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Grossology
Grossology and You: Really Gross Things About Your Body
We have news for You are gross. (And you thought we’d never find out!)
Complete with hilariously disgusting illustrations and fun activities, this companion to Grossology goes beyond barf and farts to delve even deeper into places normally too gross to go. Discover the science behind all the sickeningly cool stuff going on inside our bodies, and more!
Complete with hilariously disgusting illustrations and fun activities, this companion to Grossology goes beyond barf and farts to delve even deeper into places normally too gross to go. Discover the science behind all the sickeningly cool stuff going on inside our bodies, and more!
80 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2002
2 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Sylvia Branzei
33 books8 followersSylvia Carol Branzei-Velasquez is the author of Grossology, Animal Grossology, Grossology Begins at Home and Hands On Grossology. She is the originator of grossology, or the idea of teaching science through gross things. Grossology has also become a museum exhibit, a calendar, a CD rom, and soon a television show. Virtual Grossology was also released, which is the original book with sounds and smells.
Sylvia is a 41 year old, former science teacher living in Northern California with her husband, three dogs and two cats. She is a board member for the Leggett Unified School District, a columnist for a local paper, and a writer. Performing gross stuff at museums, universities, and school often takes her out of the woods and into various cities and towns.
Before devoting her life to grossness, Sylvia was a science teacher at a remote school in Mendocino County, California. She taught science to the entire school from kindergarten through high school. Considering the entire school only had about 60 students, it wasn't very hard. Whale Gulch School is probably the only school in the world where every student knows how to make fake snot, fake blood, and fake wounds. Beside Whale Gulch School, Sylvia taught science in various junior high and high schools throughout the years.
Previous to teaching at Whale Gulch School, Sylvia was a freelance editor and writer for the Secondary Science division of Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. She wrote many enrichment features and full page activities for Insights, the middle school science series, and Biology, the high school science text. She also wrote all of the enrichment features for Environmental Science.
In addition to writing and editing at Addison-Wesley, Sylvia Carol worked as a curriculum designer and teacher trainer for Project Create, an elementary school environmental education project based in Oakland, CA. Finally, Sylvia Carol taught after school enrichment courses at Edison Elementary School, Alameda, CA for kindergarten through sixth grade children. The courses she designed and taught include Loonie Balloons, Grocery Bag Science, Abracadabra Science, and Earth Guardians.
From 1988-1991, Sylvia Carol was outreach coordinator at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California-Berkeley. During her tenure at the Lawrence Hall of Science, she traveled throughout northern California and western Nevada presenting workshops and assemblies in schools. (Basically, she blew things up, made slime, and performed other chemcial magic.) She wrote an assembly program entitled "Strange Changes: Is it Chemical or Physical?" which is still presented in elementary schools. Sylvia also designed courses and workshops for the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Sylvia Carol's writing experience includes co-authorship of "The Soap Opera," Science on Stage Anthology, a play about the chemistry of soap. She authored several articles that appeared in The Science Teacher, Science Scope, Partners in Education, and Creation Spirituality. She wrote curriculum guides for NASA-SETI and for the Department of Energy.
Sylvia Carol received her B.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of Michigan in 1980. She received her M.A. degree in Science Education from California Polytechnic University in 1986.
Other assorted info:
- originally from Michigan, three sisters, mother was a teacher moved to the North coast from Oakland, CA
- four step children, age 16, 17, 19 and 22
- husband is a web designer and the computer tech
- sang in several bands from folk to rock that played in the San Francisco Bay Area, currently singing in a band named Spin Cycle
- lives off-grid, so home is powered by solar and generator, heated by wood
Sylvia is a 41 year old, former science teacher living in Northern California with her husband, three dogs and two cats. She is a board member for the Leggett Unified School District, a columnist for a local paper, and a writer. Performing gross stuff at museums, universities, and school often takes her out of the woods and into various cities and towns.
Before devoting her life to grossness, Sylvia was a science teacher at a remote school in Mendocino County, California. She taught science to the entire school from kindergarten through high school. Considering the entire school only had about 60 students, it wasn't very hard. Whale Gulch School is probably the only school in the world where every student knows how to make fake snot, fake blood, and fake wounds. Beside Whale Gulch School, Sylvia taught science in various junior high and high schools throughout the years.
Previous to teaching at Whale Gulch School, Sylvia was a freelance editor and writer for the Secondary Science division of Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. She wrote many enrichment features and full page activities for Insights, the middle school science series, and Biology, the high school science text. She also wrote all of the enrichment features for Environmental Science.
In addition to writing and editing at Addison-Wesley, Sylvia Carol worked as a curriculum designer and teacher trainer for Project Create, an elementary school environmental education project based in Oakland, CA. Finally, Sylvia Carol taught after school enrichment courses at Edison Elementary School, Alameda, CA for kindergarten through sixth grade children. The courses she designed and taught include Loonie Balloons, Grocery Bag Science, Abracadabra Science, and Earth Guardians.
