Teach Kids the Wonders of Biology
Despite seeing plants every day, and probably eating them most days, a lot of people overlook the importance of plants in our lives. A good science teacher, whether a parent or a teacher in a traditional classroom, can get kids excited about studying plants as part of their science program. The new biology text by Pricilla Spears, Kingdoms of Life Connected, makes the job easy and fun, and is an excellent addition to any secular homeschool curriculum.
The book suggests many hands-on projects your children can do to explore and understand the world of plants, such as labeling local species and keeping a file of plant pictures. Many students will enjoy the history of plant discovery and may be surprised at some of the ways plants are used in everyday life. Families of plants we eat is likely to be a subject of interest that many teachers can use for topics beyond basic biology encompassing important issues in health and medicine. Of course, the practical experience of growing plants in gardens or inside the classroom is a great way to stimulate hands-on interest.
One of the strong features of Kingdoms of Life Connected is that it guides both students and teachers through the less commonly known types of plants and places them in the context of broader networks of life. The book will stimulate interest in many plant varieties that most students don’t even know exist, such as liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Show your students a picture of a quillwort or club moss and explain how it is related to the large, scaly barked tree “Lepidodendron” from the Paleozoic Era. And, suggest to your students that they refer to Kingdoms of Life Connected to discover what else was alive in paleozoic times.
This book’s high quality illustrations are an excellent complement to the text. Diagrams of plant relationships help students understand the important elements of order in the diversity of life. The plant kingdom has many fascinating tales to tell. You will find the new text to be an excellent resource to make your lessons both accurate and interesting, whether you want to discuss the ginkgo tree as the last survivor of its lineage, or talk about monilophytes and pteridophytes.
Kingdoms of Life Connected is just one item in a growing catalog of science education products produced by Big Picture Science that are tailored specifically for elementary and middle school science teaching, whether in a homeschool setting, a Montessori or charter school classroom, or a traditional public school.
Related Articles
