DK Smithsonian Science Year by Year

DK Smithsonian Science Year by Year
Published at DK

About the book

Packed with fascinating discoveries and facts, this visual reference takes kids on a fantastic journey through time, from stone tools and simple machines to space travel and robots.

Easy-to-follow illustrated timelines of pivotal scientific developments explore the ideas, experiments, and technologies that have shaped our daily lives over the past 3 million years. With more than 1,200 images, in-depth explanations of key inventors and innovations, quotes from groundbreaking scientists like Marie Curie, and stunning "moment in time" images of key events such as the first human landing on the moon, kids are sure to be amazed on every page. Young readers can learn about the early understanding of gravity, the discovery of dinosaur fossils, the first open heart surgery in human history, and much more.

Created in association with the Smithsonian Institution, Science Year by Year will fascinate kids as they go on an amazing journey through time, tracing key moments in the history of science and technology along the way.

My Thoughts

Once again I am amazed at the quality of books that DK produces.  This book contains information about  science through the ages and it can be a fabulous companion to either your science lessons or your history lessons.

The table of contents is divide in eras:

• 3 MYA – 800 CE Before Science Began
• 800 - 1545 New Ideas
• 1545 – 1790 The age of discovery
• 1790 – 1895 Revolutions
• 1895 – 1945 The atomic age
• 1945 – present day Modern Science

Through the pages of this book, you will follow a timeline which highlights the scientific discoveries or inventions made as time goes by.   This timeline is strategically located approximately at the middle of the pages.  From this timeline, a line will either go upward or downward  and will highlight a scientific development from the time period where you are located in the book.

Also you will find some pages that will give you more detail on a specific subject like ancient architecture, Aristotle, anatomy, Medieval medicine, Leonardo da Vince,measuring things, travelling the world, studying fossils, calculating machine, periodic table, space race and robotics – to name only a few of them.  In these pages you will be able to glean much information on the subject covered.  For example, in the healing people pages, you can see an otoscope which was used for looking inside the ear back in 1890.  A specific timeline is also included that gives me the various physicians who helped improving the care of patients through history.

The pages of this book does not only contain text.  You will find numerous photos, images, drawing, and so on to help you better visualize the information that you are reading.   For example, as I was exploring the book, I stumble on a discovery made in 1781 called the leap frog.  Apparently an Italian scientist Luigi Galvani connected the exposed nerves of a dead frog to a metal wire during a thunderstorm.  The legs twitched with every flash of lightning…  This experiment became a key step in understanding electricity, and inspired the novel Frankenstein.  Images illustrate the experiment and I find it interesting how this scientist came to this discovery.  

At the end of the book, you will also find some interesting reference pages on biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, space and who’s who.  It is always useful to have quick reference cheat pages at the tip of your fingers.

The book is definitively a great resources to have at home.  It could help the kids (and the parents) to learn a few things during the summer when the weather is not so great to spend time outdoors or to keep them busy with practicing their reading on a subject or era of time during the school year.  

DK Smithsonian Science Year by Year is available for purchase at your favorite bookstore, even on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for allowing me to promote these books. I was not monetarily compensated for this post . Please note that the post was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

Exploring Washington, D.C.

Back in May we were debating where we should go on vacation in June.     Being members of some museums in town, we knew that we could visit museums elsewhere in Canada and the US for free.   So with our list of places we could visit, we tried to determine where to go on vacation.   At some point I mentioned to my husband that it would have been fun to go to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. but it wasn’t listed for whatever reason.  He looks at me funny and says “I’m pretty sure that the Smithsonian is free…”  “Say what?”  So we checked on the internet and realized that indeed it was free.   So why in the world haven’t we went to Washington, D.C. before?  No clue whatsoever but we decided right then and there that we would go on vacation to Washington, D.C. this year.

The dates of the said vacation were June 22nd until July 6th.   But we ended up coming back a few days earlier in order to allow my husband to rest before starting work.

