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How to weave these books into Big History Project (Hakim, Bryson, Dr Art)


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We recently switched to The Big History Project.  I'd like to add the following books and I don't know why I am stuck.  I don't know whether to add these one by one or spread them throughout the year.  

 

I want them scheduled in a way that gets it done.  I don't want to lose steam on a book if we do a little here and a little there.

 

But, if I do them one by one, is there an order preference?  

 

If you are familiar with these, do you mind giving me input?

 

Hakim's Story of Science (Newton at the Center); I read this aloud to her now.  

Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything (maybe adding this study guide)

Dr. Art's Guide to Science (maybe creating study guide)

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Oh man, I wish I had known about that study guide when Shannon did Big History!  Thanks for sharing.

 

We used all three books that you mentioned, and they are all good.  We did Hakim's book in 6th grade, and used some but not all of the activities in the Quest guide, Dr. Art in 7th grade with a homemade study guide alongside Big History, and Bryson's book in 8th grade as part of a history of science/science literacy study. I think that's a pretty good ordering. I think that Hakim's and Dr. Art's books are at a similar reading level and Bryson's book is at a higher reading level.

 

I scheduled in a ton of extra resources when we did Big History. Because it was pre-high school, I wasn't worried about a "science credit" and "history credit" but I did plan for it to take two credits worth of time. I did try to link resources topically to the BH Units, but I didn't try to line everything up perfectly. Here is a list of the supplements we used in 7th grade  alongside Big History:

 

Texts – Science Supplements

The Magic of Reality – Richard Dawkins (12 chapters) – great! We listened to the audio version

McHenry:  The Elements – some good material, but a little light for 7th grade. We didn’t do the crafts/activities

Dr. Art’s Guide to Planet Earth (6 chapters) - great

Dr. Art’s Guide to Science - great

Evolution – Daniel Loxton - great

Bones, Brains & DNA – Ian Tattersal - great

The Third Chimpanzee for Young People – Jared Diamond - excellent

The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Young Reader’s edition – Michael Pollan – stupendous, one of her favorite reads of the year

 

Texts – History Supplements

From Then Till Now – Christopher Moore – meh.  A little too brief

A Compact History of Humankind: The History of the World in Big Eras – Meredith Ryley, ed. – meh. Not that well written, confusing, too much info crammed in

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind – Yuval Harari – excellent!

 

Video or Online Courses

Coursera:  Emergence of Life  - interesting, but over her head. Not recommended for a serious science credit at this level

Open2Study: Human Anthropology – excellent.  Easy to understand, 4 week class, just right

 

Documentaries, Videos, Etc.

HHMI Docos:

The Day the Mesozoic Died

                Evolution: Fossils, Genes, and Mousetraps

                Bones, Stones and Genes: The Origin of Modern Humans

                                Human Evolution and the Nature of Science

                                Genetics of Human Origins and Adaptation

Your Inner Fish

Journey of the Universe

How the Universe Works

Chasing the Elements

Stated Clearly videos – Evolution

Crash Course World History videos

Guns, Germs & Steel

The Botany of Desire

 

Introduction to Ecology

For reference: Ecology & Environment: The Cycles of Life – Sally Morgan

Metacognition:  Eyes Wide Open – Going Behind the Environmental Headlines

Science 101: Ecology – Jennifer Freeman

Crash Course Ecology

HHMI: A Biologist in Gorgonzola

 

I hope that helps. It was a great year for us. If you have any other questions I'm happy to tackle them.

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Thanks Rose.

 

So - with these three books - would you try to tie them in to the units?  Or would you just read one after the other?  

 

We have loved and have read many of those books on your list.  In fact, many are being revisited this year.

 

I am just so crunched for time this year.  She is already working - hard - for about 6 1/2 hours a day.  I don't know how to streamline all of this in the most effective way.

 

Thanks again!!

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The Hakim book is just Physics & Chemistry, so it correlates to the first half of BH.  The Dr. Art book covers all of science, and you could link it to specific units pretty easily.  The Short History book is the same way - you could link it to specific units, you'd have to rearrange the order some.  Or, not.  You could just go through them and let dd make the connections.

 

 Most of the Hakim material is covered in Short History, and Short History covers more breadth.  Dr. Art doesn't present historical material, like the other two do, but an overview of scientific principles. I think if I were in the situation you describe I'd drop Hakim, spread Dr. Art over the year and assign it for independent reading correlated to specific units, and cover Short History together as time allowed. 

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We're doing Big History this year too and LOVING it. So far I'm just trying to cement the 3 reads and get the reading in the course done :). We also just got the new DK Big History book and it's beautiful.

As for the other books, I agree that the Hakim would be redundant. But I must admit that we tried these and did it enjoy them.

We used From then to Now last year and I expect to revisit it in appropriate units. We listened to Bryson as an audiobook and I highly recommend that. It was well read and we all really enjoyed it (even my husband who hates audiobooks). I wish I had known about that study guide also. It looks great.

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I'd like to tie in Dr Art too. If you figure out a chapter by chapter plan. Please share. We have done some astronomy activities from Yhe Universe at your Fingertips and really enjoyed them.

 

 

Yowza!  That DK books looks fabulous, but it looks huge!  Thanks for sharing.

 

When I end up matching up Dr Art with Big History, I will certainly share.  I will likely do that this week.

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