Planet Earth

Planet Earth copyright 2000 by Graham Beehag Books

There tends to be a similar structure in each of these textbooks. Title page then contents followed by an introduction. This particular textbook seems to be geared towards older children. The font is smaller than the first one I read and the text to picture ratio is different. The sentences are still simple and clear. The contents of the book are: Introducing Planet Earth, Our Home Planet, Drifting Continents, Volcanoes and Earthquakes, Earth Rocks, The Changing Landscape, The Watery Earth, Earth's Atmosphere, Weather and Climate, Life on Earth, Glossary and Index. Even though this book seems to be for older children it still doesn't go into much depth. It just skims the surface of the information. It gives enough information to be helpful, but not so much that it is confusing or college level. It is a fairly short book, only 32 pages. Most of the images are of the earth and relate to the subjects of the book. Most of the pictures have short captions with them. Most of these are pretty much the same. Simple short sentences with pictures for the reader to help visualize the information given about science.

Discover Science

Discover Science

Scott, Foresman and Company, Texas Edition, Copyright 1991

Inside the cover is a This Book is the Property of table and there is a blank space for the state, province, county, parish, school district and other. Below this is the Issued to section where students write their names and the year they had the book. Page i the authors are listed, page ii the consultants are listed and iii the reviewers and content specialists. Page iv is the table of contents. Included in the table of contents are the titles of the four units in the book and their chapters.

Life Science

-How Plants are Different

-How Animals are Different

-Life on Earth long ago

Physical Science

-Matter Around You

-Heat, Light and Sound

-Machines and Electricity

Earth Science

-Water and Air

-Changes in Weather

-Sun and Other Stars

Human Body

-How Your Body Works

-Keeping Healthy

Page xii is titled “Discovering Science” and it is an introduction to science. It starts out as a story about a girl named Jane and her understanding of the relationship of the planets. Jane visits a space museum and goes to the moon exhibit. It gives basic facts about the moon and then introduces the scientific method. This section goes on for 11 pages with about one to 3 short paragraphs per page with images on most pages.

Without going in depth into the chapters I notice that the font is large and the sentences are short and simple. The colors are bright, the kids in the pictures or illustrations are probably aged 4 to 10 and the rest of the images relate to the subject matter.

The first page of Unit one states the title of the unit “Life Science” and there is an introduction paragraph, which ends with a question for the reader and asks the reader to list three ways a boy and a turtle are different. Then it lists the chapter titles. The first page of the chapter has a large picture of plants and two questions: What different plants can you find in the picture and how do people use plants? Most pages only have a short paragraph or two of text and the rest of the page is filled with pictures. After two short 2 to 4 page lessons there is an activity. After another 3 page lesson there is another activity. Then another lesson, a problem solving tip and then a chapter review. The chapters are all structured fairly the same way with different information.

In the back of the book is an Independent Study Guide with one question for each chapter. Next there is a more in depth section about the scientific method with experiments for the reader to try. This is followed by a glossary, which is followed by the index. Finally the book ends with the TAAS Practice Tests.

Defining Science Textbooks

Science textbooks are informative books about the subjects of science including: earth science, biology, physics, chemistry and astronomy. Within these categories are subcategories with even more detailed and specific books. They are written in a factual and straightforward way. Similes are sometimes used to make comparisons and help to make the concepts of the material more understandable. Pictures and illustrations are used to accompany the information provided. Science textbooks’ targeted audience is students’ ages ranging from 5 to 18 depending on the specificity and kind of information.