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What are some living books you have used for earth and space science? Also, what science encyclopedia would you recommend for this age group? I am not interested in a boxed curriculum such Elemental Science, NOEO, etc. I want to put together my own but need some ideas and recommendations for living books and an encyclopedia to use as a spine.

 

Edit to add...we are very conservative Christians. We will teach that some people believe in evolution but we teach young earth creationism.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

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You might check into the Wonders of Creation Series.  We used one several years ago when our oldest was in 4th grade.  It was a little too much information for her at that time, but I imagine that it would be just right for a slightly older child.  The pictures in the books are gorgeous. I had to add extra perspective and explanations, because it was definitely written from a YEC perspective, and we are old earth creationists.  They have: New Astronomy Book by Dr. Jonathan Henry, Geology Book by John Morris, and Fossil Book by Gary Parker.  They also have a workbook/study guide to go with each.

 

Something else is the Jonathan Park Adventure series.  You can still get the books, if you want, but they also have it available as cd/mp3.  There is also the Awesome Science DVD series with Noah Justice.  My children enjoy things similar to those; we don't have those particular items because they are so clearly young earth. 

 

For earth science, something a little bit fun and different that my 5th and 7th grade children have enjoyed this year is Earthsearch: A Kid's Geography Museum in a Book.

 

As far as a science encyclopedia, I like the ones from Usborne.  There is the Usborne Science Encyclopedia, but only about 45 pages in it cover earth and space science.  For more in-depth earth science, there is the Usborne Encyclopedia of Planet Earth.  My 5th and 7th graders are currently enjoying a book that seems to be a blend of science encyclopedia and hands-on science activities, the DK Nature Explorer.  Of it's six sections, three of them clearly fall under space and earth science, and a fourth section, entitled Nature Ranger, has some earth science as well.

 

Blessings to you in your homeschool journey,

 

Laura

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Well, we are studying earth and space science right now, but I'm not sure if any of my suggestions would work for you.  If you are looking for things solely from a young earth perspective you aren't going to find many actual science books.  Maybe try a different thread title or clarify what you would find acceptable?  I'm really not trying to be snarky or mean, and I'd love to help, but given the ETA on your OP I am not sure if any of my suggestions would work for you.  I'm not sure how you study earth and space science from a YE perspective, a greater than 6000 year time frame is integral to our scientific understanding of the universe and the earth.

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I think your going to have to specifically at YE publishers for what you are looking for as any mainstream science book will be OE. We're studying space right now but none of my resources would fit, while some science topics can avoid the age of the earth it is integral to books about space. I think sometimes that YE advocates overstate the prevalence of YE views, making it seem that there are more in-line with this view than there actually are, however surely there are some out there and I'd guess someone has made a list of resources. I'd just google, young earth astronomy books.

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Check with Heart of Dakota's website.  It's a little hard to navigate, but each level uses living books for science.  They are YE.

 

This is probably the only one, but HOD does use Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey, which is not YE. Just a heads up for the OP. :)

 

 

 

OP, we are also studying Earth/Space science using living books, but I am afraid none of our books support a YE view. If you are interested anyway, I would be happy to share.

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I don't mind if the books are not YE. I mainly added that to say we are Christian and would prefer Christian books if possible. I don't mind secular suggestions or OE suggestions. I would love a whole list that I can go through and decide later which would be the ones we'll use. Overload me with suggestions. I can review them overtime since I do have some time before I need to decide. Thanks for all of the responses so far.

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A Really Short History of Nearly Everything by Bryson

 

Space

The Big Bang by Fleisher

Universe by Seymour Simon

Exploring Our Solar System by Sally Ride

To Space and Back by Sally Ride

Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey

Copernicus by Andronik (there must be a better biography out there for him...)

Galileo by Steele

 

Earth

Shaping the Earth by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent

Over the Mountains by Collier

Eruption! Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives by Rusch

Smithsonian Ocean by Cramer

Tracking Trash by Burns

Over the Coasts by Collier

Over the Rivers by Collier

Discover Nature in the Weather by Tim Herd

 

I hope this is helpful! :)

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Check out this book: http://www.amazon.com/Couldnt-Just-Happen-Knowing-Creation/dp/1400317142/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416865211&sr=1-1&keywords=it+couldn%27t+just+happen

 

It was great when we were studying Earth Science and the solar system.  It comes from a creationist standpoint, but stays neutral regarding YE vs. OE; basically it doesn't mention a time period.

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I like Tracy P's list.  For Earth Science, Dr. Art's Guide to Planet Earth is great for this age group, as is Science 101: Ecology

 

The Scientists in the Field series has some awesome books on astronomy and the scientists who do it.

 

We really like the DK and Eyewitness single subject books: they have The Universe, Astronomy, Earth, and other relevant titles.

 

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This is probably the only one, but HOD does use Find the Constellations by H.A. Rey, which is not YE. Just a heads up for the OP. :)

 

 

 

OP, we are also studying Earth/Space science using living books, but I am afraid none of our books support a YE view. If you are interested anyway, I would be happy to share.

 

I meant to say that HOD is of a YE view.  She usually gives a heads up about any book that is not.

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I don't know if you would be interested in listening to talks or reading articles by John Lennox, but he has plenty available free online. He is a Protestant apologist for OE. I listened to one of his talks from 2011 available on the Society for Classical Education's website. (I listened to it back then, so I can't remember which of the 2 listed was the one I listened to.) http://www.societyforclassicallearning.org/index.php/resources-guest/media-guest

 

I googled his name before posting b/c I couldn't remember exactly what it was and found his website which has lots of material.

http://johnlennox.org/jresourcess/video-resources/

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