~ MARVELOUS MIDDLE-GRADE
MONDAY S.T.E.A.M. FEATURE ~
-- 'SCIENCE YOU CAN EAT: 20 ACTIVITIES
THAT PUT FOOD UNDER THE MICROSCOPE' --
AUTHOR STEFAN GATES
ABOUT THE
BOOK {from Goodreads}:
Discover the
seriously impressive science that goes on every time you cook or eat. This
children's book explores the science of food by asking questions you're hungry
to know the answers to, and putting them to the test through fun experiments.
Science You
Can Eat will transform your kitchen into a lab through fun food experiments.
Cooking is chemistry, and the fun science experiments - such as tricking your
taste buds, making slime taste delicious, and investigating some of the
strangest flavours around will prove it. This exciting kid's book tackles all
the tasty science questions you have about food, plus plenty more that you
hadn't thought of! Once you understand science, you understand food, so find
out why popcorn go "pop" as you test it out for yourself, explore how
taste is affected by smell, then discover whether eating insects is the future
of food.
Examining
interesting ingredients and exciting eating, as well as peeking into the future
of food, Science You Can Eat helps you understand what's happening with our
food and why. Each page is guaranteed to leave you hungry for more.
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR {from the Publisher's website}:
Stefan Gates
AKA “The Gastronaut” is an author, presenter, and self-professed “Food
Adventurer” with the mission to make food fascinating. The author of seven
books on food and science, including Incredible Edibles and Gastronaut, Stefan
has also produced and appeared in more than a dozen TV shows including Food
Factory, Gastronuts, Newsnight, and This Morning, as well as the documentary Can
Eating Insects Save the World?.
MY THOUGHTS:
This is an awesome science book written in an entertaining tone. The book is colorful, well-formatted, and kid-friendly. What more can a parent or teacher ask for from a middle-grade S.T.E.A.M. book?
I was amazed at how much information this author packed into each and every chapter of his book. He begins with an introduction to food and moves through taste and taste buds, smell, why we love food, ways of cooking, unusual foods, vitamins and minerals, on through some fascinating and fun food experiments. The author closes the book with three timely subjects--fake meats, foods of the future, and eating bugs.
The meaning of the color of various foods is covered along with a head-on discussion about artificial colors. Did you know that "Artificial colors are mostly made from a coal extract"? {page 23}. I was shocked to read this.
The section on vitamins and minerals includes some easy-to-read tables listing important vitamins and minerals, their function, and sources. Here I learned that the function of phosphorous is to aid in bone and cell health and that good sources of this mineral include diary, chicken, oats, rice, and red meat.
Fun topics covered in this volume include: 'What is Gum Made Of?' - 'Why Does Popcorn Pop?' - 'Drinks That Glow!' - 'Exploding Food!' - 'What Makes Bread Rise?' - and 'Why Do Onions Make Us Cry?'. Serious topics such as food allergies and bad mold are covered here too.
Highly recommended! This is an excellent resource for children and adults interested in learning more about the chemistry of food and who are willing to try some of the author's unique and interesting experiments in the kitchen.
I borrowed this book from the children's collection in the local public library.
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Learn about more great middle-grade reads by visiting Greg Pattridge's 'Always in the Middle' blog to find the links to other blog posts celebrating Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday!
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