments using common junk drawer items.

Children love challenges, especially ones that involve hands-on experimentation and friendly competition. Can they build a bridge using only pasta and glue, one that a toy car can drive both under and over, and is sturdy enough to carry a considerable weight? Can they construct a roller coaster from recycled cardboard tubes in which the marble car jumps a track to land safely at its final destination? And can they create a device to safely catch a...