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Review by Christine Field
Mark & Christine Field were married
in 1986 and had the typical dual-career marriage. After practicing law for eight
years, Christine left the work force in 1991 to raise the children full time.
God has blessed them with four children thus far:
three girls and one boy. Three were adopted and one is biological.
They live and home school in Wheaton, Illinois, where
Mark serves as Chief of Police.
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Microscope Adventure
is incredibly well done. The adventure begins with getting acquainted with
your microscope and learning to properly use and care for it. Using books
commonly available at the library, the student then reads and researches all
aspects of the use and usefulness of the microscope. A complete course of
lab explorations are detailed for the student. Using fabric, hair, dust,
flowers, plants, seeds, molds, and common insects, the student explores a
wide array of science topics. Kym has included a complete plan for the unit,
called Kym's Konstruction Kit. A handy checklist
guides the teacher through preparation and implementation of the unit. She
has also included a handy prefatory article by Kathleen Julicher and Steve
Lambert on “Buying a Microscope.” At the end of the unit, numerous websites
are listed to continue the adventure - virtually.
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Review by Cathy Duffy
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Those looking for guidance as to how to get their money’s worth out of that
quality microscope they’ve purchased would do well to get Microscope Adventure
by Kym Wright (alWright! Publishing) ($17.95). This 90+ page book begins by
offering tips on finding quality microscopes at great prices (if you haven’t
already bought one). Then it walks students through microscope activities
beginning with set-up, clean up, and proper use, continuing through activities
with easily accessible items like fibers, dust, crystals, bubbles, cells,
plants, seeds, mold, cork, muscle cells and insect parts. Lessons usually direct
students to read about the topic in another resource, then poses a series of
questions. Lab activity sheets accompany each lesson (sometimes more than one
per lesson). These sheets give step-by-step instructions with questions to focus
student attention. Simple check-off boxes and lines for brief answers make it
easy for students to respond. Students are also frequently required to draw
illustrations of their observations. Children as young as fourth grade should be
able to complete these activities, but those activities also comprise an
excellent and substantive part of a high school level biology lab. Lesson plan
pages in the back of the book will be valuable help in preparation. Lab sheets
and lesson plans are reproducible for a single family.
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Review by Rainbow Resource
Center
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An excellent unit to get children acquainted and comfortable with a
microscope - how to use it, and actual investigations with it. Forwards by
Kathleen Julicher (Castle Heights) and Steve Lambert (Five in a Row) give
suggestions for finding good microscopes at bargain prices. The World of the
Microscope (see index) is highly recommended as a basal resource book for
this unit. Other resource books from the list of recommended resources should be
obtained and available for reference during the course. The unit can be done
over a period of time, but it requires a minimum of 42-48 days to complete.
Activities look extremely interesting and the accompanying lab sheets are
excellent - very thoughtfully constructed. Labs begin with the set up, use and
clean up of the microscope. The next several labs teach children to make wet
mounts, dry mounts, permanent mounts, and well mounts. Successive labs are spent
using the microscope skills just learned to study things microscopic, ranging
from fibers to insect parts, with cells, plant parts, and simple cell animals in
between. The book also contains vocabulary words, science supplier addresses and
phone numbers, answers, and additional helpful tips about microscopes. Just
looking through the unit makes me enthusiastic about using it - it looks like
the best kind of learning - interesting and fun. I would guess that most
children would thoroughly enjoy this adventure with a microscope - gaining
invaluable skills for higher level science courses in the process. Children in
the elementary grades would need some parental support to accomplish the study;
older children could use it independently. Look into this one!
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Review by Kathleen Julicher
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The Microscope Unit will be a very useful one to homeschoolers or to regular schools. Kym
Wright has done a great job on it. The lab write-ups will make it easy for instructors to
copy for the family as required and then slip the paperwork into the biology notebook. Or
students could just use it as it is. The really good part for junior high schoolers is
that the labs use materials which usually come with the scope or can be easily gotten, no
expensive prepared slides here. Many of these labs can also be used for high school
homeschoolers. (I shouldn't say that since I wrote a biology lab manual for high school
level, right?) Oh well, this unit on microscopy is really good and a bargain. I definitely
recommend it. *Kathleen is a Biologist, homeschooling mom, columnist
for Homeschooling Today,
& Author of 3 high school lab texts: Experiences in ... Chemistry, Biology
& Physics published by Castle Heights Press
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Review by Tobin's Lab
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We used this excellent resource before (and sort of during) a recent Jr. High
Biology unit. It is so thorough that I plan to go through it again in a
couple of years for another "layer of learning." It’s got tips for buying
scopes, supply lists, lab sheets and lesson plans, websites to check out,
extensive vocabulary list, field trip ideas, & people to study. I LOVE the way
it is sequenced and organized. Students put together a lab notebook with their
lab sheets, vocabulary and research report. You will need to spend some time
gathering materials and preparing to teach, but the lesson plans are done for
you, and the record-keeping is a snap. Designated for 4th grade and up, thought
I think you could use it 2 or 3 times between 11 and 17 years of age, at
different stages of maturity. Your students will be thoroughly acquainted with
their microscope after doing these activities, and will be able to explain to
others, which is the definition of mastery! 90 pages.
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Review by Lifetime Books and
Gifts
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Age: OLDER, JR HIGH, SR HIGH Microscope Adventure was written especially for Kym and Mark Wright’s
hands-on, no-write son. Kym created lab sheets to help him do microscope labs
easily with a minimum of writing, using a system of check off boxes. Using
easy-to-find specimens and the 35 reproducible lab sheets, students from about
fourth grade through high school learn about microscopic life and scientific
methods. This unit study includes hints on buying microscopes and lab materials,
the $1 rule of optics, suppliers, as well as people to study, recommended books
and websites, and field trip ideas. Lesson plans and information on how to alter
them are important parts of the book also. Topics include plant and animal
cells, microbes, fibers, mounts, insects, crystals, and drawing observations.
The book can be used by home schools or classes.
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Review by Farm Country
General
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Using easy-to-find specimens with Lab Sheets provided, it
walks students through microscope activities beginning with set-up, clean up,
and proper use, continuing through activities with easily accessible items like
fibers, dust, crystals, bubbles, cells, plants, seeds, mold, cork, muscle cells
and insect parts. Kathleen Julicher says, "no expensive prepared slides here.
This unit on microscopy is really good and a bargain. I definitely recommend
it." Foreword by Steve Lambert (Five-In-A-Row) and Kathleen Julicher (Castle
Heights Press). 4th grade - high school
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