Science Rocks with Jen Swanson | What Happens in a Car Crash? SAVE THE CRASH-TEST DUMMIES

Reading Rocks: MORE KidLit TV Shows

Science Rocks with Jen Swanson | What Happens in a Car Crash? SAVE THE CRASH-TEST DUMMIES

It’s time to think like a scientist with Jennifer Swanson, STEM advocate and non-fiction author of SAVE THE CRASH-TEST DUMMIES, on Science Rocks!
Predict what will happen next as we learn about Newton’s Laws of Motion to discover the forces at play in a car crash and the importance of wearing a seat belt! Then, try your hand at engineering by designing new ways of wearing seatbelts to improve safety!
Tell us about your ideas below!

About the Book

2020 Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner

This entertaining book navigates readers through the history of car production and offers a front‐seat view of the science and engineering that makes the world’s most important vehicle safe for us to drive.

Cars take us to work. To school. To soccer practice. To the grocery store and home again. Can you imagine a world without them? It’s not easy! One of the reasons we can use cars so much in our everyday lives is because they are safe to drive. But that hasn’t always been the case. If it weren’t for the experiments conducted over decades that involved all kinds of crash test volunteers―dead, alive, animal, or automated―cars as we know them might not be around. And then how would you get to school?

Filled with fun four‐wheeled nuggets of history and explanations of how cars actually work, this nonfiction book from former science educator and award-winning author Jennifer Swanson will appeal to lovers of all things that go and readers who are interested in getting in under the hood and seeing how things work.

About the Jennifer Swanson

Jennifer began her writing career at the age of five when she wrote and illustrated books for her kindergarten class. A self-professed science geek, Jennifer has always been captivated by the world around her and is curious to understand how it works. As a young child she used to gather leaves and flowers and look at them under a microscope, wade through her backyard creek, and tromp through woods. She has carried that love of science her whole life.

Jennifer has a B.S. in chemistry from the U. S. Naval Academy and an M.S. Ed in K-8 science from Walden University. In addition to being an award-winning author, she is also a middle school science instructor for John Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth.

Now, Jennifer Swanson is the award winning author of over 40+ nonfiction books for children, mostly about science and technology. Jennifer’s love of STEM began when she started a science club in her garage at the age of 7. While no longer working from the garage, Jennifer’s passion for science and technology resonates in all her books but especially, BRAIN GAMES (NGKids) and SUPER GEAR: Nanotechnology and Sports Team Up (Charlesbridge), Astronaut-Aquanaut, and Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner, Save the Crash-test Dummies. Her books have received many accolades including the starred reviews, Booklist Best Tech books list, Green Earth Book Honor Award, a Florida Book Award, and multiple California Reading Association awards, and National Science Teaching BEST STEM awards. her BRAIN GAMES book was even #13 on the The Planets.org 50 Best Science books Ever Written.

An accomplished and exciting speaker, Jennifer has presented at National NSTA conferences, the Highlights Foundation, the Atlanta Science Festival, the World Science Festival in NYC and the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival. Jennifer encourages kids (of all ages) to engage their curiosity and DISCOVER the Science all around them!