An 82-year-old ex-convict’s garden becomes a way of teaching Eric, a young man on the outs with society, that he has a place in the world.

This award-winning fictional story was first published in Vogue (in 1954) and has been reissued with meticulous woodcuts in black and white. Elzeard Bouffier, a shepherd, plants one hundred acorns on the day the narrator meets him in 1913. The surrounding country is harsh, dry, almost deserted, but by the narrator’s last visit in 1946, it is wooded and repopulated, with water again running in fountains and streams, and the new forest officially protected. Excellent choice to show students one person can make a difference.

Shel Silverstein zany poetry has been a favorite around our house for the last 20 years or so. However, this book is of a different vein. This is a tender story which describes the relationship of a boy to the backyard tree. Readers of all ages will love this message and story. The Giving Tree is ripe with possibilities for teaching stewardship.

This is really a journal of the famous originator of the Classification system. It is useful to take segments and show the detail of his observations. Very instructive if you plan to have your students keep a nature journal and in teaching descriptive writing lessons.

This book describes the process of photosynthesis as well has the historical development of its discovery. The biographical and historical element of the book makes it an extremely valuable addition to your selections when studying photosynthesis. Fully explains plants role in our breathing and as a primary food source (e.g. even the animals we eat depend on eating plants.)
Note: The final chapter, The Beginning, describes how scientists "reason" photosynthesis got started in the first place. It then continues to describe "earth history" beginning four and a half billion years ago. The first four chapters are free from such references.

Seeds To Plants amounts to a complete course on plants growth and development. Use it to replace textbook sections on this subject. Very clear photographs and illustrations, as well as descriptive text, explain each of the following aspects of plant growth and development: seeds, germination, roots stems, leaves, buds and twigs, flowers, fruits, other ways of reproduction, and the classification system. On the easy side for this level, but chock full of information.

Intended as a resource for entering science fairs Botany Projects For Young Scientists can serve nicely as a lab manual for the botany portions of either life science or biology courses. Packed with over two hundred plant science projects dealing with everything from the germination to photosynthesis. Under each topic more than one project is suggested, allowing students studying the same topic to conduct different projects. It is an excellent resource for both teacher and student.

The goal of this book is to help students get started on a Science Fair Project, but it have many good investigations for home learning. Botany: 49 Science Fair Projects emphasizes the scientific process, making it valuable for teaching students to think like a scientists. Each chapter is organized by topic. Topics covered include: Germination and vegetative reproduction, photosynthesis, hydroponics, tropism, cell transport, fungi and simple plants, and seed dispersal.

Plants, is another one of those books which could serve as a basic text. It is nicely organized, each chapter covering one aspect of plant life making it easy to use as a textbook. The pages are bright and colorful because of the extensive use of photographs and colored illustrations. Highly recommended.
Note: Page six refers to 3,000 million year old fossils.

Careers for Plant Lovers is a great resource for the career component of your unit study. Ms Camenson outlines all plant related careers providing all the basic information including job titles, contact and resource information and so on. The unique feature of this book is the interviews with persons employed in different areas of botany. These interviews supply real life interest for students.

Here is a book that can nicely serve as your "text" for the botany portion of a high school biology course. The writing is far superior to what is found in most textbooks and does not assume that the student is getting information from other sources (e.g. lecture). In addition to typical biology fare this book provides practical botany information as well. Well illustrated with both photographs and illustrations, it has bits of history interspersed among the technical information. Definitely written on the adult level, it is a book you will enjoy too.
Note: There are a number of references to evolution in this book - all are easily recognizable. I did not find any pantheistic bias.

You might consider this book a tour guide to your own backyard garden. Each chapter looks at a different aspect of the garden environment. Hands-on projects are scattered here and there. Your student does not necessarily have to begin at the beginning of this book - he can begin where his interests take him or using the extensive index where he is likely to find the answer to his questions.
Note: The author of this book normally writes "ecotourism" books about Latin America.

This book is part of one of the best science series currently being published. Only a portion of this titles content applies to botany, but the book offers excellent coverage on habitats and ecosystems. The book also offers extensive, brightly illustrated information on trees and plants. There are excellent sections on lichens, poisonous plants and how to avoid them, pond plants. The book details how to create a herbarium (collecting and pressing plants) and how to make leaf prints. Highly recommended

The endearing text and beautiful colored illustration clearly demonstrate the authors respect and admiration for the lowly weed. She takes you on a season by season explore of major cities looking for signs of life among the concrete jungle. As you travel along with her you learn many plant basics without totally being aware your are being taught. Highly recommended, especially for city dwellers!

