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Pushes and Pulls

Author, Helen Gregory, presents an easy to understand early physics science book which supports national science standards. It enjoyment all begins, with the smiling mother pushing her smiling daughter on a swing pictured on the book’s front cover. Often the  photos in these small 7″ x 6″ books are mediocre, but not so with this book. The photos accompanying each single line of  text are well composed and specific for the material being presented.   The information on the left hand page denotes a ‘pull’ and on the right hand page it denotes a ‘push’.

And so it begins, “A force moves things. You can move things with a push or a pull.” (p.4-5) The photos include a bathroom water faucet being pulled down to stop the flow and a door knob being pushed to open a door.  The ‘push’ pages include: moving a wooden toy box, ringing a doorbell, moving a shopping chart, and piano keys. “You push a ball when you hit it with a bat.”  (. 13)  The ‘pull’ pages include: pulling a snow sled up a hill, pulling a toy red wagon, pulling on a shoe, and playing tug-a-war. “You pull a bow across violin strings.” (p. 14)

Students may miss it, but on page 19 under the heading – NOW TRY THIS! there is a suggested activity for children to try, “Think of something you do everyday that is either a push or pull. Act out your example for the class. See if your classmates can guess what the activity is. Then let them decide if the activity involves a push or a pull- or both.” (p. 19)