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S/O secular science thread: Is there a science curriculum that teaches evolution?

mo2

By mo2,
in K-8 Curriculum Board

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dbmamaz

dbmamaz

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what age level are you looking for? I know intellego has some units on evolution. i was very upset to see that Charlie's Playhouse has gone out of business. We used their products and some videos (walking with prehistoric monsters, walking with dinosaurs, etc). The Usborne encyclopedia of history apparently included some evolution, which i didnt realize so we covered it free-form before we got to the book. My teen has been using a biology textbook, a very old copy of one of the Campbell ones, and it included some chapters on evolution. I keep hoping Hakim will finish her life science books and that they will include a lot about evolution, but she's been working on them for years already.

 

but no . . .i havent seen any curricula that include it. even in public school, i'm pretty sure they dont touch on it until high school biology, and even then . . . well, in a lot of states, the government is trying to make sure its not taught as science fact.

 

this country has one of the lowest levels of people believing in evolution. even my husband argues that he isnt convinced its true . . .not that he has any better ideas, but he's convinced that the evidence is not really there. but he's not willing to read about it.

 

fwiw, i have a fb page called 'i homeschool and i teach the science of evolution' but its pretty quiet.

 

oh, and some of my fave big bang resources include 'bang the universe verse' and the fiction series of George;s secret key to the universe. the third book had a lot of info about big bang and the haldron collider.

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mo2

mo2

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I have ages 3-10 but I'm always planning ahead, so I'm looking for all ages, basically. :) Thanks for the tip about George's Secret Key to the Universe. I think my 10yo would enjoy it.

 

I had no idea Charlie's Playhouse had gone out of business! How sad!

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AimeeM

AimeeM

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They went out of business??? I ordered their ancient creature cards about a year ago; when I asked them about their play mat timeline they said they were just "backordered". Did they officially go out of business then?

what age level are you looking for? I know intellego has some units on evolution. i was very upset to see that Charlie's Playhouse has gone out of business. We used their products and some videos (walking with prehistoric monsters, walking with dinosaurs, etc). The Usborne encyclopedia of history apparently included some evolution, which i didnt realize so we covered it free-form before we got to the book. My teen has been using a biology textbook, a very old copy of one of the Campbell ones, and it included some chapters on evolution. I keep hoping Hakim will finish her life science books and that they will include a lot about evolution, but she's been working on them for years already.

 

but no . . .i havent seen any curricula that include it. even in public school, i'm pretty sure they dont touch on it until high school biology, and even then . . . well, in a lot of states, the government is trying to make sure its not taught as science fact.

 

this country has one of the lowest levels of people believing in evolution. even my husband argues that he isnt convinced its true . . .not that he has any better ideas, but he's convinced that the evidence is not really there. but he's not willing to read about it.

 

fwiw, i have a fb page called 'i homeschool and i teach the science of evolution' but its pretty quiet.

 

oh, and some of my fave big bang resources include 'bang the universe verse' and the fiction series of George;s secret key to the universe. the third book had a lot of info about big bang and the haldron collider.

 

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dbmamaz

dbmamaz

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idk, i havent been able to get ahold of them since someone said something on another site that the website was down. that was at least a week ago, but someone on their fb page asked where they were back on new years eve and they never responded. i kinda worry that something bad happened, idk. its weird to just vanish. they still have the cards on amazon

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Wheres Toto

Wheres Toto

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Wow, I really hope Charlie's Playhouse didn't go out of business. I have the playmat timeline and the creature cards. I loved looking there for book ideas.

 

REAL Science Odyssey is supposed to cover evolution in it's Level 2 and Level 3 books. Unfortunately it's not clear when those will finally come out.

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lewelma

lewelma

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For the younger ages, my children learned about evolution through the many David Attenborough Documentaries. Evolution is woven into all of his series in a way that it becomes second nature to the children. They are excellent! http://en.wikipedia....ugh_filmography

 

Biozone puts out an excellent evolution text for high schoolers. http://www.biozone.co.nz/modular.php and also one for human evolution. These worktexts are thin paper backs of about 100 pages, and feel very accessible. I heavily adapted the evolution text for my 11 year old for a 4 month unit. I will have him study both texts more carefully in high school. What is nice about the evolution book is the scale of the discussion -- I have copied the TOC below. I also like that it is not all text. Each spread covers one topic with a short paragraph introducing the concept, a graph/chart/diagram about the concept, and deep meaningful questions to test your knowledge. There is a model answer CD. The website has extensive previews, and they have just put out a second edition (which I have not personally seen). I used the first edition which you can see samples of if you scroll down the page. The price is right -- about $10-15, and I know it is available on amazon. They purposefully print in black and white to keep prices down, which also allows them to update regularly to keep the material current. Oh, and Biozone is a NZ company, so they do not contain any American political agenda.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

