NSTA - National Science Teachers Association

Math: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D. NSTA Press Book Average User Rating: Flummoxed by formulas? Queasy about equations? Perturbed by π? Now you can stop cursing over calculus and start cackling over Math, another volume in Bill Robertson's accurate but amusing Stop Faking It! bestsellers. As Robertson...  [view full summary] Flummoxed by formulas? Queasy about equations? Perturbed by π? Now you can stop cursing over calculus and start cackling over Math, another volume in Bill Robertson's accurate but amusing Stop Faking It! bestsellers. As Robertson sees it, too many people view mathematics as a set of rules to be followed, procedures to memorize, and theorems to apply. This book focuses on the reasoning behind the rules, from math basics all the way up to a brief introduction to calculus. Among the questions it covers: Why do you "carry" numbers when adding? Why do you need a common denominator when adding fractions? (Robertson says you don't, by the way!) Where does the number π come from? And who in the heck invented those strange formulas for area and volume, such as πr2 and (4/3)πr3? Like the other six titles in this award-winning NSTA Press series, Math provides clear explanations, irreverent illustrations, and easy-to-follow activities. But Robertson spares you problem sets to do or tests to take. That's because Math is not so much a book that helps you do math as it is a guide to understanding it conceptually. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $17.56 Nonmember Price: $21.95 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School

Air, Water, and Weather: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D. NSTA Press Book Average User Rating: Thunderstruck by storm fronts? Perplexed about air pressure? Hazy on how weather works? If you’ve always been shaky on the science behind such phenomena, Air, Water, and Weather is designed to help you develop a deep understanding of the basics so you...  [view full summary] Thunderstruck by storm fronts? Perplexed about air pressure? Hazy on how weather works? If you’ve always been shaky on the science behind such phenomena, Air, Water, and Weather is designed to help you develop a deep understanding of the basics so you can teach without fear. Best-selling author Bill Robertson acts as your friendly guide, bringing both wisdom and wit to the study of weather. He starts with basic properties of air and water. You’ll learn about pressure, the Coriolis force, the Bernoulli Effect, density, and explanations of why hot air doesn’t rise all by itself and why heating air doesn’t necessarily cause it to expand. These concepts form a foundation for explanations of weather patterns, including the jet stream, storm fronts, and the formation of tornadoes and hurricanes. Air, Water, and Weather is the sixth book in the award-winning Stop Faking It! series published by NSTA Press. It offers all the features readers have come to love: accurate explanations, irreverent drawings, and activities that use easy-to-find materials. As usual, Robertson avoids memorization for its own sake—no need to commit cloud types to memory!—and makes learning a mostly sunny experience. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $17.56 Nonmember Price: $21.95 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School

Sound: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D. NSTA Press Book Average User Rating: Muddled about what makes music? Stuck on the study of harmonics? Dumbfounded by how sound gets around? Now you no longer have to struggle to teach concepts you really don’t grasp yourself. Sound takes an intentionally light touch to help out all those...  [view full summary] Muddled about what makes music? Stuck on the study of harmonics? Dumbfounded by how sound gets around? Now you no longer have to struggle to teach concepts you really don’t grasp yourself. Sound takes an intentionally light touch to help out all those adults—science teachers, parents wanting to help with homework, home-schoolers—seeking necessary scientific background to teach middle school physics with confidence. The book introduces sound waves and uses that model to explain sound-related occurrences. Starting with the basics of what causes sound and how it travels, you’ll learn how musical instruments work, how sound waves add and subtract, how the human ear works, and even why you can sound like a Munchkin when you inhale helium. Sound is the fourth book in the award-winning Stop Faking It! Series, published by NSTA Press. Like the other popular volumes, it is written by irreverent educator Bill Robertson, who offers this Sound recommendation: “One of the coolest activities is whacking a spinning metal rod to create a ‘wah-wah’ effect. It’s a simple activity, the explanation incorporates several interesting properties of sound. This activity is in Chapter 5. I suggest you try it and see!” [hide full abstract] Member Price: $16.76 Nonmember Price: $20.95 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School

