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Mercer, BobbyMercer, Bobby | Alt 1
Mercer, BobbyMercer, Bobby | Alt 1

Bobby Mercer

Bobby Mercer has been a high school physics teacher for over two decades. He is the author of Junk Drawer Chemistry, Junk Drawer Physics, The Flying Machine Book, The Robot Book, and The Racecar Book.
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Titles by Bobby Mercer

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Titles Found: 10
Junk Drawer Algebra
Junk Drawer Algebra (4 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
Trade Paper Price 14.99

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Nov 2019

Algebra as a hands-on subject? With this helpful resource, you can create coordinate graphs with candy, simplify algebraic equations with pennies and nickels, use aluminum foil to multiply polynomials (perfect for the FOIL method), examine exponential decay functions with a bouncy ball, and much more. Junk Drawer Algebra proves that you don’t need high-tech equipment to comprehend math concepts—just what you can find around the house or in your recycling bin.

Each of this book’s 50 creative algebra projects includes a materials list and detailed, step-by-step instructions with illustrations. The projects also include ideas on how to modify the lessons for different age and skill levels, allowing anyone teaching children to use this book to excite students. Educators and parents will find this title a handy guide to teach problem-solving skills and algebraic equations, all while having a lot of fun.
Junk Drawer Biology
Junk Drawer Biology (4 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
Trade Paper Price 14.99

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Jun 2020

 

Junk Drawer Biology will demonstrate that you don't need high-tech equipment to make learning fun—just what you can find in your recycling bin and around the house. Science educator Bobby Mercer provides readers with hands-on experiments to explain the building blocks of living matter for children of all ages. The projects can be modified to meet the skill levels of the children doing them, from elementary school kids to teenagers. Though each challenge includes suggested materials and one step-by-step, illustrated solution, children are encouraged to think further come up with more questions to answer. Educators and parents will find this title a handy resource to teach children while having a lot of fun.

Junk Drawer Chemistry
Junk Drawer Chemistry (4 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
Trade Paper Price 16.99

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Oct 2015

A children’s instructional book on how to use readily available materials to turn the house into a science lab
 
Science teacher Bobby Mercer provides readers with more than 50 great hands-on experiments that can be performed for just pennies, or less. Each project has a materials list, detailed step-by-step instructions with illustrations, and a brief explanation of the scientific principle being demonstrated. From turning three pennies and two galvanized washers into a simple battery to crushing a soda can using atmospheric pressure, the experiments in this book call for materials that are recycled or repurposed—crayons, plastic drink bottles, balloons, ice cubes, and other basic items found around the house. Junk Drawer Chemistry also includes sidebars of fascinating chemistry facts. Educators and parents will find this title a handy resource to teach children about chemistry topics that include atoms, compounds, solutions, mixtures, reactions, thermodynamics, acids and bases, and more, while having fun at the same time.
Junk Drawer Ecology
Junk Drawer Ecology (3 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
Trade Paper Price 16.99

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB

Published Dec 2021

Junk Drawer Ecology is a hands-on guide to saving the planet. Fun, free science activities help kids of all ages learn about the science of our planet’s ecology.

The environment is changing every day, and we can help slow that change. Using free or low-cost things children already have around their homes, these activities are perfect to stimulate young brains.
 
Readers will learn about the importance of the polar regions without leaving their communities, about new ways to cut our dependence on fossil fuels, about all forms of pollution, and how they can make a difference. Junk Drawer Ecology will give inquisitive kids many hours of fun and help them learn at the same time.
 
