Biology / Life Science

Subtitled a Catholic Science Hands On Program of the Human Body, this is a program best used with kids in grades 4 to 8. My Temple of the Holy Spirit is a very practical study of seven of the systems of the body from a Catholic and prolife perspective. It covers various systems of the body, but not the reproductive systems, the integumentary system, or all of the excretory system. It is thoroughly Catholic, with the Faith integrated throughout. It is user-friendly for both parent and child and very nonthreatening, even for those who are frightened of teaching science. A typical lesson has a list of terms with definitions that will be used later, the material to be learned with the vocabulary words underlined, a page of comprehension questions, a diagram to label, a list of supplementary activities, and Fun Facts. The supplementary activities range from Bible reading to field trips to experiments to research papers. The wide range of acitivities make it easy to adapt this program for students of different ages. Patterns and directions for making a life-sized human body outline with cloth organs are in the back of the book. So are several activities covering all the systems studied, which can be used as a final exam if desired. To use this program properly, it is essential to have access to a library or lots of science books.

This is not a full-year study nor one for high school. Bearing those limitations in mind, this Catholic, prolife, easy-to-use, hands on, multi-level, and inexpensive study on systems of the human body is an excellent choice for science study.
Update: This is no longer sold as an individual title, but is available as a component to the 4th grade lesson plans from Catholic Heritage Curricula

Seymour Simon is well-known for his numerous photo-essay-type of picture books for elementary-aged students. Most of his books center around one specific well-defined topic and are illustrated with full-page photographs of the subject. This book is no exception. Sharks is an unpaginated, 32-page picture book, with approximately half of those pages containing full-color photographs of sharks.

The text begins by reassuring the young reader that shark attacks on humans are relatively uncommon and continues with a comparison between sharks and other types of fish. Several pages describe the characteristics of different kinds of sharks, leaving the reader with a sense of how varied these fish truly are. There are also two pages that describe the different types of shark reproduction; for my young non-readers, I skipped the paragraphs that described "external fertilization" and "internal fertilization". The book closes by reminding the children that sharks do not attack people very often, despite what they may have heard, and gives several suggestions for staying safe whilst swimming.

As usual for Seymour Simon's books, the photographs are of high quality and are truly the highlight of the book. Two of the photographs show the teeth and jaws of sharks up close, and my sensitive 5-year-old was horrified. Even so, my 3-year-old was fascinated. One photograph shows the birth of a lemon shark, which is born live as are human babies; my little readers didn't understand this and breezed right by it. The most popular picture of all was that of a hammerhead shark. The children were incredulous that any living creature could look so odd. Weeks later, they still talk about the hammerhead and are anxious to see one at an aquarium.

Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915) was a French naturalist who penned many writings about his beloved insects. These essay/stories describe, in great detail, his encounters with some interesting insects - how he worked with them and what he discovered about them. For instance The material is informative and even humorous at times, but rather dense (definitely not dry!). Here is a sample (from "The Pine Processionary")...

"You voracious little creatures, if I let you have your way, I should soon be robbed of the murmur of my once so leafy pines! Today I will seek compensation for all the trouble I have taken. Let us make a compact. You have a story to tell. Tell it me; and for a year, for two years or longer, until I know more or less all about it, I shall leave you undisturbed, even at the cost of lamentable suffering to the pines."

Although it might be suitable for high school students and could possibly be read aloud to younger students, it constitutes a portion of the Freshman Lab studies at Thomas Aquinas College. J. Henri Fabre is listed as one of the authors recommended in Catholic Authors: 4-Sight Edition.

A compilation of some of these stories, titled Fabre's Book of Insects is available from Emmanuel Books.

This book explores the notion of various plants and animals that are linked together based on "who eats what." Children will learn about some simple food chains such as - leaf, caterpillar, wren and hawk. They also see how one plant or animal can belong to several food chains and that members or these related food chains (food webs) have a certain amount of dependence on each other. The text goes on to explain, through an example of a problem with over-hunted otters around the turn of the century, that when part of a food chain is disturbed, the other members will also be affected. There are some mild "environmental" messages in this text which our family used as an opportunity to discuss good stewardship of what God has given us.