Two middle-school science teachers, both now retired, want to put the textbook they wrote in the hands of teachers and students — for free.

Joan Wagner, who is retired from teaching at Burnt Hills and is on the board of trustees for miSci and the Dudley Observatory, and Alan Fiero, a long-time science teacher at Guilderland’s Farnsworth Middle School, wrote a book that covers the New York State science curriculum from fourth through eighth grades.

In the time of coronavirus, with schools across the state closed, Fiero said, “Joan and I decided they would be the best way we could help.”

Fiero and Wagner typically sell about 500 books a year, for $15.99 each, and Fiero currently has a two-year supply at his Voorheesville home: 1,000 books.

“We wrote the book when New York State testing came out and students had to cover fourth through eighth grades,” said Fiero. The book would be best used by seventh- or eighth-graders, he said.

The book, titled “The Big 8 Science Review Book,” covers physical sciences like atmospheric and Earth science; biology like ecology and cells; and basic chemistry.

With schools across the state closed at least until April 15 and probably for longer, Fiero worries about the learning that will be lost. He is particularly concerned about school districts with large areas that don’t have internet access.

He envisions teachers at those districts picking up the free textbooks to distribute to their students so that students with and without internet access could together progress through the state curricula for science in a meaningful way.

“Some people still learn better with books,” Fiero said. “Everybody could have a book.”

He has had trouble reaching out to teachers and school administrators in various districts “with everyone hunkered down at home,” Fiero said.

He called The Enterprise on Tuesday morning with the idea that any teachers or school administrators who were interested in the books could email .

Fiero would then have the books delivered. Fiero said, “The schools could leave boxes of the books in front of the school.” Or, he suggested, he could leave the books on the front porch of his home or at a designated spot like The Enterprise front porch in Altamont or a particular grocery store.

“I don’t want people to have to worry about personal contact,” Fiero said.

Right now, Fiero is in New Hampshire. “I’m nannying for my grandson,” he said. “My life has always been about children. I’ve been waiting for this grandchild all my life.”

His wife, Kathy Fiero, a Voorheesville teacher, is holding down the fort at their village home, he said, and is on board with delivering or setting out the textbooks.