Description
Book Synopsis''If the Sun were the size of a grapefruit, Earth would be the size of a grain of salt. Even the largest planet, Jupiter, would be only as big as a large pea.''
Some things are so big or so old that it''s hard to wrap your mind around them. In If, we look at these hard-to-imagine objects and events and compare them to things we can instantly see, feel and touch. It is wonderful new way of seeing the world and is a fascinating way of understanding numbers and big ideas for children aged 8 and upwards.
The author, David J Smith has found ingenious ways of scaling down everything from time lines (the history of the Earth is compressed into a single year!), to quantitites (all the wealth in the world is divided into one hundred coins), to size differences (the planets are shown as different-sized balls). Each description is beautifully illustrated to reinforce the concept in a child''s mind.
By reducing everything to human scale, the big ideas and concepts are easie
Trade Review
Even as adults, there are many numbers which are so mind-boggling that we just can't take them in,so just imagine how hard children must find it to assimilate big numbers. This clever book brings things down to a human scale by comparing huge events, times and space with thing we can touch in our daily lives ... It's a book to fascinate all age groups, and will be brilliant in the classroom to help with maths science and other subjects. Quite brilliant * Parents In Touch *
Ingenious illustrations which not only make this book a valuable classroom resource but give it the 'wow' factor for young information seekers * Evening Echo (Cork) *
A fascinating information picture book ... By means of relatively spare, carefully written text and illuminating and entertaining infographics Smith and Adams make complex facts to do with time, history, space and life itself comprehensible ... Thoroughly recommended for classrooms and libraries ... children (and adults) will pore over it * School Librarian *
This beautifully illustrated book introduces the idea of scale to students. Big questions are explored in a way that will really appeal to visual learners and may prompt students to explore the ideas further.... I would recommend this book to students in key stages 2 and 3, particularly those interested in exploring big science questions and embarking on projects. * School Science Review *
Table of Contents
- 1: If
- 2: Our Galaxy
- 3: The Planets
- 4: History of the Earth
- 5: Life on Earth
- 6: Events of the Last 3000 Years
- 7: Inventions through Time
- 8: Inventions of the Last 1000 Years
- 9: The Continents
- 10: Water
- 11: Species of Living Things
- 12: Money
- 13: Energy
- 14: Life Expectancy
- 15: Population
- 16: Food
- 17: Your Life
- 18: A Note for Parents and Teachers
- 19: Sources
