Science Textbooks - Please help!

[hjane42]

Hello... My school district is looking to revamp the entire science curriculum from K-8. We are looking for a new textbook series for each grade level, and I was volunteered to help with this search. I am trying to get some input. Which textbook series do all of you think is best? Please let me know, as any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[muinteoir]

Hello... My school district is looking to revamp the entire science curriculum from K-8. We are looking for a new textbook series for each grade level, and I was volunteered to help with this search. I am trying to get some input. Which textbook series do all of you think is best? Please let me know, as any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

None of them. Really. All of them have some good points and major flaws.

Try to find one that matches your standards the best and supplement with quality kits, internet resources, etc. from there.

[jsfowler]

I agree, I would not buy any "textbooks". I would look for kits, there are a lot of really good ones out there! I would also try to find a weekly/monthly science magazine to subscribe to for current events.

[teacher5]

To a large degree, I have to agree with the previous two responders. But students need to learn to read and comprehend science information with a good degree of independence. I am mandated to use the Scott Foresman text. The text is colorful and appealing, but has way too much information on each page. It comes with a lot of bells and whistles like premade publisher's tests, lab books, CDs, etc. All of mine sit on a shelf. I needed to break down each lesson within a chapter by using the subheadings. I taught my students how to read and take notes by modeling, and I made my own quizzes and tests. In addition, I saved a set of my very old science texts 1988 from Silver Burdett (Centennial Series). The pictures and readability are excellent for fifth graders. I use it to supplement the other text when teaching invertebrates & vertebrates, and weather and climate. It's ashame they went out of business. In addition, we area mandated to use the ESP (Elem. Sci. Prgm.) kits Looking at Liquids and Rocks & Minerals. Furthermore, we are supposed to use a kit from FOSS (full options science series) when teaching ecology. Unless you have the time and space and get some really good training on how to implemnet this program, it is hard to handle. My kids really like the ESP kit activities because they are hands on and encourage observations and investigations. The ESP kits are from BOCES Spencerport, NY. They are purchased or leased. The people from ESP will come and train teachers. They are former teachers and make teahcers during training do exactly what the kids need to do. You really experience what a student might do, feel, think, etc. I have even thought about going to work for them when I retire. Also, good videos are important, too. We subscribe to unitedstreaming.com. Hopefully, they will let you buy into a combination of things. Good luck!

[jsfowler]

How about a science handbook? They are more concise than a textbook and hit on "big ideas" instead of small details. They are also cheaper. My students love Sciencesarus created by Great Source.

[muinteoir]

ScienceSaurus is an EXCELLENT resource.

[Spectre]

We use the Science Explorer seriies from Prentice Hall and it is a fairly decent one, by science book standards. I use it as a resource and what I do in class is not yoked to the book.

I coordinate everything with our state standard course of study.

Something I like to rely on is the NASA Science file video series. The link is given below.:)

http://www.knowitall.org/nasa/scifiles/2004-2005.html

[coco2]

We use Scott Foresman ( which I like) We have the books for grades k-4 and 5 and 6 use M&M which I hate. They have the worst reps. They don't call back when you call them. I have books, but don't use them much for K,1,2. 3 and 4 use them the most. Sometimes I chuck the book and we'll do a huge project which will still meet the standards. I would love, however, to use FOSS. The first year I taught, they didn't have books. I had to wait until March to get them. Not having books was actually great! I recommend it; however, you will be working your buns off prepping. The kids were really into it and they all kind of fell into a slump when the books arrived.