 

THE ORIGIN & EVOLUTION OF LIFE

Life in the Universe

The Origin of Life on Earth

Prebiotic Experiments

The Origin of Eukaryotic Cells

The History of Life on Earth

Fossil Formation

The Fossil Record

Dating Fossils

DNA Hybridisation

Immunological Studies

Other Evidence for Evolution

The Evolution of Novel Forms

Comparative Anatomy

Vestigial Organs

Biogeographical Evidence

Oceanic Island Colonisers

Continental Drift and Evolution

 

MECHANISMS OF EVOLUTION

Genes and Evolution

Adaptations and Fitness

The Modern Theory of Evolution

Darwin’s Theory

Natural Selection

Selection for Human Birth Weight

Industrial Melanism

Heterozygous Advantage

Sexual Selection

Darwin’s Finches

Gene Pools and Evolution

Gene Pool Exercise

Population Genetics Calculations

Analysis of a Squirrel Gene Pool

Changes in a Gene Pool

The Founder Effect

Population Bottlenecks

Genetic Drift

Artificial Selection

Polyploidy in the Evolution of Wheat

The Species Concept

Reproductive Isolation

Allopatric Speciation

Sympatric Speciation

Evolution in Bacteria

Stages in Species Development

The Species Life Cycle

 

PATTERNS OF EVOLUTION

Patterns of Evolution

The Rate of Evolutionary Change

Homologous Structures

Convergent Evolution

Coevolution

Pollination Syndromes

Geographical Distribution

Adaptive Radiation in Mammals

Adaptive Radiation in Ratites

Origin of New Zealand Parrots

Adaptive Radiation in Wrens

Evolution in Springtails

Ancient New Zealand Landscapes

Evolution in NZ Invertebrates

Evolution in Hebe

Extinction

Causes of Mass Extinctions

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mo2

mo2

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For the younger ages, my children learned about evolution through the many David Attenborough Documentaries. Evolution is woven into all of his series in a way that it becomes second nature to the children. They are excellent! http://en.wikipedia....ugh_filmography

 

Biozone puts out an excellent evolution text for high schoolers. http://www.biozone.co.nz/modular.php and also one for human evolution. These worktexts are thin paper backs of about 100 pages, and feel very accessible. I heavily adapted the evolution text for my 11 year old for a 4 month unit. I will have him study both texts more carefully in high school. What is nice about the evolution book is the scale of the discussion -- I have copied the TOC below. I also like that it is not all text. Each spread covers one topic with a short paragraph introducing the concept, a graph/chart/diagram about the concept, and deep meaningful questions to test your knowledge. There is a model answer CD. The website has extensive previews, and they have just put out a second edition (which I have not personally seen). I used the first edition which you can see samples of if you scroll down the page. The price is right -- about $10-15, and I know it is available on amazon. They purposefully print in black and white to keep prices down, which also allows them to update regularly to keep the material current.

 

Ruth in NZ

 

 

THE ORIGIN & EVOLUTION OF LIFE

Life in the Universe

The Origin of Life on Earth

Prebiotic Experiments

The Origin of Eukaryotic Cells

The History of Life on Earth

Fossil Formation

The Fossil Record

Dating Fossils

DNA Hybridisation

Immunological Studies

Other Evidence for Evolution

The Evolution of Novel Forms

Comparative Anatomy

Vestigial Organs

Biogeographical Evidence

Oceanic Island Colonisers

Continental Drift and Evolution

 

MECHANISMS OF EVOLUTION

Genes and Evolution

Adaptations and Fitness

The Modern Theory of Evolution

Darwin’s Theory

Natural Selection

Selection for Human Birth Weight

Industrial Melanism

Heterozygous Advantage

Sexual Selection

Darwin’s Finches

Gene Pools and Evolution

Gene Pool Exercise

Population Genetics Calculations

Analysis of a Squirrel Gene Pool

Changes in a Gene Pool

The Founder Effect

Population Bottlenecks

Genetic Drift

Artificial Selection

Polyploidy in the Evolution of Wheat

The Species Concept

Reproductive Isolation

Allopatric Speciation

Sympatric Speciation

Evolution in Bacteria

Stages in Species Development

The Species Life Cycle

 

PATTERNS OF EVOLUTION

Patterns of Evolution

The Rate of Evolutionary Change

Homologous Structures

Convergent Evolution

Coevolution

Pollination Syndromes

Geographical Distribution

Adaptive Radiation in Mammals

Adaptive Radiation in Ratites

Origin of New Zealand Parrots

Adaptive Radiation in Wrens

Evolution in Springtails

Ancient New Zealand Landscapes

Evolution in NZ Invertebrates

Evolution in Hebe

Extinction

Causes of Mass Extinctions

 

 

 

Thank you so much for the link to the Biozone books. They look great!

