Who remembers watching Looney Tunes cartoons growing up and laughing at Wile E. Coyote’s antics as he tried to catch the Road Runner?
As a kid, I absolutely loved the classic duo and always looked forward to seeing what crazy inventions Wile E. Coyote could come up with to catch the bird. That’s why I was so excited to learn that my homeschool kids can now learn physics through Wile E. Coyote!
The Wile E. Coyote Physical Science Genius 4-Book Set explains the science behind the coyote’s many inventions and his failed attempts. The book is full of comical illustrations and clear, short texts that capture the law of physics in a fun way!
Wile E. Coyote Physical Science Genius Books
The Wile E. Coyote Physical Science Genius contains 4 books:
- Smash! Wile E. Coyote: Experiments with Simple Machines
- Whoosh: Wile E. Coyote with Flight and Gravity
- Thud! Wile E. Coyote: Experiments with Forces and Motion
- Zoom: Wile E. Coyote with Speed and Velocity
There is no specific order for reading the books, but I recommend tackling the forces and motion book first. It covers Newton’s Laws of Motion, which describe the relationship between the motion of an object and the forces acting on it. The other books build on the three laws.
For example, the Whoosh: Wile E. Coyote with Flight and Gravity book covers how airplanes beat gravity. Lift pushes up on an airplane’s wings to combat the force of gravity, and the upward pressure allows the airplane to fly in the air.
But of course, Wile E. Coyote’s plans failed again because he had unexpected visitors from the sky. The bird pecked at the wings and the damaged wings couldn’t create enough lift, and gravity pulls the plane and Wile E. to the ground.
When I teach physics to kids in our homeschool group, I find that they love learning about simple machines. Wile E. Coyote makes simple machines even more fun by building clever traps using levers, wedges, pulleys, etc. to trap Road Runner.
His simple machines, unfortunately for him, tend to fail initially. My kids laugh out loud when Wile E. Coyote’s simple machines turn on him. For example, he got rolled over by a giant boulder when he went to check on the wedge. Poor Wile E.!
The most difficult book I believe is Zoom: Wile E. Coyote with Speed and Velocity. Now we are talking about the difference between speed and velocity, and the book also touches on relativity.
Thankfully the Wile E. Coyote Physical Science Genius book explains the physics concepts in simple terms so that kids can understand. And the silly examples make learning an otherwise difficult topic fun!
The end of each book has a glossary that goes over the vocabulary learned in the book. I love the “Read More” section, where you can find more books to buy or borrow in case your kids want to dive even deeper into the science concepts.
Final Thoughts on Wile E. Coyote Physical Science Genius 4-Book Set
The Wile E. Coyote Physical Science Genius 4 Book Set is part of Timberdoodle’s second-grade curriculum kit. Make sure you check out what else is included in the curriculum kit.
My kids both love to read the Wile E. Coyote books and I am so happy to share my childhood with them. Who knew that Looney Tunes can be educational?
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