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Welcome to the Elemental Science’s Product of the Month for May! This month we are featuring the first book from our living book series, The Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 1: Zoology!
What is the book about?
The Sassafras series was born out of desire to make science fun and interesting for elementary students. Our hope was to create a series of living books that would teach the basic facts of science in the context of an adventure-style story, so that students would become excited about learning science!
In this volume, the science adventure begins for Blaine and Tracey Sassafras! The twins and your students will learn all about the amazing animals that can be found around the globe. They will visit locations like the Alaskan Arctic, the Amazon Rainforest, the African Grasslands and the Egyptian Desert. In the book, Blaine and Tracey meet a variety of local experts who help them to learn about the animals in the region. Along the way, they discover a budding interest in studying science. This adventure will teach your students about zoology in a way that they’ll never forget! Read an excerpt from the book.
You can enjoy this volume on its own or you can add in the activity guide and logbook on the next page to create a full science curriculum.
Who will benefit from reading The Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 1: Zoology?
The homeschooler interested in using living books for teaching science or the homeschooler with multiple children who wants to use only one science program will benefit from using this series. The Sassafras series novels are on a 5th grade reading level, so a middle school student can read it on his or her own, or younger students and the whole family can listen to the book as a read-aloud. The activity guide has suggestions for older (middle-school) and younger (elementary) students. Plus, the logbook is very open-ended, so that you can tailor the program to the individual students’ needs. This way, you can have students ranging from K5 thru 6th grade using the same science program.
When you use the series as your main science curriculum, you will read a chapter in the adventure-style fictional book each week. Then, you will choose an activity to do from the activity guide which provides you with a buffet of options to explore the facts presented in the book. You can do a scientific demonstration, study related vocabulary, make a craft project or read more about the topics. Your students will also keep their own SCIDAT logbook as a record of their journey.
Where can I purchase the book?
You can purchase the printed version of this book from the Elemental Science website, from Amazon or from Rainbow Resources. We also offer a Kindle version of this novel through Amazon.
What’s coming next…
The completed series will have 8 books, which will also cover botany, geoscience, geology, astronomy, chemistry and physics. Our goal is to release at least one book per year until the series is done. The second book in the series, The Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 2: Anatomy, is due out on May 31, 2013. In this volume the twins will learn all about the human body as they zip around the globe. They will visit locations like an ancient tomb in Ethiopia, a garbage dump in Texas and a bistro in Italy. Blaine and Tracey will meet a variety of local experts who help them to learn about the different systems of the human body.
In addition to the novels, activity guides and logbooks, we are working on a series of lapbooks that will coordinate with the series. The first one, Lapbooking through Zoology, is set to be released in late 2013.
My rising 4th grader would love this! He is very interested in animals and wants to work in an animal related field someday.
How neat to hear that your son wants to work with animals. Best of luck in the giveaway :)!
We’ve been dying to try this 🙂 It’d go great with a few zoo field trips!
I will go great with a trip to the zoo, best of luck in the giveaway :)!
This looks like a really fun way to interest a young boy in Science!
The Sassafras twins are a great way to get any student interested in science, best of luck in the giveaway :)!
My kids love stories so I would love to give this a try!
How great that you kids already love stories, best of luck in the giveaway :)!
We have really enjoyed other Elemental Science products and would love to give this series a try.
Glad to hear that you have enjoyed our other products, best of luck in the giveaway :)!
I used Elemental Science Intro and Adventures in America this year for my 3 K’ers. It was great! I would love to use Sassafras for our First grade science and they would LOVE zoology!
Glad to hear you enjoyed Intro to Science & Adventures in America, the Sassafras twins will be a great follow-up for next year! Best of luck on the giveaway :)!
We are currently enjoying Intro to Science and I’m sure my daughter would love this even more. Thanks for the chance to win!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed Intro to Science and your welcome for the chance to win a copy. Best of luck on the giveaway :)!
