Living book lovers and Charlotte Mason enthusiasts unite! There is a new living book science resource in town! From best selling author Joy Hakim comes a life science series called Discovering Life’s Story where exploring life science through storytelling is both fun and engaging (as well as educational)!
{Disclosure: I received copies of Biology’s Beginnings and The Evolution of an Idea and was compensated for my time in writing this review. All views are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.}
Exploring Life Science Through Storytelling
Joy Hakim is probably most well known for her bestselling series, A History of US. This 10 book history series weaves together exciting stories that bring American history to life. They offer exciting, thought-provoking narrative, and are a great tool for teaching history and critical reading skills to young people. She also wrote The Story of Science series.
In this same fashion, Joy has brought us a new science series called Discovering Life’s Story, published by MITeen Press (part of Candlewick Press).
There are two books in Joy Hakim’s Discovering Life’s Story series:
- Discovering Life’s Story: Biology’s Beginnings – “When did we start learning the scientific secrets of life? Step back to the Islamic Golden Age, when scholars ask questions about life science and medicine that will establish those fields. Chart a path through the Renaissance, as Leonardo da Vinci dissects cadavers by candlelight to learn human anatomy firsthand. Follow the evolution of life science up to the late 1800s, when a baffled Dutch biologist finds a tiny infectious particle destroying tobacco crops and gives this particle a new name: virus.”
- Discovering Life’s Story: The Evolution of an Idea – “Can species change? Or go extinct? In the eighteenth century, most people answer no to both questions. But in the century that follows, that certainty gets challenged as some people in Europe question the common belief that all creatures are the same as they’ve been since life’s creation. The Evolution of an Idea, the second volume of Discovering Life’s Story, opens with the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus, who attempts to create an organizing system for the myriad forms of life on earth. It continues into the late 1800s, when two Englishmen—Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace—each develop their own version of a startling new theory of how life-forms change over time.”
While these books are written to a high school age audience, they are perfect for any age with their easy storytelling format!
Ideas for Using Discovering Life’s Story in Your Homeschool
1. A Casual Read Aloud
These books couldn’t have come at a better time for us! We spend a lot of time camping during the summer exploring the outdoors, enjoying the sunshine, and really slowing the pace of our lives down. One of the things we often do is snuggle up and read a good book. We started with Discovering Life’s Story Biology Beginnings. Because of it’s style of presenting life science through storytelling, it has been a great choice as a read aloud.
In Discovering Life’s Story Biology Beginnings we learned about the discovery and invention of the microscope. It was an interesting look at how the modern version we use in our homeschool today came to be. In 1665 Robert Hook published a book called Micrographia. His box-like invention the camera obscura allowed him and his colleagues to find that they flea, gnat and mite share basic body parts with horses, elephants, and lions.
2. Supplementing Your Curriculum
Just think how much fun it can be for a student to see beyond the textbook facts of things like evolution. How did it start? Who thought to even consider how to explain and order the things we have in our natural world?
Discovering Life’s Story The Evolution of an Idea does just this. It goes beyond the text and shows us the history behind how the theory of evolution came about and the people who made it happen. For instance, did you know that a woman named Mary Anning discovered the first Ichthyosaurus skeleton in 1811. She went on to work with others such as a medical doctor named Gideon Mantell who was an accomplished geologist, in trying to figure out the age of bones and what kind of creatures they supported.
3. Field Trips
This is a big one that we really like to incorporate into our learning. You can plan a field trip to a science center or museum based on the topics in the books. For instance, I took our kids to a traveling dinosaur exhibit as we were reading about evolution in Discovering Life’s Story The Evolution of an Idea.
4. Hands-On Activities
For instance, when reading about how the modern day microscope came to be in Discovering Life’s Story Biology Beginnings we pulled out our microscope and observed both premade slides as well as some we made ourselves.
There is also a Teacher’s Guide for Biology Beginnings where you will find Discussion Questions, Classroom Activity Ideas and more!
More Charlotte Mason Style Science Resources
The Ultimate Guide to Charlotte Mason Curriculum for Your Homeschool – a comprehensive collection of resources for homeschooling in the Charlotte Mason style. Find out what exactly it is. See how you can infuse the Charlotte Mason style into your homeschool. Read tons of reviews for Charlotte Mason Curriculum and Charlotte Mason inspired resources.
Lyrical Learning Homeschool Science Supplement – Both Lyrical Life Science and Lyrical Earth Science are based on middle school textbooks and information. That being said, many families use the songs for younger children who enjoy the music and pick up on the lyrics easily, so they become familiar with scientific vocabulary.
Pocketful of Pinecones: A Charlotte Mason Based Nature Study – This book is basically a teachers ‘how-to’ guide to implementing nature study Charlotte Mason style. It has been written as a heartwarming story which draws the reader right into the daily lives and happenings of the characters.
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