Force & Motion: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D. NSTA Press Book Average User Rating: Intimidated by inertia? Frightened by forces? Mystified by Newton’s law of motion? You’re not alone—and help is at hand. The stop Faking It! Series is perfect for science teachers, home-schoolers, parents wanting to help with homework—all of you who need...  [view full summary] Intimidated by inertia? Frightened by forces? Mystified by Newton’s law of motion? You’re not alone—and help is at hand. The stop Faking It! Series is perfect for science teachers, home-schoolers, parents wanting to help with homework—all of you who need a jargon-free way to learn the background for teaching middle school physical science with confidence. With Bill Roberton as your friendly, able—but somewhat irreverent—guide, you will discover you CAN come to grips with the basics of force and motion. Combining easy-to-understand explanations with activities using commonly found equipment, this book will lead you through Newton’s laws to the physics of space travel. The book is as entertaining as it is informative. Best of all, the author understands the needs of adults who want concrete examples, hands-on activities, clear language, diagrams—and yes, a certain amount of empathy. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $17.56 Nonmember Price: $21.95 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School

Energy: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D. NSTA Press Book Average User Rating: Confounded by kinetic energy? Suspect that teaching about simple machines isn’t really so simple? Exasperated by electricity? If you fear the study of energy is beyond you, this entertaining book will do more than introduce you to the topic. It will...  [view full summary] Confounded by kinetic energy? Suspect that teaching about simple machines isn’t really so simple? Exasperated by electricity? If you fear the study of energy is beyond you, this entertaining book will do more than introduce you to the topic. It will help you actually understand it. At the book’s heart are easy-to-grasp explanations of energy basics—work, kinetic energy, potential energy, and the transformation of energy—and energy as it relates to simple machines, heat energy, temperature, and heat transfer. Irreverent author Bill Robertson suggests activities that bring the basic concepts of energy to life with common household objects. Each chapter ends with a summary and an applications section that uses practical examples such as roller coasters and home heating systems to explain energy transformations and convection cells. The final chapter brings together key concepts in an easy-to-grasp explanation of how electricity is generated. Energy is the second book in the Stop Faking It! series published by NSTA Press. Titles in the series are written with clarity, creative flair, and special empathy for science teachers and parents in search of a stress-free way to learn the basics. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $17.56 Nonmember Price: $21.95 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School

Chemistry Basics: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach it By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D. NSTA Press Book Average User Rating: Do the words “periodic table” send chills down your spine? Are you anxious about atomic structure? Confounded by chemical equations? Relax! The cure for chemistry confusion is within reach, courtesy of this newly available book in the Stop Faking It!...  [view full summary] Do the words “periodic table” send chills down your spine? Are you anxious about atomic structure? Confounded by chemical equations? Relax! The cure for chemistry confusion is within reach, courtesy of this newly available book in the Stop Faking It! series. Best-selling author Bill Robertson takes a fresh approach to chemistry fundamentals by helping you understand them from the ground up. Instead of hounding you to memorize the characteristics of atoms and the periodic table, Chemistry Basics will help you see those characteristics as a natural consequence of our understanding of atomic structure. You will learn not just that atoms behave in certain ways, but why they behave in that way. You will learn not just how to balance chemical equations, but why in the world you would want to! You will also learn not just that carbon is a building block of thousands of organic compounds, but why carbon is suited for this purpose. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $19.16 Nonmember Price: $23.95 Grade Level: Middle School, High School, Informal Education

Answers to Science Questions From the Stop Faking It! Guy By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D. NSTA Press Book This valuable and entertaining compendium of Bill Robertson’s popular “Science 101” columns, from NSTA member journal Science and Children, proves you don’t have to be a science geek to understand basic scientific concepts. The author of the...  [view full summary] This valuable and entertaining compendium of Bill Robertson’s popular “Science 101” columns, from NSTA member journal Science and Children, proves you don’t have to be a science geek to understand basic scientific concepts. The author of the best-selling Stop Faking It! series explains everything from quarks to photosynthesis, telescopes to the expanding universe, and atomic clocks to curveballs—all with his trademark wit and irreverence. The 33 short columns, plus a new introduction, provide an introductory science course of sorts, covering topics in life science, Earth and space science, physical science, technology, and more—perfect for K-8 teachers, homeschoolers, or parents who just want to boost their science know-how. Easily understood prose and lively illustrations by cartoonist Brian Diskin make this volume an engaging—and more important, readable—course you can pass with flying colors. Bill Robertson has written eight Stop Faking It! books to date, drawing on his many years of experience as a college physics instructor, cognitive science researcher, curriculum developer, science reviewer, and teacher workshop leader as inspiration for his informative but humorous approach to science. The family’s two dogs, Misha and Pasha, sometimes help too. Brian Diskin illustrates all of Bill’s books and columns … when he’s not drawing a blank. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $19.16 Nonmember Price: $23.95 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School

