Did you ever wonder how epidemiologists find the source of disease outbreaks or how geologists know where to find diamonds? Science Detectives shows you how scientists are like detectives who search for important clues that can lead to facts.
Science Detectives: How Scientists Solved Six Real-life Mysteries, written by the editors of YES Magazine (Kids Can Press, ISBN 1-55337-994-2), is an incredible look at what scientists in various fields do and how they work together to answer the mysteries of the past and present.
Created for children ages 9-12, Science Detectives presents the reader with six real-life mysteries that trace the source (Typhoid Mary) of an outbreak of typhoid on Long Island in 1906, find the toxin that caused a rapid decline in the vulture population in India, uncover the history of the now famous Iceman mummy, show how diamonds were found in Canada, tell how DNA was discovered, and show how Swissair Flight 111 was brought down by an electrical fire.
Within each of the six “case files” are other related mysteries ranging from the Gregor Mendel’s study of pea plant traits to the yet unsolved mystery of the rolling rocks in Death Valley, California.
There is also a simple project related to each case that children and students can do during or after school hours. Projects include creating a bird-feeder from a milk or juice carton, checking rocks for hardness (Mohs Scale of Hardness), and there is even a study children can do to see how many people actually wash their hands after using the restroom.
Science Detectives is exciting. It shows how scientists follow the clues to solve real mysteries. You can feel the excitement of discovery when you read about the Iceman, the hobbit-like bones found on the island of Flores, and the fish that scientists thought were extinct. You can also sense the urgency of finding the source of what we now know as Avian flu and why it is important to find the black box after an airplane accident.