My kids have been asking for this! We’ve heard good things about Sassafras and would love to win it.
Good news, Holly, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
I have a daughter who loves anything science and she adores reading. So this would be the perfect combination for her!
She sounds like a girl after my own heart, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
My five year old son is extremely active but the one thing he absolutely loves are stories. I’ve never heard of this series before but I am now super excited about it! Thanks for the giveaway!
Glad you found us, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
My 7 year old loves animals and read alouds. Sassafras would be perfect for him.
It does sound like a great fit for you all, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
my kids soak up information from their stories. this seems like a great idea for science. they already love animals and always want to learn more!
Living books are a fantastic way for kids to learn new information, so glad to hear that your kids enjoy them! Best of luck on the giveaway!
I’m thinking of trying the Sassafras science adventures with my ds this fall. He is a voracious reader and I’m hoping that the story would engage his interest in science. Winning would certainly seal the deal!
I hope that the Sassafras twins do develop an interest in science in your son, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
I HEART the Sassafras! I have been waiting for this book! My kids were begging for more Blaine and Tracey Sassafras from the sample online! What a wonderful way to blend seemlessly science-content area studies, notebooking and writing, and reading! SPOT ON! We LOVE ES!!!!! It has really made our year wonderful in so many ways! It tied into everything we did! God bless you for this! So sweet and lovely yet high content learning! We are dying for this book!!!!!
Thank you for your kind words, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
I would love to win this because we haven’t tried any of these just your classic series. Looks like fun! 🙂
The Sassafras series is very different from our classic series, but I think that you’ll love it! Best of luck on the giveaway :)!
My kids love science! This would be great for us to try for science next year. Winning would be a great way to do that! Thanks for the chance.
I love to hear about kids who love science, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
We love Elemental Science! I have a feeling that my two boys will love this series, and I love the idea of a science logbook. What a fun way to learn! Thanks for the chance to win!
So glad to hear that you have enjoyed our program so far, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
We have been using your books for several years, and have loved them all. We are hitting life sciences again next year and this will add an element of fun to our lessons.
Thank you for your kind words and the Sassafras twins will definitely add some fun into the mix. Best of luck on the giveaway :)!
This program looks like a wonderful fit for my children. I am new to Elemental Science but can not wait to learn more.
Glad that you found us, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
We’re BIG fans of Elemental Science and have been really eyeing the new Sassafras curriculum!! We’d be over the moon to win a copy… 🙂
If you have loved ES so far, you going to be thrilled with the Sassafras twins :)! Best of luck on the giveaway!
We enjoy ES, but have yet to try the Sassafras Adventures!
Glad to hear that you have enjoyed our programs so far, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
Been wanting to check these out!
Glad you found this giveaway then, best of luck :)!
My son loves animals and anything to do with learning more about them.
Good to hear as volume 1 should be right up his alley, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
I would love to win this for all my kids. We started on the Elemental science series but I would love it for a supplemental item to spice things up.
We have used the Sassafras twins this year to add a little spice to Biology for the Logic Stage and it has worked well. Best of luck on the giveaway :)!
This is perfect for my girls! They love those kinds of stories and love animals. We would have a great time learning with your Sassafras Zoology book!
Thank you for your kind words, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
I think my daughter would love this book. And I would love that she is learning about Zoology.
Sounds great, best of luck on the giveaway :)!
I’d love to use all of the biology-related Sassafras books this year. My older boys will be using Biology for the Logic Stage, but I’m hoping to use this for my younger boys. I know at least one of the older ones will love it, too (he read the sample a couple of weeks ago). They are all animal-lovers.
The Sassafras series would be a great option for your younger students, best of luck on the giveaway!
I think my oldest (going into 4th grade) would really enjoy this book ~ he loves animals and is known to be found reading animal encyclopedia books throughout the day! 🙂
Got to love the kids who read encyclopedias for fun! Best of luck on the giveaway :)!