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Introduction

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 is an extremely well written account of the life of George Washington Carver. It begins with his kidnapping as an infant, takes you along with him on his quest for an education in a prejudiced world and leads you to the end of his life as a noted agricultural scientist and statesman. Well researched, this book includes an index and extensive bibliography.
Note: The beginning portions of the book do discuss some items which may be considered a bit graphic by some, e.g. speculation that George had been castrated as a boy to explain his high pitched voice and also speculation about who his father may have been.

David Bodanis guides us through the terrain of the familiar yet unseen world around us and brilliantly transforms it. Witty and captivating text and illustrated throughout with state-of-the-art microphotographs, The Secret Garden is an astonishing book that will fascinate and delight anyone who has ever set foot in a garden.
Note: Evolution is presented as fact throughout the book, but with warning to your students this book is worth a few explanations.

The reading level of this text might be a bit too easy for high schoolers, but it is one of those books that is interesting and provides a quick overview of each topic. 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. Use the chapters as an overview and then have the student do research or experimentation on the topic at hand. 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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

This is a very detailed description of ferns and fern growth and reproduction. It is recommended only for your oldest students since it frequently mentions ``earth history’’ and evolutionary processes, if your student can deal with this comfortably you will find it a good resource.

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."

In 32 pages, The Life of Plants covers all the essential facts of plant biology making it a perfect replacement for a traditional textbook. While this book is actually more comparable to a junior high text it does cover the topic. A high school student can probably read this in one and hour or so. The dramatic photography and clear illustrations really aid in your students grasping the subject.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 is a book you’ll have to purchase as it is consumable. Using this coloring book (color by number) you student will learn the essential facts of biology, including botany and cell structure. This coloring book is highly educational, detailed, and challenging. Colored pencils are recommended - not crayons!

This is a book you’ll have to purchase, as it is consumable. Using this coloring book (color by number) you student will learn the structures and function of plants. It also surveys the entire plant kingdom. This coloring book is highly educational, detailed, and challenging. Colored pencils are recommended - not crayons! A real benefit is that structures and names are colored the same color, so you'll be able to identify the structure at a glance.

This is a book you’ll have to purchase, as it is consumable. Beautifully and accurately rendered scenes to colors are accompanied by clear explanatory text on marine organisms. The illustrations are wonderful and really fun to color. Colored pencils are recommended - not crayons!

Ó 1998 by Beverly L. Adams-Gordon