June 22nd – Direction Washington, D.C.   Well not exactly since we decided to sleep somewhere in New York state @ the Lighthouse Landing near Marathon before reaching D.C.   Besides our campground was located in Virginia.

June 23rd – We continue our trip direction Virgina to Prince William Forest RV campground which is a national park.  The place is fabulous with paved sites and a pool to refresh ourselves.

June 24th – We drove around the downtown area of Washington – somewhat familiarizing ourselves with the streets there.  Then we went to the National Zoo.  We walked through the Asia section and the bird section.   The only adventure worth telling at this point is the bird who literally defecated on my left shoulder (which splashed on my daughter).   The culprit is the fourth photo below.   Fortunately, a nice lady provided diaper wipes so we can clean up the mess.   However, the flamingos were a surprise because they were nesting and you could see eggs in the nest.  

June 25th – It’s Alexandre’s birthday who is turning thirteen.  What he doesn’t know is that I have secured free tickets to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. 

Here’s Alexandre on his 13th birthday with me.

The entrance of the National Aquarium.

Some of the animals we encountered at the National Aquarium.

We had a great time visiting the National Aquarium.

June 26th – We were close to the National Museum of Marine Corps and we went to visit the place.

June 27th – Big day ahead of us.   Here’s the places we went to visit:  Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Albert Einstein statue, White House, Smithsonian America History Museum and Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

Washington Memorial

That’s the Lincoln Memorial in the back.

The World War II Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Albert Eisntein statue – the kids couldn’t help it and had to stick their tongue! (see picture #2)

We finally reached the White House.

Then we went to visit the Smithsonian American History Museum.

And discovered Julia Child’s kitchen!

We also saw these…. remember when McDonald’s had those containers for their burgers?  I sure do!

We couldn’t resist to take this picture….

Afterwards, we walked to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

Learning about blubber and animals living in the artic (which will be a theme this year at the homeschool coop we are participating).

Jasmine used a microscope.

We went back in time at the time of dinosaurs.

We saw lots of skeletons.

We looked at gems and other previous metals (here you have gold!).

And while walking through the Smithsonian caste we saw it made out of Lego.

June 28th – We stay at the campground in the morning but then we surprised the kids again with tickets to the Medieval Times Baltimore/Washington, D.C.

The food was great, the show was amazing and Jasmine got a flower from the Black & White Knight.

June 29th – National Zoo again to complete our visit which we didn’t have the time to do on the first day.

June 30th – Day off at the campground.

July 1st – We decided to visit the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and Smithsonian Art Museum.  Funny thing is the previous night we had watched the movie “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”.

Waiting patiently for the opening of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

We saw the Wright brothers airplace.

Amelia Earhart’s airplane.

Explored the solar system.

Saw a model of the U.S.S. Entreprise.

Looked at the Capitol from the distance.

And went to the Smithsonian Art Musem.

Some of my favourite paintings.

Jasmine preferred the ones with ballerinas in it.

July 2nd – We left the campground at 8am.  Hoping to reach home by 730pm or so.  However, we ended up having a blow out and after changing the tire (which went very well) we were not comfortable to continue the road without a spare tire…. We found a spare tire but the shop didn’t have the time to install it on the rim.  We needed to find a garage.  We stopped at a Toyota dealer where the people there were happy to help us but in the end we lost 3 hours.  So we stopped at Lighthouse Landing near Marathon, NY for one night.

July 3rd – We drove home with a slight detour to Ogdensburg where a package was waiting for me to be picked up.   And we came back home, unpacked the RV and went to drop it off at the storage facility.

Would I recommend bringing your kids in Washington, D.C.?  Absolutely.  Prepare to walk a lot though because the distance in a movie is definitively not the reality!   But there are numerous things to do for free in that city as you can see on the Smithsonian site.  In all there are over 19 museums and zoos to visit for free.   Note that most museums will inspect all the bags coming through at the entrance.  But apart from a slight delay in entering the museums, you will have a blast to discover Washington, D.C.

We are also grateful for the two attractions that offered us free tickets in exchange of a blog post.   The links were provided in the text above.