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Unit 1 Science Book List


This information was originally listed in a post with the humanities book list for Unit 1, but I decided to separate it. Along with our humanities unit on Prehistory, we will be studying Weather & Climate Change. I tried to make our Science units loosely correlate with our humanities units, without being contrived. The third graders in our school district will be studying various weather-related topics this year, though probably not climate change. I’m trying to make sure that we, at the very least, cover the material her peers will be doing in school, plus as much extra and related material as we can. I think you probably need a good understanding of how weather works to appreciate the concept of a “climate,” which is more complex.

Weather, Paul Lehr
Weird Weather, Kate Evans
How We Know What We Know about Our Changing Climate, Lynne Cherry
Under the Weather: Stories About Climate Change, Tony Bradman

UPDATE 8/29/12: After actually reading these titles over the past few weeks, I have determined that this is way too much work for an eight year old to cover in six weeks. I mean, what was I thinking? I have cut out the Paul Lehr book, as it is a fantastic reference book, but very dry and dense. It would take us a whole year to cover the material in that tiny book!

I’ve replaced Weather with The Weather Detectives, by Mark Eubank and Mark A. Hicks. It is much more kid-friendly, and reads conversationally, which is what I was looking for. Lillia really absorbs information when it’s given in narrative form.

Also, we won’t have time to read the Lynne Cherry book of short stories about climate change, or the How We Know… book, either. I will offer those for independent reading at her leisure. I do, however, want to read Weird Weather, which is a really well-researched, yet very fascinating, graphic novel about climate change. It will be worth it to squeeze it in somehow.

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Unit 1 Humanities Book List

Here is a list of the books Lillia will be reading during the first six-week Humanities unit, during which we will be studying Prehistory — beginning with a quick overview of evolution on Earth from the Big Bang to the rise of Homo sapiens sapiens. We will concentrate a lot of our time on the Ice Age peoples of Europe and North America. I will post a reading schedule later this week or next, so you can see how I broke down the readings by chapter and/or page number so they are manageable for an eight year old.

Disclaimer: I do not consider myself an expert on education. I do consider myself an expert on my particular child. This reading list is designed for a child reading proficiently at a late elementary/early middle school level.

Born With A Bang; From Lava to Life; Mammals Who Morph, Jennifer Morgan
Children of Time: Evolution and the Human Story, Anne H. Weaver
Oxford First Ancient History, R.E.C. Burrell
Anooka’s Answer, Majorie Cowley
Maroo of the Winter Caves, Ann Turnbull
Mammoth Bones and Broken Stones, David L. Harrison

* I chose two books of historical fiction that have female protagonists. Marjorie Cowley also wrote a book called Dar and the Spear Thrower, which has a male protagonist. You could substitute that for one of the books I selected.

UPDATE 8/29/12: I’ve changed this list quite a bit since I posted it. I am now breaking it up into two subjects, covering History (which we will read together) and Literature (which she will read to herself) separately. This will still take us six weeks, but I have cut down the number of pages per day, to keep the lessons manageable, and that leaves us with fewer books. The other titles we can read at our leisure, like the Jennifer Morgan series which we have already read many times. Here is a more accurate picture of what we will read, including some new titles:

History
Voyages Through Time: The Beginning, Peter Ackroyd
Mammoth Bones and Broken Stones, David L. Harrison
If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge, Marc Aronson

Literature
Children of Time: Evolution and the Human Story, Anne H. Weaver
Anooka’s Answer, Majorie Cowley

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