Farmgirl70 Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 We are using High School Biology in Your Home this year for my 8th and 9th grader. (A research based program). We have a variety of reference books, but I am looking for some interesting books written on any aspect of Biology. My oldest is more of a literary/artistic type and the scientific language and dry writing is throwing her for a loop. I am looking for something that explains clearly, is well written and somewhat literary in style. Any recomendations? It need not cover all aspects of Biology as they are looking up their information all over the place. I'd just like some resources around that are interesting, accessible and thourough. Any ideas?:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 what about ' Soul Made Flesh' by Carl Zimmer. this book is about how the secrets of the brain were discovered in seventeen century England by Thomas Willis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth in NC Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 I'm sloooowly putting together a Charlotte Masony high school biology course. Some of the books I have read or am considering are In a Patch of Fireweed by Bernd Heinrich A Field Guide to Bacteria by Betsey Dyer David Attenborough's many books, The Life of Birds or Mammals or other topics The Double Helix by James Watson The Way Life Works by Mahlon Hoagland Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie Penny Gardner has a list on her website. Good luck. Ruth in NC http://travelingjews.blogspot.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturalmom Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Microbe Hunters by deKruif. My son just started it, and really likes it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Here is a website that is a CM approach to high school that has lists for biology. http://charlottemason.tripod.com/biology.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabanana1992 Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Do you think these would work for a 7th grader who reads above grade level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielle Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 We're doing a naturalist training program(+reading a textbook on biology) and here's some of the stuff I've turned up. The Amateur Naturalist by Gerald Durrell (out of Print, I believe, but well worth tracking down)--a reference book Any other books by Gerald Durrell (My Family and Other Animals, etc.) The Nature of Life (Great Books Foundation) selected readings in Biology Lyrical Life Science by Doug Eldon Volume 1 Cellular Life, Classifications, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles, etc. Volume 2 Mammals, Ecology and Biomes Really helps memorization Arnie the Darling Starling by Margarete Sigl Corbo King Solomon’s Ring by Konrad Lorenz Ravens in Winter by Bernd Heinrich--great example of how a field scientist works and goes about problem solving. Assorted Tom Brown Field Guides -Wilderness Survival -Nature and Children -City & Suburban Survival The Lives of Birds by Lester Short A Field Guide to Your Own Backyard by John Hanson Mitchell--just loved this--never let it be said that all your yard has is sparrows and squirrels. Indian Uses of Native Plants by Edith Van Allen Murphey The Backyard Naturalist by Craig Tufts (National Wildlife Federation) How to Stay Alive in the Woods by Bradford Angier The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007 edited by Richard Preston North American Tree Squirrels by Michael A. Steele and John L. Koprowski--I almost choked to death laughing while reading about the sex lives of squirrels. This is absolutely a scientific work, but oh! that chapter. Perhaps preview first. The Education of Little Tree--I hesitate to recommend this as the author was an absolutely horrible person IMO. However, the book reflects none of this and is an enjoyable semi-mythic tale about growing up in the woods and living in natural harmony Sierra Magazine National Wildlife Federation Magazine Danielle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmonyartmom Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 I put together a whole webpage on how we made our high school biology more Charlotte Mason like in approach. http://www.squidoo.com/apologiabiology We added in some living books, biographies, and nature study using local field guides and the Handbook of Nature Study. It was a wonderful year. Barb-Harmony Art Mom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Oliver Sachs (neurologist) is a terrific writer. Sachs' book The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat is well known but my favorite is Uncle Tungsten, is the book you can reserve for a living book when you do chemistry. My son read Aldo Leopold's book, A Sand County Almanac, as part of his bio course last year. Leopold's essay, "Thinking Like a Mountain", is often used in ecology classes to demonstrate how balance should be achieved in wildlife management. There is a poetric cadence to Leopold's work that I greatly admire. Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 Wow this is great!!! We are using Apologia's biology but wanted to add the research portion to it. Thank you !!! Holly:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moni Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 No suggestions, but if I were looking for some, I'd try Paula's Archives :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 I ran out of time yesterday, but when I was pulling books off the shelves to come up with my list, I started thinking about why I was choosing the ones I was.... what is it I want my students to get from their supplemental reading? I came up with two immediate thoughts, but perhaps more will surface as I think about it more and (I hope!) hear your ideas. 1) I want to give them glimpses of what a vast and complex field biology is. It can be so easy for a student who masters first year biology to think s/he really understands biology now... when the truth is that s/he now knows enough to begin realizing how very little s/he knows. ...but I want the realization to be one of joy and wonder... a 'look how much there is still to discover' kind of feeling. 