Former science and math teacher Rob Ives has compiled nine projects to make using common everyday supplies. Each project comes with step-by-step illustrated directions, including warnings when open flames and utility knives are involved. At the end of each set of directions there is a color photo of the project and a photo of an actual working devise. Example: a balloon hovercraft is assembled in five steps on pages 12-13, ending with a photo of an actual hovercraft skimming over water in the section entitled, “Amazing Science”.

The first project is fairly simple, but fun, with each consecutive project’s instructions becoming a little more involved/difficult.

The projects are close-ended as they are presented in this book, but could easily be made open-ended if the builder needs to present something with a hypothesis.

Experiments include: bottle rocket, ball in orbit, balloon hovercraft, elastic band dragster, paper plane, candle seesaw, soap-powered boat, warm-air spinner, and a vortex.