Thursday, September 22, 2011

AIMS Electrical Connections-TOS Review



I was so excited to receive the Electrical Connections book by AIMS in the mail and couldn't wait to get started.   Just in case you are wondering AIMS stands for "Activities Integrating Mathematics and Science."  The kids and I have been having so much fun playing around with all the electrical connections experiments in this book.  I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone, not only will you learn a lot but you will have fun doing it.  The first page of this book has this Chinese Proverb

I Hear and 
I Forget,

I See and 
I Remember,

I Do and 
I Understand.

It's so true!  We talked about circuits and how they work and the kids didn't really understand until they watched me complete a circuit and then when THEY made their lightbulb light up with only a paperclip or aluminum foil and a D cell battery you would just see it all clicked into place in their little heads.  Then, they started grabbing all types of stuff and trying to complete a circuit it's much fun when you see them exploring all the options and figuring out what works and what doesn't work.

This is just one of the many experiments in this book.  It's filled with a bunch of fun projects and also has little rubber band books that the children make and you rubber band them together at the spine.  One thing that I really liked was that a CD comes with the book and instead of tearing out the pages in my book I can just print up to 200 copies from the CD.  So, this would be great for a homeschool co-op science class, a school class or any other type of group with a large number of people that would need copies of an experiment.  This book is recommended for 4th-6th grade and is easily understood by my 4th grader and my 6th grader.

This books is divided into four sections-static electricity, circuits (our favorite), electromagnetism and the history of electricity.  The book is $24.95 and you can also get a PDF version that you download instantly for $24.95.  You can try Sparky's Light Kit as a free sample by clicking here.

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids enjoying Sparky's Light Kit.


I gave these items to the kids and told them to light up the bulb.  We then talked about completing a circuit and I showed them what to do but they both had it figured out already.

 Kylan lighting up his bulb with a paperclip.


 Kenzie lighting her bulb up with aluminum foil.


To read what others are saying about AIMS and to visit the TOS crew blog click,  HERE. 

Thank you to AIMS Education Foundation for the opportunity to review Electrical Connections it's been my pleasure to review this wonderful book.


A complimentary product/service was provided for this review, however, all opinions expressed are my own.  I was not compensated in any other way.  

5 comments:

Julie Coney said...

your post was great as well! thanks for stopping by .... AND for the follow! I love the name of your blog!

Cranberry Morning said...

What a great idea! I wish they'd had that around back when I was homeschooling. We learned about electricity the old fashioned way - sticking a fork into the outlet. (JUST KIDDING). But this looks like a great book!!

Paula Jo @ Home and Garden Decor said...

That sounds like a fantastic book, and your children can have alot of fun experimenting and learning.

the Mcclanahan 7 said...

I think my kids would like this book. We reviewed the Earth Book & my girls loved the rubber band books. Nice review.

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