Facts on Matter

Why does matter even matter? Matter takes up space and can be broken down into of one of three main states: solids, liquids, or gases. Readers learn how to determine which state of matter an object is in, how that state can change, and how these different forces work together to help us in our daily lives. For example, water can be turned into ice to cool our drinks and air can be pumped into tires so we can ride a bike. This book entertains and educates with real-world examples, fun facts, and engaging images.

Matter is anything that takes up space, including us. Everything that takes up space has different properties, like weight, length, color, and odor. Sneakers have different properties than peanut butter. The state of the matter will also change its properties; water has different properties when it is a liquid than it does as a solid. Readers will explore the properties of matter and how they interact with each of them every day without even realizing it.

Ever wonder what makes up all of the stuff around us? Just like the toys that every kid plays with to build things, atoms are the building blocks of life that combine to form animate and inanimate objects. Readers journey into a microscopic world that they may not have known was even there. A single atom itself is made of three different particles: protons, electrons, and neutrons. It's packed full of energy, spinning around, and constantly vibrating. Fascinating facts in accessible language explain the smallest bits of living things. Simple diagrams support the informative narrative.

In chemistry, compounds are made whenever two or more different elements come together. You use compounds every day, probably without realizing it. If you're baking a cake, you're using compounds. If you're swimming, you're using compounds. When you breathe, you're actually making compounds, because you inhale oxygen, and exhale carbon dioxide. What other compounds are there? Elementary readers will explore all four kinds of compounds and discover why they're essential for everyday life, with simple diagrams and age-appropriate vocabulary.

Mixtures are easy and fun to make, because they don't need a chemical reaction like compounds do. If you have a bowl filled with red candies and pink candies, you have a mixture. Even your favorite pizza is a mixture. Mixtures are made whenever two or more different things come together but can also be easily separated. Mixtures can be solids, liquids, or gases. Your budding scientists will explore each and every kind of mixture with fun diagrams and elementary-level vocabulary.

Have you ever gone swimming in the ocean? If you have, you've been swimming in a solution. Oceans are made of salt water, and salt water is a solution. A solution is a kind of mixture where one of the substances dissolves into the other one and cannot be easily separated. Readers will learn about all the kinds of solutions in the world, and explore how they can make their very own with ingredients from the kitchen. The narrative was crafted for elementary readers, and is supported by simple diagrams and a full glossary.