Physical Science
What is stuff made of? How do things move from one spot to another? Why don't we all float away from Earth? How do we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel things? Why do things feel hot or cold? What does hot and cold even mean? How do magnets and hot air balloons work? What is light? Why do we hear thunder before we see lightning?
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These are just a few of the questions you'll find answers to in Physical Science, an early encyclopedia written for Grade 2 but enjoyable and informative for science enthusiasts of all ages.
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Jump to what you want:
The Series
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Physical Science is one of six books in the grade-level nonfiction series, Early Encyclopedias, which explores the basics of key scientific fields of study:
Writing the Book
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I've always enjoyed learning more about the sciences, especially physical science, and my children can tell you that I love to dazzle (my word, not theirs) them with explanations about everything around us. We went to Chicago not too long ago, and my youngest, then 9, kept hanging on to my backpack. As you might predict, that made it harder to walk, and we were walking A LOT, so working harder to walk was becoming tiring. So, I proceeded to explain to him why what he was doing was making me work harder, which means expending more energy, by generating forces like drag that countered the various forces involved in walking and moving forward. Well, he decided it was better to stop hanging on to me than to get another lesson.
Physical Science begins with an introduction explaining the discipline. It is then organized into seven content areas: Matter and Energy, Motion and Forces, Sound, Light, Machines, Electricity, and Magnetism. It also includes a glossary and a list of resources to learn more about the various topics. I can't really pick favorites, because I love them all, but I definitely had fun with Matter and Energy and Machines. Check out a few spreads ...
​Resources
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Got budding scientists or just generally curious young minds? You don't get much better than Nasa Space Place if you have young learners interested in learning about the world and the universe around us. This website has so many wonderful tools, games, and other resources. You can learn a lot about physical sciences from the games and other material provided here.
​​You'll find a lot of great resources online and in print these days if you go looking. While researching, I stumbled on 10 Easy & Fun Physical Science Activities for Preschoolers, 6 Simple Physics Science Experiments for Kids, and 80 of the Best Physics Projects for Clever Kids. They have some great hands-on learning ideas.
I've also listed other resources on my website under Links: Educational Resources. I compiled these by subject area during the pandemic.
National Geographic has fantastic articles on their Physical Sciences landing page and some wonderful video offerings on their National Geographic Kids Spectacular Science landing page, with links to fun games and other resources, too. I especially like their How Things Work videos. Check out this one:
On that note, we've always loved The Mythbusters. They do some crazy stuff that you don't want your young scientists trying at home, per se, so I recommend previewing their videos and episodes and watching them with your mini-Mad Scientists, but they can be so much fun and offer a great, entertaining way to get people, young and older, thinking in scientific ways. Phew. That was a long sentence. I might come back and break it up later ...
That brings me to my final favorite go-to resource: PBS' Crash Course video lessons, which range across subjects and age groups. I adore these, and I use them as resources for students and for my kids and just for myself quite a bit. Crash Course Kids has several series of videos dedicated to Earth Science, Engineering, Life Science, Physical Science: Gravity, Physical Science: Matter, and Space Science. The upper-level (high school) Crash Course videos take up specific subjects, including Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Ecology, and more. Check out the Crash Course Kids "What's Matter?" video:
And now, get reading, watching, experimenting, and exploring! Excelsior!