NONFICTION MINUTE
  • The Nonfiction Minute
    • Minutes to Browse July 1
    • Minutes to Browse
      • by Subject
        • English/Language Arts
        • Social Studies
        • STEM
        • Art
        • FCS/ Nutrition
        • Health & Wellness
        • Music
        • Research Skills
  • For Teachers
    • T2T Tutorial
  • AOC/Authors on Call
    • Class ACTS-Authors Collaborating with Teachers and Students
  • Print Collection
  • Contact Us
  • Help Us Out
  • Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • iNK Home
  • iNK Thinkers
  • Links for Nonfiction Minutes for the iNK Think Tank presentation
    • About
  • iNK Fall Launch books
  • Holiday
  • The Nonfiction Minute
    • Minutes to Browse July 1
    • Minutes to Browse
      • by Subject
        • English/Language Arts
        • Social Studies
        • STEM
        • Art
        • FCS/ Nutrition
        • Health & Wellness
        • Music
        • Research Skills
  • For Teachers
    • T2T Tutorial
  • AOC/Authors on Call
    • Class ACTS-Authors Collaborating with Teachers and Students
  • Print Collection
  • Contact Us
  • Help Us Out
  • Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • iNK Home
  • iNK Thinkers
  • Links for Nonfiction Minutes for the iNK Think Tank presentation
    • About
  • iNK Fall Launch books
  • Holiday
Picture
What’s the BIG Idea? Amazing Science Questions for the Curious Kid, Skyhorse Publishing, 2010, By Vicki Cobb (2012 recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science)
 
This book presents the basic scientific principles behind physics, chemistry and biology in an inquiry-driven format, recommended for grades 3-6. It can be the basic text material for many different units. Embedded in the expository material are simple hands-on activities that reinforce the concepts. It should be taught along with other books and hands-on activities that are specific examples and applications of the principles and methods of science as they apply to different topics as outlined below.
 
It meets all eight of the National Education Curriculum Standards:
·         Unifying concepts and processes in science.
·         Science as inquiry.
·         Physical science.
·         Life science.
·         Earth and space science.
·         Science and technology.
·         Science in personal and social perspective.
·         History and nature of science.
Each chapter (there are four BIG Ideas in the book; one for each chapter) can be used as the basic reading material for units in the following subjects:
 
Chapter I:  Motion
  Use for units on the solar system (there is already a teacher’s guide for this unit), simple machines, balance and motion
Chapter 2: Energy
   Use for units on electricity, magnetism, energy conservation, light, sound
Chapter 3: Matter
   Use for units on rocks and minerals, water, weather,
Chapter 4: Life
   Use for units on plants, animals, nutrition, life cycles, genetics, reproduction
 
 
For the CCSS in literacy this book is exemplary for the following types of writing and thinking skills:
 
Main idea—each chapter is a main idea –motion, energy, matter and life.  Vicki Cobb explains that a BIG (or main) idea is one for which there are no quick or easy answers. Understanding how science analyzes ideas (like motion) that at first glance appear to be hardly worth thinking about is the subtext for this book.
 
Craft and Structure:  This book is designed for students to think about a question for a period of time before reading how the question is answered.  The structure of the book is designed to be read closely and carefully because each term in the book (i.e. force, energy, molecule, DNA) has very specific meaning in science.

 Comment from teachers:
 “As teachers, we learned how to turn this very abstract unit into something where the students can utilize the inquiry process. We restructured our current lessons on the Solar System to supplement the new material in the book, What’s the Big Idea? This allowed us to provide the students with the conceptual understanding of material covered on our unit assessment.”  Carla Christiana, Alicia Palmeri, 3rd grade teachers who worked with Vicki Cobb

The NONFICTION MINUTE, Authors on Call, and. the iNK Books & Media Store are  divisions of iNK THINK TANK INC.
​a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation. 
Picture
To return to the iNK Think Tank landing page click the icon or the link below. :
http://inkthinktank.org/

For more information or support, contact thoughts@inkthinktank.org

For Privacy Policy, go to
Privacy Policy

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
© COPYRIGHT the Nonfiction Minute 2020.-2022​.
  • The Nonfiction Minute
    • Minutes to Browse July 1
    • Minutes to Browse
      • by Subject
        • English/Language Arts
        • Social Studies
        • STEM
        • Art
        • FCS/ Nutrition
        • Health & Wellness
        • Music
        • Research Skills
  • For Teachers
    • T2T Tutorial
  • AOC/Authors on Call
    • Class ACTS-Authors Collaborating with Teachers and Students
  • Print Collection
  • Contact Us
  • Help Us Out
  • Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • iNK Home
  • iNK Thinkers
  • Links for Nonfiction Minutes for the iNK Think Tank presentation
    • About
  • iNK Fall Launch books
  • Holiday