2) I want them to connect the textbook stuff they are studying to their own lives and experiences. I find nature writings to be very effective at this - sometimes they emphasize that learning how to really see what we are looking at will enable us to see wonders, sometimes they show us how we can use our book knowledge and observation to get a deeper understanding of a particular topic/subject/species, sometimes they connect us to that deep wonder and awe that can come from really seeing the incredible diversity and complexity of our world... for similar reasons I love books which blend history and science. I love seeing science or a scientist in a broader context... What do you guys think? To add to your list: Biology has undergone a major shift in how the field is understood. In former decades, biology and natural history were akin; students of biology studied taxonomy and systems (be it human systems or ecological). Biology today begins with the cell. Students at an introductory level are exposed to molecular concepts which my generation would not have seen until college. In fact, much of what is now understood of biology was not necessarily known when I was a high school student. Unfortunately I think that some of the magic of the old biology (as natural history) is lost when everything is reduce to a biochemical formula. Nature writing introduces students to the wonders of observation. My husband is a fan of the Ed Abbey book, Desert Solitaire, in part, I believe, because the landscape of the Arches National Park in Utah is so opposite our eastern coastal community. When my husband reads Ed Abbey, he takes a walk in the desert. Years ago I subscribed to Natural History magazine when Stephen Jay Gould wrote a monthly essay. They were beautiful pieces, now collected in books, and perfect for high school reading. By the way, in August I had the chance to hear Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse give his now famous lecture on The Great Ideas of Biology. Oxford University Press published this lecture, so libraries may have it in their collections. It is an interesting historical view with a proposal for where biology may be going in the future. The lecture can be downloaded from this site. (By the way, Sir Paul is introduced by a fellow Nobel Laureate, Sir Tim Hunt--viewers can see how human these guys are!) Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielle Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 You are definitely right that Biology (and sciences in general) have moved away from field experience to lab work. However, with the new interest in green living and the environment, there is apparently more demand for scientists with some natural science background. We have a friend who's a prof in environmental engineering at a great tech university and his department cannot keep up with the demand for grads. He looked at our "alternative" biology and thought it would really stand out in a college app, as well as being just plain useful and pleasurable. FWIW. You have to know all the terms and molecular stuff for AP, but I still believe the joy of science is hands-on, in whatever the kids are interested in. My dd will not do dissection, but the naturalist training is right up her alley. These lists on this thread could keep us busy for a long time! Thanks to all. Danielle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmgirl70 Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 This has been so helpful! This week has been a rough start using a Biology curriculum. We have done so much natural science and read so many wonderful books and the kids have been quite interested in science. I am wanting to preserve this interest and I think, after this week, that I am going to need to learn to use our curriculum so it best fits us. I do want to prepare them to be more "academic" I guess, but I want to hang on to the joy that we have had and for us that will require some hands on and some good stories! Thanks for all your input. I've copied it into a word document to keep on my desktop as I move forward with our high school science plans. Just a tip for an interesting activity. The Exploratorium of San Francisco has an DNA extraction activity on their website. You extract DNA from a kiwi and can look at it under a microscope. Just google kiwi DNA extraction and it should come up. Thanks again for the help and encouragement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmomtutu Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I put together a whole webpage on how we made our high school biology more Charlotte Mason like in approach. http://www.squidoo.com/apologiabiology We added in some living books, biographies, and nature study using local field guides and the Handbook of Nature Study. It was a wonderful year. Barb-Harmony Art Mom Very Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 I put together a whole webpage on how we made our high school biology more Charlotte Mason like in approach. http://www.squidoo.com/apologiabiology We added in some living books, biographies, and nature study using local field guides and the Handbook of Nature Study. It was a wonderful year. Barb-Harmony Art Mom Waaah, for some reason I can't get to this site! :( I'll keep trying.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 When I was in high school, I read Louis Agassiz: A Life in Science by Edward Lurie. LOVED the book, and have been digging in my house for years, trying to locate it. It still is in print. (published in 1960) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmonyartmom Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 http://www.squidoo.com/apologiabiology Try it again. I think their website was down this morning. You might also be interested in this lens that I wrote on marine biology: http://www.squidoo.com/marinebiology Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 By the way, in August I had the chance to hear Nobel Laureate Sir Paul Nurse give his now famous lecture on The Great Ideas of Biology. Oxford University Press published this lecture, so libraries may have it in their collections. It is an interesting historical view with a proposal for where biology may be going in the future. The lecture can be downloaded from this site. This link takes me to a "page cannot be found" message at the Woods Hole Marine Biology Lab. Is there a another link, or do you think the lecture was taken down? I would love to find a copy if it's still available anywhere. Thanks, Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 C. P. Snow's famous (famous !) essay, "The Two Cultures." Not limited to biology, but essential reading for all sciences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 This link takes me to a "page cannot be found" message at the Woods Hole Marine Biology Lab. Is there a another link, or do you think the lecture was taken down? I would love to find a copy if it's still available anywhere. Thanks, Jackie Found it! Try here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Found it! Try here. Thank you! Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 http://www.squidoo.com/apologiabiology Try it again. I think their website was down this morning. Thanks! I was able to get in this time! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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