If you’re looking for a hands-on approach to the study of plants Exploring the World of Plants may just be the thing for you. Each aspect of plant study includes plenty "Try This" activities. Most are simple and can be done with everyday materials. Topics include: seeds, what plants need to grow, and plant reproduction. This book may be on the easy side for this age group, but they should be able to do all the activities on their own.
Note: Pages 44-45 address the green house effect.

Peas and beans are widely known as legumes, but few realize that licorice belongs to the same family. In a nicely illustrated (black and white) study, an accomplished naturalist surveys this botanical group and points out the many interesting plants and trees found in it. Valuable for its botanical information, this book makes lively reading as well. The author has a keen eye for the odd fact and intriguing piece of lore that give her subject broad appeal.

This book (and others in the series) are excellent resources for career exploration component of your unit studies. Career components are suggested for grade 6 and above. It is divided into three main areas Botany, Horticulture, and related fields describing different jobs in each area.. It addresses many critical career questions for each job, including: what high school preparation is required, typical college curriculum, what the work environment is like, the current and projected employment outlook, salary expectations and other qualifications required. A number of references and resources are listed in the appendix (e.g. colleges offering degrees.).

How Flowers Work, is unique in botany related books, it focuses solely on how flowering plants fit into the plant kingdom as a whole. It begins (page 12) with a interesting presentation on the classification and naming of plants. The second Chapter discusses the cellular structure of plants and plant components. Chapter 3 details photosynthesis and other aspects of plant growth., Plant reproduction is the focus of Chapter 4, and Chapter 5 describes the development of seeds and fruit, seed formation, seed dispersal and germination. The remaining chapters of the book cover life cycle and life span, the seasonal cycle, the ecology of plants (symbiotic relationships and succession) and practical uses of plants. The text is interesting and not overly technical – detailed photographs and illustrations really aid understanding. Great full quarter texts for both Junior High and High School Students.
Note: The focus of 9-12 are on evolution of plants.

Ferns describes both of extinct and extant members of the fern family, the environments in which one is likely to find ferns growing, parts of the fern, and life cycle and reproduction (generally asexual) of ferns. There are many interesting facts dispersed throughout the book, such as that Bracken Ferns were once used as mattress stuffing because the poison in the ferns killed fleas.
Note: There are numerous references to earth history and evolution in this book, such as page 8 referring to 400 million year old fossils and page 34 "evolved into separate species."

This beautifully illustrated book introduces the immense variety of mosses and describes their favorite environments. The complete life cycle of mosses is also detailed. Fantastic full color photographs really give you a close up look to the different parts of a moss plant.

In 32 pages, The Life of Plants covers all the essential facts of plant biology making it a perfect replacement for a traditional textbook. I compared it to a 5^th grade textbook and found it to be more in depth, actually more comparable to a junior high text. The dramatic photography and clear illustrations really aid in your students grasping the subject.

This single volume carries as much information on Botany as many upper Grade school and Junior High Science general science textbooks and could be used as a basic text for this age groups with some cautions, see notes. Covers cells, plant anatomy, photosynthesis, plant movement, reproduction, pollination, seeds and fruits and defenses. Also covers classifications of plants and some history of classification system. Final chapter focuses on plant habitats.

Note: The text of this book does not discuss evolution or earth history, but the introduction and a timeline in the appendix do. Also the introduction may lead students to think there are only two kingdoms, most scientists today recognize a five kingdom classification system.

In All About the Flowering World, Dr. Lane tells the amazing story of flowering plants which, directly or indirectly, furnish us with food, clothing, and shelter as well as many healing medicines, delicate flavorings, and blossoms that are a constant delight. Wonderful index makes it easy to look up plants from tumbleweeds to roses. Covers basic plant facts as well. While this is an old book, you should be able to find it at your library or thrift store.

This book includes nine different projects/investigations related to plant growth and development. The activities are written at about the 6^th to 8^th grade level. Investigations include: Germination, Phototropism, Bottle garden, Photosynthesis, Green hair and Green Flowers. Note: Only the first 18 pages apply to plants unit.