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VeritasMama

VeritasMama

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When I was in college, it was presented in my Physical Anthropology class as theory. Of course, we studied the theory in depth, as studying the fossil record was a huge chunk of the course, but it is still presented technically as a theory, that is what it is, and we examined all the different theories regarding how it "works." In the class, we mostly covered topics such as adaptations vs. expatation, neutral theory, and a lot of genetics and theories associated with that. It was really fascinating, but I'm not sure how much of the material would translate well in the grammar stage, a lot of it was very abstract and complicated.

 

I think that this might be why it isn't presented in Elementary school, it is pretty advanced to go into detail at that age. We covered it in high school as part of biology, though not nearly as in depth as in college. I grew up in a state where it wasn't a controversial topic, at least as far as I know, but it was still wasn't touched on much before high school.

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Alessandra

Alessandra

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For Middle School, try the Holt Science & Technology. I am looking at a copy of Life Science now:

 

Chap 7 The Evolution of Living Things, about 25 pages

Chap 8 The History of Life on Earth, about 25 pages

 

Science Fusion, from the same publisher, lets you buy subject modules, rather than a whole year of, say, Life Science. Rainbow Resource carries these.

 

You might also want to check out Saxon Homeschool, as they have a good selection of science texts from the same publisher (HMH). The books can be expensive, but they are also available used from places like textbooks.com. Saxon has science from elementary through high school.

 

I just looked in the front of my edition of Life Science. There are 93 contributors -- chapter writes, lab writers, academic reviewers, teacher reviewers.... This kind of text is in a whole different league from 'written by a homeschool mom' books. Obviously, it's a matter of individual choice; personally, I go with mainstream textbooks for science spines.

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Incognito

Incognito

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Two books that I believe would work very well with young children are:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Life-Story-Virginia-Lee-Burton/dp/0547203594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361762802&sr=8-1&keywords=life+story

 

and

 

http://www.amazon.com/Prehistoric-Life-Definitive-Visual-History/dp/0756655730/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=CVANI06N831M&coliid=IYBQUE8XV4ZGT

 

Life Story is a well-done summary (big-bang stuff). We had it out from the library for quite a while and the kids really enjoyed it.

 

The DK book has lots of interesting pictures (although for that one I'm only going off the preview).

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mo2

mo2

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Besides good stuff pp mentioned, Intellego has evolution and evolution-containing units.

 

 

 

Have you used the Intellego units? If so, what is your opinion of them?

 

For Middle School, try the Holt Science & Technology. I am looking at a copy of Life Science now:

 

Chap 7 The Evolution of Living Things, about 25 pages

Chap 8 The History of Life on Earth, about 25 pages

 

Science Fusion, from the same publisher, lets you buy subject modules, rather than a whole year of, say, Life Science. Rainbow Resource carries these.

 

You might also want to check out Saxon Homeschool, as they have a good selection of science texts from the same publisher (HMH). The books can be expensive, but they are also available used from places like textbooks.com. Saxon has science from elementary through high school.

 

I just looked in the front of my edition of Life Science. There are 93 contributors -- chapter writes, lab writers, academic reviewers, teacher reviewers.... This kind of text is in a whole different league from 'written by a homeschool mom' books. Obviously, it's a matter of individual choice; personally, I go with mainstream textbooks for science spines.

 

 

Alessandra, are you still using Core Knowledge?

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Alessandra

Alessandra

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are you saying that the saxon book includes a thorough explanation of evolution?

 

Saxon Homeschool distributes some of the many secular science textbooks published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH).

 

Yes, these books include a thorough explanation of evolution. Well, I should add that the only biology one I have used is the Holt Science & Tech Life Science. But, from looking at the catalogue, my sense is that they all have similar approaches. I got my copy used from textbook.com and I am also familiar with ds's copy from school (NJ).

 

Of course, editions for the Texas market (if there are any) would probably be quite different, lol.

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mo2

mo2

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Thank you all for the great links and book suggestions.

 

Yes, although ds's public school homework has a pesky way of interfering, lol!

What about you?

 

No. I still love the idea of it but I need something open-and-go. I have never been able to get a good idea of how much prep time is needed to implement CK, but it's probably more than I could handle. If I ever get to a point in life where I don't have to work full-time, I would love to give it a go. In the meantime, I do refer to the CK sequence from time to time.

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