Macmillan Young Librar y

Toys and Forces

about the series

The Toys and Forces series uses toys that all students will be familiar with to illustrate the push and pull forces of physics that make them so much fun!

Each book in the Toys and Forces series explores a different category of toy and the different forces that act on them to make them work. Young readers’ curiosity will be satisfied as they learn the basics of push and pull forces, supported by simple text, photographs and eye-catching diagrams.

Toys and Forces also includes make-and-do activities and simple experiments to reinforce scientific understandings and develop science inquiry skills.

Level: Lower to middle primary – ages 6–8 years

Curriculum/Topic areas: Science; Technology

Key features:• clear and simple language makes complex concepts accessible to

young students

• labelled photographs and diagrams illustrate abstract and complex concepts and reinforce information from the main text

• a make-and-do activity and simple experiment in each title allow students to see forces at work and practise what they have learned

• fun illustrations engage students with visual learning styles

• tables summarise information and allow students to understand how concepts relate to each other

• glossary words are bolded throughout the text and defined at the end of each book

contents pages

contents cont’d ➔

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How Toys Bounce

How Toys Float

How Toys Fly

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How Toys Roll

How Toys Slide

How Toys Spin

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Photographs show forces at work in

everyday settings.

sample spreadNB: Pages are reduced. Actual size of book not shown.Artwork, design and text not final.

sample spreadNB: Pages are reduced. Actual size of book not shown.Artwork, design and text not final.

Bolded glossarywords allow readers to find definitions for new

vocabulary.

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Diagrams make abstract concepts

easier for students to understand.

sample spreadNB: Pages are reduced. Actual size of book not shown.Artwork, design and text not final.

Fun make-and-do activities allow

students to see forces at work in a toy they make themselves.

sample spreadNB: Pages are reduced. Actual size of book not shown.Artwork, design and text not final.

sample spreadNB: Pages are reduced. Actual size of book not shown.Artwork, design and text not final.

Scienceexperiments

help students to understand physical

forces.

sample spreadNB: Pages are reduced. Actual size of book not shown.Artwork, design and text not final.

about the author

ABouT THE AuTHoR: HeLen WHiTTaKer

Helen Whittaker is an educational author and consultant specialising in writing for primary students. She is also a qualified teacher, with sixteen years’ experience teaching in British primary schools. originally from the uK, Helen emigrated to New Zealand in 2005.

Helen says, ‘As a child I thought science was difficult and boring. When I became a teacher, I worked hard to make science both accessible and exciting to my students. I enjoy the challenge of trying to do the same thing with the educational materials I write’.