Junk Drawer Engineering
Junk Drawer Engineering (4 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
Trade Paper Price 16.99

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published May 2017

The projects in Junk Drawer Engineering demonstrate that you don’t need high-tech equipment to make learning fun—just what you can find in your recycling bin and around the house. Educators and parents will find this title a handy resource to teach children problem-solving skills and applied physics, all while having a lot of fun.
Junk Drawer Geometry
Junk Drawer Geometry (4 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
Trade Paper Price 16.99

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Oct 2018

For many children, geometry is best understood as a hands-on subject. With this handy resource, children will build polygons out of pipe cleaners and flexible drinking straws, explore Mobius strips made from index cards, and model the Pythagorean Theorem using cheese crackers. Educator Bobby Mercer provides readers with 50 creative geometry project ideas for engaged learning. Each activity includes a materials list and detailed instructions with illustrations. The projects introduced here include ideas on how to modify the lessons for different age groups, allowing teachers to use this to excite any classroom. Educators and parents will find this title a handy resource to teach children problem-solving skills and applied geometry, all while having a lot of fun.
Junk Drawer Physics
Junk Drawer Physics (4 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
Trade Paper Price 16.99

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Jun 2014

Finalist for the 2015 AAAS / Subaru SB&F Excellence in Science Book exemplify outstanding and engaging science writing and illustration for young readers

A children’s instructional book on how to use readily available materials to turn the house into a science lab

Physics teacher Bobby Mercer provides readers with more than 50 great hands-on experiments that can be performed for just pennies, or less. Turn a plastic cup into a pinhole camera using waxed paper, a rubber band, and a thumbtack. Build a swinging wave machine using a series of washers suspended on strings from a yardstick. Or construct your own planetarium from an empty potato chip canister, construction paper, scissors, and a pin. Each project has a materials list, detailed step-by-step instructions with illustrations, and a brief explanation of the scientific principle being demonstrated. Junk Drawer Physics also includes sidebars of fascinating physics facts, such as did you know the Eiffel Tower is six inches taller in summer than in winter because its steel structure expands in the heat? Educators and parents will find this title a handy resource to teach children about physics topics that include magnetism, electricity, force, motion, light, energy, sound, and more, and have fun at the same time.

The Flying Machine Book
The Flying Machine Book (4 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
Trade Paper Price 16.99

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published May 2012

With 35 easy-to-build and fun-to-fly contraptions that can be used indoors or out, this project book contains instructions for building rockets, gliders, boomerangs, launchers, and helicopters for little or no cost using recycled materials. Kids will learn how to turn a drinking straw, rubber band, and index card into a straw rocket and convert a paper towel tube into a grape bazooka. Each project contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos, as well as explanations of the science behind each flyer, including concepts such as lift, thrust, drag, the Bernoulli effect, and more. Readers can use this information to modify and improve their flyers or explain to their teachers why throwing a paper airplane is a mini science lesson.
The Racecar Book
The Racecar Book (4 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
Trade Paper Price 14.95

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Oct 2013

A project book for young readers with a need for speed, this work provides instruction on 25 easy-to-construct racecars that can be driven both indoors and out. They will learn how to use mousetraps, rubber bands, chemical reactions, gravity, and air pressure to power the cars that are made for little or no cost using recycled and repurposed materials. Readers will discover how to turn a potato chip can, a rubber band, and weights into a Chip-Can Dancer; retrofit a car with a toy plane propeller to make an air-powered Prop Car; and use an effervescent tablet in a small canister to make an impressive rocket engine for a Mini Pop Car. Each project is accompanied by a materials list, detailed step-by-step instructions with photos, and explanations of the science behind each racecar, including concepts such as friction, Newton’s laws of motion, and kinetic and potential energy.

The Robot Book
The Robot Book (3 Formats) ›
By Bobby Mercer
PDF Price 9.99

PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Oct 2014

How to use reuse and recycle components and supplies to build a variety of devices

 

The 20 easy-to-build robots in this project book can be constructed for little or no cost using common household objects and repurposed materials. From learning how to turn a toothbrush, an old cell phone or pager, and scrap wire into a Brush Bot, or how to hack a toy car to hotwire a Not-So-Remote Bot, each hands-on project contains a materials list and detailed step-by-step instructions with photos. Explanations of the science and technology behind each robot—including concepts such as friction, weight and mass, center of gravity, kinetic and potential energy, electric circuitry, DC vs. AC current, and more—are also included.