Ajax Bigelow has a problem. He really doesn’t like science, but he must write a science journal for his science teacher Ms. Turri “or else”. He decides to chronical the events in class as they study what he calls “stuff” and Ms. Turri calls matter. Throughout Ajax Bigelow’s Science Journal – Stuff, Ajax and his friends at Avogadro Middle School try to make sense of such topics as mass, density, atoms and molecules, states of matter, mixtures and compounds, and much more. Ajax records the classroom activity in his humorous, unpretentious way. All the while, the science is real as are the typical antics of middle school students. Stuff has a companion website filled with good science information and middle school chatter that extends the concepts presented in the book. Teachers will like the discussion questions and concepts list, too! This book is written by David Cochran, an experienced educator, author, and publisher of Spigot Science for Kids and Classrooms. It is illustrated by Jerry King, a world-class cartoonist. Students in upper elementary and middle school will like the characters in this book and some will identify with Ajax Bigelow, who doesn’t always “get” science. Each journal has a colorful cartoon depicting a key event. The underlying theme of Ajax Bigelow’s Science Journal – Stuff is that science can be interesting and fun. Nobody takes things too seriously in this class, yet there are good and somewhat challenging concepts taught. The book is written at a fourth-grade reading level, an easy read for most middle schoolers; however, the science concepts are applicable to most upper elementary and middle school science programs. Ajax Bigelow’s Science Journal – Stuff can be previewed at the companion site.
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