Chemistry Fun

I may or may not have told you recently that we're studying chemistry.  So, we're studying chemistry.  It's our second time through and it's fun to be working at a bit higher level.

We're using Real Science 4 Kids and adding in some "extra" books to make it more exciting.  And because I can't use any curriculum without messing around with it.  I have issues.

There are three resources that have been particularly fun though, thus the purpose of this post.

First, the book The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray.  My boys have spent hours looking through this large, glossy book.  It's fascinating to actually be able to see some of the things we're reading about and to see what they are used for.

Second, another book called The Periodic Table: Elements with Style! by Simon Basher.  This is more cartoony, but still gives solid information in a way my boys appreciate and remember.

We use it in conjunction with these videos from the University of Nottingham (heehee, I love that name!).  They have a video for every element (except two or three) and they show you what it looks like, the professor discusses it and they do an experiment or two.  I thought the videos might be over their heads, but they love them!  We read about one element per day and watch the corresponding video.