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A quick rundown of this product’s key features:
Teen Innovators tells the stories of discovery and the inventions of nine young students.
For example, twelve-year-old Gitanjali Rao, appalled by the tragedy in Flint, Michigan, found a cheaper, more effective way to test for lead in drinking water. Four undocumented teenagers from an underfunded high school in Phoenix built an underwater robot from spare and found parts. Substituting hard work and creative thinking for money and expensive equipment, they won a national robotics competition, beating a well-funded team from MIT. At fifteen, William Kamkwamba used materials from junkyards near his home in Malawai to build a windmill to generate electricity and pump water for his village.
While each profile tells a different story, the reader soon sees the common threads of determination and ingenuity. Stories include:
Jack Andraka: improved pancreatic cancer testGitanjali Rao: device to detect lead in drinking waterWilliam Kamkwamba: improvised electrical generator using windmill in MalawiAusten Veseliza: digital display glove to aid people with speech impairmentDeepika Kurup: easier, cheaper method to remove toxins from drinking waterCristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Oscar Vasquez, Luis Aranda: underwater robot Science educator and professor Fred Estes explores the motivation, challenges, and lives of these teen scientists and explains the science behind each invention simply and clearly. Readers will see how the science they study today in school relates to these important discoveries.
Our Top Reviews
Reviewer: Shirley L.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great true stories!
Review: This is a book authored by my high school classmate. Fred has done an outstanding job with gathering and documenting the material. Teens can certainly be amazing individuals and add so much to society!
Reviewer: LostinBooks
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Simply outstanding book about teen inventors, that reads like a novel and delivers all the science
Review: This book is a treasure! I highly recommend it. From the cover, it looks like it’s intended for teens, but it will inspire and tug the heart-strings of anyone, of any age.Fred Estes chose to tell the story of several outstanding young inventors and their discoveries by focussing on each of the inventors in a very personal way, one by one. All of them faced significant challenges in their lives or in their pursuit of their goals (usually, both) and so I kind of fell in love with each of the kids as I read along.But the thing that puts this book heads above other books that might be similar, is that Estes attends to the science, and the work involved in taking an idea to fruition. Each teen faced major challenges and setbacks, and they were not minor. (Of course, their goals were extremely high, too: one of them even created a test for a type of cancer.) Estes shows how the teens solved each problem as it arose (one wrote 200 letters to researchers in order to obtain lab space but the same teen lost two months of cancer cells by tripping over his sneakers, and another used a tampon to stop a leak that had sprung up in their robot during the competition). He also shows, through their stories, how the inventors handled discouragement and exhaustion and how the children of undocumented workers face significant perils when they have to travel for competitions.This book should be in every school library and I recommend it in particular to students interested in participating in science fairs or going into STEM careers.
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Looking at science through PEOPLE
Review: I’m a “people” person with only a marginal interest in science. But this highly readable book is already changing my attitude. Approaching scientific invention through the lens of young people, Fred Estes tells the stories of nine teenagers who have worked to make the world a better place, in a variety of ways through their scientific inventions. My favourite story? Jack Andraka, who developed a better test for pancreatic cancer.I really like the way the book focuses on the stories of the young inventors but also describes the science in a clear, and easy-to-understand way. The author’s background as a former high school science teacher shines through in his readable, accessible style.Would also be an inspiring book for any teenage inventor.
Reviewer: Rinalda
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Incredible Stories of Interest to all ages
Review: Awe-inspiring stories of teenagers bent on saving the world. Beautifully written, hard to put down!
Reviewer: Jeannie S Koh
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Masterful telling of stories of young innovators
Review: Masterful telling and many layers to this fascinating collection of young inventors. I love how Estes weaved the “why” behind each discovery. This gives meaning and purpose to the narrative that grounds and elevates many fascinating scientific discoveries.A big plus? Estes’ voice as the fatherly, wise and nurturing teacher breathes through the words and phrases.While he writes for students, there’s something here for all ages!
Price effective as of Mar 15, 2025 10:56:49 UTC
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