Properties of Matter

Kids love looking at themselves in mirrors, but how can some surfaces produce such clear reflections, when many others offer no reflection at all? In this book, early readers will be introduced to the concept that light is comprised of waves and that colors are the result of certain wavelengths being absorbed or reflected.

Size and shape are fundamental properties kids use to identify objects. Many objects are made from basic shapes, like triangles or squares, that are extended to three dimensions. In this book, colorful photographs show familiar objects and define their shapes, such as how a ball is a sphere. Further, kids might be surprised to learn that we can quantify how much space any object takes up, regardless of its shape.

Length and width seem like inherent properties of an object to an adult, and kids have an innate sense of the approximate size of something. Yet specifically defining these terms can be tricky. In simple language, the text of this book explains length and width through common objects. It also discusses how we can measure length and width with a ruler.

How can two things that are about the same size, such as a bowling ball and a teddy bear, have such different weights? How can something smaller weigh more than something larger, such as a marble and a cotton ball? This book explains how mass and weight are separate properties by clearly introducing the concepts of gravity and atoms.

Texture is one of the most readily experienced properties of an object for kids, and that's because we can perceive it through two senses: touch and sight. With close-up photographs revealing the details of different textures, this book describes basic distinctions, such as rough versus smooth. It also explains the qualities of matter that make up certain textures, like fur.

Kids like playing with things that bend, rubber bands, for instance, but they often wonder what makes something bend rather than break. This book looks at properties of objects that make them flexible, including shape and material. It also describes how our bodies are flexible, and why that's important.

Kids know the difference between a hot day and a cold one, and have felt the difference between ice cream and hot soup. But what makes an object a certain temperature? This book clearly explains how all matter is made of atoms and molecules, while showing that the movement of those elementary particles accounts for temperature and defines the three states of matter; solid, liquid, and gas.