The Science Alliance books are a great introduction to sixteen different science topics. They are recommended for ages 7-14 though I believe that would best be used with the 7-10 year old range. Each book has a new child "host" from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds whose name alliterates with the title (Hannah Hunts for Habitats). Each book follows the same pattern: There is an introduction to the series followed by an overview of the topic written as a report by our host. After that there are about fifteen pages, each with 3-4 paragraphs of text about some aspect of the science topic at the top of the page and an activity or short experiment at the bottom of the page. Many of the activities are knowledge or comprehension level, such as unscrambling words, but some use higher order thinking skills such as analysis, and all of the experiments are very well done. Each book also has a page about jobs related to the science topic, a page about inventors, and page about famous scientists in the field. Finally, each book explains the scientific method and suggests a science fair project based on the topic.

I really liked how each book related the science topic to real life occupations. I also think that the books would be excellent for developing background for a student who wanted to create a science fair project based on the topic. As a teacher, I can imagine using these books as unit studies for the science topic because they do a great job of breaking down information into understandable chunks.

As a homeschooling mom, I appreciate materials that encourage my children to explore on their own. I feel that the Gallopade Science series offers a fun little supplement to a variety of scientific topics, and allows my children to read, research, and run experiments fairly independently. The pages with puzzles add some fun to the mix, which is great. I also like that each book includes a science fair project!