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One thing that I’ve wanted for a long time is a book like All Through the Ages, but for science. Unfortunately such a thing doesn’t exist, but I did find a website that lists award winning science trade books as chosen by the National Science Teachers Association. The books are categorized by topic and grade level, but they are organized by year instead of one master list. I am slowly working my way through the website and putting the books in a topical list that is subdivided by grade level. I’ll be adding to my science reading lists here on the blog as I work through the website, hopefully adding one list a month.
Part of making our homeschool more Charlotte Mason is that I am prioritizing reading science biographies along with our science studies. Basically the way it works is that for whatever science discipline we are studying I will find corresponding biographies for the kids to read on their own. Not surprisingly, the first list I completed was for science biographies, and I wanted to share it with you.
A couple of caveats: 1) This list is not Christian based; and 2) These grade guidelines are not set in stone. You know your child best; they could possibly read books from multiple age categories.
Grades K-2
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
A Picture Book of George Washington Carver by David A. Adler
Benjamin Banneker: Pioneering Scientist (On My Own Biography) by Ginger Wadsworth
Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin
Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone
Grades 3-5
Ordinary Genius: The Story of Albert Einstein by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson
Taking Flight: My Story by Vicki Van Meter with Dan Gutman
Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek: First to See Microscopic Life (Great Minds of Science series) by Lisa Yount
A Picture Book of George Washington Carver by David A. Adler
Great Black Heroes: Five Brilliant Scientists by Lynda Jones
Rocks in His Head by Carol Otis Hurst
To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers by Wendie Old
Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster: The Search for the Smallpox Vaccine by Albert Marrin
First to Fly: How Wilbur and Orville Wright Invented the Airplane by Peter Busby
Into the Woods: John James Audubon Lives His Dream by Robert Burleigh
The Man Who Made Time Travel by Kathryn Lasky
Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson by Amy Ehrlich
Tooth and Claw: Animal Adventures in the Wild by Ted Lewin
The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin by Peter Sis
Bone Detective: The Story of Forensic Anthropologist Diane France by Lorraine Jean Hopping
Genius: A Photobiography of Albert Einstein by Marfé Furguson Delano
Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self-Experimenters in Science and Medicine by Leslie Dendy and Mel Boring.
Reaching for the Moon by Buzz Aldrin
Thomas Edison: A Brilliant Inventor by Editors of Time for Kids with Lisa deMauro
The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies
The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America’s First Naturalist by Deborah Kogan
Barnum Brown: Dinosaur Hunter by David Sheldon
Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas
Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci by Gene Barretta
For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas
Electrical Wizard by Elizabeth Rusch
Lives of the Scientists by Kathleen Krull
Grades 6-8
American Environmental Heroes (Collective Biographies series) by Phyllis M. Stanley
Isaac Newton: The Greatest Scientist of All Time (Great Minds of Science series) by Margaret J. Anderson
Bird Watching With Margaret Morse Nice (Naturalist's Apprentice series) by Michael Elsohn Ross
Elephant Woman: Cynthia Moss Explores The World of Elephants by Laurence Pringle
Science in the Renaissance (Science of the Past series) by Brendan January
Exploring the Earth with John Wesley Powell by Michael Elsohn Ross
Pond Watching with Ann Morgan by Michael Elsohn Ross
Charles Darwin: The Evolution of a Thinker by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Jonas Salk: Conquering Polio (Lerner Biographies Series) by Stephanie Sammartino McPherson
Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists by Jeannine Atkins
Copernicus: Founder of Modern Astronomy by Catherine M. Andronik
Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster: The Search for the Smallpox Vaccine by Albert Marrin
Inventing the Future: A Photobiography of Thomas Alva Edison by Marfé Ferguson Delano
Darwin and Evolution for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities by Kristan Lawson
Rider in the Sky: How an American Cowboy Built England’s First Airplane by John Hulls
The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin by Peter Sis
Bone Detective: The Story of Forensic Anthropologist Diane France by Lorraine Jean Hopping
Galileo: The Genius Who Faced the Inquisition (National Geographic World History Biographies) by Philip Steele
Genius: A Photobiography of Albert Einstein by Marfé Furguson Delano
Guinea Pig Scientists: Bold Self-Experimenters in Science and Medicine by Leslie Dendy and Mel Boring.
Leonardo da Vinci (Giants of Science) by Kathleen Krull
Maria Mitchell: The Soul of an Astronomer by Beatrice Gormley
Marie Curie: A Brilliant Life by Elizabeth MacLeod
Onward: A Photobiography of African American Polar Explorer Matthew Henson by Delores Johnson
Sigmund Freud (Giants of Science) by Kathleen Krull
Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium by Carla Killough McClafferty
Isaac Newton: The Scientist Who Changed Everything by Philip Steele
Giants of Science: Marie Curie by Kathleen Krull
Tycho Brahe: Pioneer of Astronomy by Don Nardo
A Life in the Wild: George Schaller’s Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts by Pamela S. Turner
Emperors of the Ice: A True Story of Disaster and Survival in the Antarctic, 1910–13 by Richard Farr
Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo da Vinci by Gene Barretta
Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World by Sy Montgomery
Lives of the Scientists by Kathleen Krull
Jacques Cousteau (A&E Biography series) by Lesley A. DuTemple
Dr. Charles Drew: Blood Bank Innovator (African-American Biographies) by Anne Schraff
Niels Bohr: Physicist and Humanitarian (Great Minds of Science) by Naomi Pasachoff
American Women Inventors by Carole Ann Camp
Stephen Hawking: Breaking the Boundaries of Time and Space (Great Minds of Science) by John Bankston
Linus Pauling: Advancing Science, Advocating Peace by Naomi Pasachoff
Marie Curie: The Woman Who Changed the Course of Science by Philip Steel
Learning science one amazing scientist at a time in the tree house,
That's quite a list! Great job putting it together.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Hope it's helpful!
DeleteThis is a wonderful list, and I appreciate your including my book GIRLS WHO LOOKED UNDER ROCKS. It made me think about how many of these scientists were home schooled. In my book, I show how supportive mothers really helped direct the lives of Jane Goodall and Rachel Carson, and I recently had a conversation with someone about Maria Mitchell, who discovered a comet and in 1867 became the first professor of astronomy at Vassar, though it was her Quaker parents who primarily taught her.
ReplyDeleteThere's a new book you might find of interest, the Poetry Friday Anthology for Science. Though it's primarily directed to teachers k-5, I think it would also be useful for homeschooling, integrating science and literature. Best wish for your good work!
My oldest, Chipette, is reading your book this year as part of our nature studies. She is LOVING it! She is my animal loving, science girl so reading an entire book about other girls who loved the same things she does is so encouraging to her! Thank you so much for the book recommendation. I'll definitely check it out!
DeleteThe Student Editions for each grade level (K, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5) are better for kids to use (smaller and illustrated)--while the K-5 Teacher's Edition of THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY FOR SCIENCE is best for parents, teachers, and librarians. I love Jeannine Atkins's poems in this anthology--especially "Nursing Math," about Florence Nightingale's persuasive use of statistics and charts! (Thanks for mentioning our anthology, Jeannine!)
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