The Way Things Work (original 1988; edition 2004)

NA

600

Thought I wanted to read this and kept it on my bookshelf for years and sometimes looked at one or two pages but could never get myself to read more than that at one time. Finally I gave up.

This is a well illustrated book about the way that different machines and technologies work. I would use this with older grades, who have a better grasp at reading these types of texts. There are several inventions present in the story and I would have students make their own invention after reading it.

This book has many different contraptions built in the past, that explain all sorts of inventions and why they work, whether it is from physics or the parts installed into it.
This book I would not recommend using it as a class book, I would allow students to look at it on their own time and maybe even use it for projects. There are many words and complicated ideas in the book, so I would not recommend it for any struggling readers, and deffinitly not for any low grades. I do like the idea of using it at science time for a quick 5 minute lesson on an invention. ( )