The Gripping Truth about Forces and Motion

November 1, 2012

Gr 5-8-This series operates on the premise that the way to get children interested in science is to pepper the text with feeble bathroom jokes and other lame attempts at humor. None of the titles is immune. It is difficult to determine what "Get your mind out of the toilet. This is isn't about poop." does to help explain Newton's second law of motion, or why the section in Magnetism titled "Gotta Go" needs "You thought about pee, didn't you?" as an aside. While some of the cartoon illustrations, photos, and diagrams do help clarify the texts, others are totally pointless. For example, a caption for a photo of a strange-looking machine raising a car in Forces reads: "We really have no idea what this picture is about. It's just really cool, so we added it here." All of the information presented is valid, but the approach is condescending.

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