From 1988-1991, Sylvia Carol was outreach coordinator at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California-Berkeley. During her tenure at the Lawrence Hall of Science, she traveled throughout northern California and western Nevada presenting workshops and assemblies in schools. (Basically, she blew things up, made slime, and performed other chemcial magic.) She wrote an assembly program entitled "Strange Changes: Is it Chemical or Physical?" which is still presented in elementary schools. Sylvia also designed courses and workshops for the Lawrence Hall of Science.
Sylvia Carol's writing experience includes co-authorship of "The Soap Opera," Science on Stage Anthology, a play about the chemistry of soap. She authored several articles that appeared in The Science Teacher, Science Scope, Partners in Education, and Creation Spirituality. She wrote curriculum guides for NASA-SETI and for the Department of Energy.
Sylvia Carol received her B.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of Michigan in 1980. She received her M.A. degree in Science Education from California Polytechnic University in 1986.
Other assorted info:
- originally from Michigan, three sisters, mother was a teacher moved to the North coast from Oakland, CA
- four step children, age 16, 17, 19 and 22
- husband is a web designer and the computer tech
- sang in several bands from folk to rock that played in the San Francisco Bay Area, currently singing in a band named Spin Cycle
- lives off-grid, so home is powered by solar and generator, heated by wood
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 26, 2018
As the tag suggests, I read this book as a kid, and I do find myself reading over and over again even in Adulthood. This book is a good intro to the idea of knowing all of the functions of your body. And reading this book at such a young age may help the reader find something about themselves that they may have never known about, even in childhood. This book also offers answers about topics that children may be uncomfortable with, such as bowel movements and pimples. This book can also be humorous to the reader, the as the author made the book fun and lighthearted, as well as personifying many "characters" in the book. I cannot foresee this book being a staple in my classroom, as the topics are a little risque for Kindergarten aged children. But other than that topic, I highly recommend this book for newer parents who want to teach their children about how the body works.
January 5, 2018
Highly amusing, predominantly through humorous text.
The images walked a fine line between comical cartoons, disturbing medical accuracy and the bizarre.
The information was fascinating but the presentation order was a little disjointed.
The images walked a fine line between comical cartoons, disturbing medical accuracy and the bizarre.
The information was fascinating but the presentation order was a little disjointed.
December 3, 2019
Grossology and You is a fun and silly book about the odd things the human body does. Growing up I secretly loved this book and thought it was hilarious.
May 10, 2018
This is an informational book about all the 'gross' functions of your body and the things it does. The book covers sticky goopy gross things, squishy mucky gross things, and bumpy lumpy gross things. The book has all different sorts of information about the human body while including fun facts, interesting and eye-catching illustrations, bolded words for emphasis and pronunciations. The book also has recipes and activities for students to try at home. This is not a book for beginning readers. The language is harder and a higher level. I thought this book was great! I found it interesting and I can only imagine students fighting over this 'gross' book.
May 22, 2008
It's a medical text for kids!
Believe it or not, I bought this book because I needed a book explaining diarrhea to my 4 year old. the book doesn't cover that, but it covers specifics about blood, constipation, the brain...a bunch of diferent bodily topics. It's pretty technical, but my 4 year old enjoys it as a bedtime story and I am happy to read it. My dad also spent a morning reading it cover to cover.
Believe it or not, I bought this book because I needed a book explaining diarrhea to my 4 year old. the book doesn't cover that, but it covers specifics about blood, constipation, the brain...a bunch of diferent bodily topics. It's pretty technical, but my 4 year old enjoys it as a bedtime story and I am happy to read it. My dad also spent a morning reading it cover to cover.
January 29, 2009
This book is a wonderful resource for anyone that wants to learn some of the nastier things our bodies do on a daily basis. Filled with great illustrations, this book will help youngsters understand why farts happen, what's a wart, and how we taste sweet and sour things with our tongue. A great resource for anyone's library collection.
December 9, 2011
This was one of the funniest gross books I have ever read. The book contains information about sneezes, fart, burps, and other gross things your body does. It also has fun and interesting facts about why or how your body does those things. This is a book that I am sure a lot of students in the classroom would enjoy reading over and over.
July 28, 2011
NOT a book to discuss over a meal, or at the table AT ALL! Hmmmm - I've always been of the School of Thought that 'knowledge is power', so I figured if we demystified some things they wouldn't seem as gross - I was wrong. ICK
June 5, 2007
This book is so much fun--all about what burps are, and scabs, and every gross thing that you used to be fascinated by as a kid (and pretend you aren't fascinated by as an adult). Fun stuff.
October 1, 2011
964th - 2011
November 7, 2013
I only read this because it has 50 or more pages. I am never eating gravy again.
May 27, 2014
Really gross things about your body and useful ideas for preteen programs.
September 14, 2012
Very funny and as the name implies very gross
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews