Science: Grades 5 - 8
Exploring…Science Series
Publisher: Master Books
For more information or to order: www.homeschoolingfromtheheart.com
We are delighted to have these wonderful books in our catalog!

Master Books has made science come alive through their books, Exploring the History of Medicine, Exporing the World Around You, Exploring Planet Earth, and Exploring the World of Chemistry.  Designed specifically as a resource tool for 5th - 8th grade students, each of the titles in this series provides a solid overview of their respective topic.  With the exception of Exploring the World Around You, which focuses on the earth's biomes, each book covers the history of science in a lively, conversational style that appeals to young readers.  Chapters are relatively short and each book has black & white illustrations and photos throughout.  Written from a Christian worldview, this series lays a strong foundation for understanding science from a creationist perspective.  I've provided a brief review of each title below:

Exploring the History of Medicine, by John Hudson Tiner
This book provides students with a healthy dose of facts and fascinating biographical sketches of famous persons of medicine.  We are using the 21 chapters of this book as part of our yearlong focus on the human body.  While we will certainly do many fun experiments, my middle-schooler is reading one chapter each week and discussing what he learns with me.  This book also lends itself to creating a "great men/moments in science" timeline. 

Exploring the World Around You, by Gary Parker
Beginning with an introduction to the earth's seven different terrestrial biomes - desert, grassland, deciduous forest, tropcial rain forest, coniferous forest, tundra and chaparral - this book provides solid facts about our amazing world from a Christian perspective.  Throughout the 16 chapters, children will learn about ecosystems, population growth, habitats, adaptations, energy problems and more.  Key facts are highlighted - charts and diagrams are used throughout the text.

Exploring Planet Earth, by John Hudson Tiner
Meet the famous explorers and scientists who brought us many of our most important scientific discoveries.  Divided into 20 chapters, this book brings to life people like Marco Polo and events like the history of navigation, and gives students the opportunity to read history that hasn't been altered or erased altogether.  Exploring Planet Earth covers early civilization to developments related to future exploration.

Exploring the World of Chemistry, by John Hudson Tiner
Providing a great overview of a sometimes-daunting subject, this well-written text allows children to see how chemistry impacts their lives everyday.  The author does a fantastic job of explaining the scientific principles that govern chemistry while sharing interesting stories about discoveries and discoverers.

For those who like to have chapter tests, they have been provided and new vocabulary words are defined, throughout all of the books in the series.  These books do not provide experiments or hands-on activity suggestions, but rather focus on laying a solid foundation that will give future experimentation and study more meaning.

Making the Grade: A
Cost: $13.99 each
Value for your homeschool dollar: 10
Review provided by Cindy Prechtel, Editor