Electricity and Magnetism: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D. NSTA Press Book Shocked by static? Mixed up about magnets? Curious about currents? This book will help you get beyond memorizing electricity-related formulas, rules, and procedures so you can understand the topic at a deep level—deep enough to teach it with confidence...  [view full summary] Shocked by static? Mixed up about magnets? Curious about currents? This book will help you get beyond memorizing electricity-related formulas, rules, and procedures so you can understand the topic at a deep level—deep enough to teach it with confidence and comfort. By covering the basics of static electricity, current electricity, and magnetism, the book develops a scientific model showing that electricity and magnetism are really the same phenomenon in different forms. A bonus feature: access to interactive software that you can download from the NSTA Web site. The software will help you investigate electrical circuits—from simple to complex—without having to buy a lot of expensive materials (or risking electrocution!). Electricity and Magnetism is the fifth title in the award-winning NSTA Press Stop Faking It! Series. As author Bill Robertson writes, “The book you have in your hands is not a textbook. It is, however, designed to help you ‘get’ science at a level you never thought possible, and also to bring you to the point where tackling more traditional science resources won’t be a terrifying, lump-in-your-throat, I-don’t-think-I’ll-survive experience.” Robertson serves as your friendly guide, one with a comforting knack for anticipating fears, meeting information needs, and entertaining as he edifies. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $19.16 Nonmember Price: $23.95 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School

Light: Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D. NSTA Press Book Average User Rating: Why is left right and right left in the mirror? Baffled by the basics of reflection and refraction? Wondering just how the eye works? If you have trouble teaching concepts about light that you don’t fully grasp yourself, get help from a book that’s both...  [view full summary] Why is left right and right left in the mirror? Baffled by the basics of reflection and refraction? Wondering just how the eye works? If you have trouble teaching concepts about light that you don’t fully grasp yourself, get help from a book that’s both scientifically accurate and entertaining—with Light. By combining clear explanations, clever drawings, and activities that use easy-to-find materials, this book covers what science teachers and parents need to know to teach about light with confidence. It uses ray, wave, and particle models of light to explain the basics of reflection and refraction, optical instruments, polarization of light, and interference and diffraction. There’s also an entire chapter on how the eye works. Each chapter ends with a Summary and Applications section that reinforces concepts with everyday examples. Whether you need a deeper understanding of how light bends or a good explanation of why the sky is blue, you’ll find Light more illuminating and accessible than a college textbook—and certainly more fun. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $17.56 Nonmember Price: $21.95 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School

Answers to Science Questions From the Stop Faking It! Guy (e-book) By: William C. Robertson, Ph.D e-Book This valuable and entertaining compendium of Bill Robertson’s popular “Science 101” columns, from NSTA member journal Science and Children, proves you don’t have to be a science geek to understand basic scientific concepts. The author of the...  [view full summary] This valuable and entertaining compendium of Bill Robertson’s popular “Science 101” columns, from NSTA member journal Science and Children, proves you don’t have to be a science geek to understand basic scientific concepts. The author of the best-selling Stop Faking It! series explains everything from quarks to photosynthesis, telescopes to the expanding universe, and atomic clocks to curveballs—all with his trademark wit and irreverence. The 33 short columns, plus a new introduction, provide an introductory science course of sorts, covering topics in life science, Earth and space science, physical science, technology, and more—perfect for K-8 teachers, homeschoolers, or parents who just want to boost their science know-how. Easily understood prose and lively illustrations by cartoonist Brian Diskin make this volume an engaging—and more important, readable—course you can pass with flying colors. Bill Robertson has written eight Stop Faking It! books to date, drawing on his many years of experience as a college physics instructor, cognitive science researcher, curriculum developer, science reviewer, and teacher workshop leader as inspiration for his informative but humorous approach to science. The family’s two dogs, Misha and Pasha, sometimes help too. Brian Diskin illustrates all of Bill’s books and columns … when he’s not drawing a blank. [hide full abstract] Member Price: $15.57 Nonmember Price: $17.96 Grade Level: Elementary School, Middle School