How Do You Build a Racecar?

Do you have students in your class that love to take things apart and find out how they work? Do you have students that are addicted to graphic novels? The book series "Why Things Don't Work" capitalizes on both of these interests.

The basic idea behind each of the books is that something (train, airplane, race car, tank, motorcycle, or helicopter) isn't working, and the main character has to make it work again. In the process, the character explains all kinds of things about how the object works. There are helpful diagrams that go along with each concept.

The books are all written in graphic novel format. They are great books to have in your classroom library for individual reading time. They are probably meant for students in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade. It might be good to introduce one of them as a guided reading book, to get students used to the format before they try to read the books themselves. The books are wonderful because they take very complex engineering and break it down into language that elementary school students can understand.