Architecture

This book has everything-science, art, history, math, and fun experiments using equipment that you may already have lying around the house. Some chapters include "Architecture, Mathematics, and Beauty," which explores symmetry and the Golden Ratio, and "Toward the Sky," with projects to build towers and bridges, to "The Sun and Building for the Future," where you can compare the heat absorption of different colors (using construction paper!) and insulation. While there are a few pictures of actual buildings used as examples of some of the principles in action, this is more an overview of engineering than of architectural styles. My nine-year-old has looked through a lot of architecture books so far this year, and she says this is her favorite because it contains so many interesting projects that she can execute on her own, the illustrations are uncluttered, and the instructions are so clearly written.