The authentic and highly readable prose of this book will make it your definitive resource for the study of leaves. In a page or two, author Chillean Tolmie Prance describes the basic structures and functions of leaves such as cells, shape, veins, margins, variegated, floating, and succulent leaves, poisonous and prickly leaves, carnivorous plants, leaf hairs and more. Each of these excellent introductions is followed by beautiful, full color photographs (by Smithsonian Photographer Kjell B. Sandved) of leaves from around the world. Because of the short descriptive text (one to three pages) and the volumes of photographs this book will make an excellent major resource for your entire family’s study of leaves.

Chapter 23, The Herbarium and Leaf Collecting, explains how to collect, dry, and store leaves. It also has some interesting information on topical stamp collecting which shows examples of stamps from all over the world which feature leaves. Appendix I will give your Junior High and High School Instructions on how to prepare microscope slides of leaves. Appendix II will show you some advanced techniques for creating leaf prints.

This is an excellent nature guide consists of a collection of some of the most popular articles which have appeared in Nature and Science, the Natural History Press’s science magazine for your readers. Each article gives an exciting invitation to investigate the life which shares the earth with man. It contains a blend of information, questions you might try to answer, and helpful tips on how to go about answering them.

It can be used to investigate nature almost anywhere outdoors – from city park or weedy lot to a small suburban swamp or a great forest. Most of the sections are grouped into three kinds of living areas, or habitats – field, forest, and pond. It is an excellent choice when studying symbiotic relationships. Particularly valuable is the section on ``How to Keep a Field Journal.’’ Also provides details on how to make your own equipment from found materials.

This is book can add interest to a student’s study of the classification system. It clearly and simply explains how to collect and preserve plants. Ms MacFarlane thoroughly describes the methods of identifying, labeling, mounting, and preserving plant material. One of the things that most impressed me about the book was its emphasis on documentation.

This book could serve as a basic text for this age-group. It is very thorough, but contains no investigations. It includes an introduction to the plant kingdom and its study, botany, emphasizes the many individual types of plants, their reproduction and genetics, and their relationship to the larger world around them. The authors’ unique approach to plant study includes historical notes, traditional information, and the new botanical discoveries (to 1971).
Note: Casual mention of earth age and other evolution based comments are made a few times in various parts of the book. Chapter 8, Plants of the Past, discusses paleobotany.

Practical Plants surveys the many uses of plants, including nutrition, fuel, building, gardening and medicine. As the usefulness of each category of plants are explained students are exposed to some of the scientific facts of the plants culture. It clearly explains which parts of the plant are used and how it is harvested. There is a multicultural feel to this book. One of the things I really liked about the book is the little vignettes containing interesting tidbits related to the topic. It is a unique book because of its focus on the uses of plants.

Beginning with an interesting short history of how plants came and spread throughout the United States, this book is an excellent book for connecting history and your plant study. It explains the importance of using Latin names and some of the things you can know about a plant just by knowing its Latin name. (Many great root words are introduced for vocabulary building.) After these captivating introductions, the "weeds" of woods, pastures, and swamplands are described. The plants in each of these three general habitats are grouped according to the uses the pioneers made of them. A large, accurate illustration of each plant accompanies each description.

Botany In The Field is a great field trip resource. Each chapter of the book focuses on a different environment, e.g. wetland. After a description of the environment, plants commonly found in that region are then described. Use this book when you are studying symbiotic relationships or take it along on nature walks to the various environments. (Do not forget to take it along on vacation.)

Very clearly illustrated and explained ideas for creating all kinds of gardens - from window boxes to full vegetable gardens. Along with the text tips for collecting seeds, making grafts and cuttings to growing plants from food scrapes are described. Plenty of Project Ideas! This age group will be able to work with the text independently.

Plants gets off to a great start with its explanation of the importance of the classification system and characteristics of plants (e.g. what makes a plant a plant) and the plant family tree. The remainder of the book is a description of each of the ten divisions of the plant kingdom.
Note: This book presents the plant kingdom in the order plants "evolved", extensive reference is made to evolution and earth history.

This book is totally activity based. It begins with ``experiments’’ to find out about plants then to proceeds with projects for growing bulbs, seeds, and transplants and cuttings. Projects for both indoor and outdoor gardening are provided. Some of the experiments require elaborate equipment, e.g. test tubes and glass funnels.

Ó 1998 by Beverly L. Adams-Gordon