Discovering Life Science Paperback – April 3, 2022

Latest update - April, 2026. This is the STANDARD COLOR VERSION of Discovering Life Science*, a middle school life science textbook (or resource book) with an approachable two-column format.The book’s 72 brief** thoroughly illustrated lessons are written in a student-friendly, concise style - well-suited to enhancing self-teaching and outlining. The author taught life science for 42.5 years, retiring in 2020.Website: Buyers may obtain the FREE teacher's guide (a Google doc) and the FREE handwritten model outlines of the lessons via a companion website (lifesciencetextbook.com.) The website includes several sample lessons and outlines, as well as steps to easily incorporate the teaching of outlining (plus specific recommendations for substitute teachers). Also posted is the detailed, 8-page index and a list of the scientists mentioned in the textbook.As a resource: Teachers occasionally select a lesson, make a class set (or project it to a screen), challenge students to read and outline at least a few paragraphs, and then share the model version. [Parents (and administrators) are impressed when they discover that the science teacher is helping students master this widely-applicable skill!]As a textbook: Lessons open with anecdotes pertaining to notable people and events, and end with review questions. Fifty of the seventy-two lessons include a hands-on activity, and each of the ten units ends with review questions, plus several enrichment suggestions. A page describing (and illustrating) three life science careers follows six of the ten units.Teacher's guide: For each lesson, the guide includes teaching suggestions and dozens of topic-correlated links to YouTube videos (some for the entire class, some as enrichment opportunities). In most cases, specific start-and-end times for key portions of videos are suggested.Up-to-date content: Science is presented as a tool used to discover new information and to help solve problems via strategies including (but not limited to) the scientific method. In addition to the basic content of most life science textbooks, Discovering Life Science introduces students to topics such as genetic engineering, mRNA vaccines, climate change, our microbiome, endosymbiosis, and the mycorrhizae. [Please note that evolution is considered to be an underlying principle of biology - not "one possible theory."]*Discovering Life Science is a revised and updated version of Globe Life Science, 2nd edition, by Bryan Bunch and Mary C. Hicks (published by the Globe-Fearon division of Simon & Schuster in 1996).** The breakdown of pages per lesson is as follows:18 two-page; 23 three-page; 22 four-page; 6 five-page; 3 six-page. These pages include all illustrations, charts, and review questions. Read more