Apologia Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Review

This post contains affiliate links that will benefit the blog. My family had the privilege of trying Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition from Apologia for this review to use in conjunction with our own curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. is the #1 publisher of creation-based science and Bible curriculum. They focus on Christian based homeschool curriculum. Their products are all taught from a biblical worldview. They have creation-based science, apologetics, language arts, Constitutional Literacy, and resources and books to help homeschooling families succeed.

Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition by Sherri Seligson is a creation-based general science curriculum consisting of a Student Textbook, Student Notebook and Solutions and Test Manual with one Test Packet. It is geared towards 7th grade to help students transition out of elementary to middle school, and to prepare for high school. Students will explore a wide range of science topics such as earth science, chemistry, physics, life science, biology, marine science, environmental science, science and creation, etc. This is great for homeschool science for middle school.

This Basic 3rd Edition Homeschool Science for Seventh Grade Set includes:

• Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Student Textbook
• Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Student Notebook
• Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Solutions and Test Manual with one Test Packet

Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Student Textbook is a hardbound textbook. This textbook has a total of 14 lessons/modules that explain general science and its many wonders. The book starts out with Apologia's Instructional Support that explains the curriculum parts. It then has a student notes section about the book with a course overview, activities explanation, lab equipment needed, and a description of learning aids available. Then it goes onto the table of contents. Each lesson has: a “Quaestio” which is basically means question in Latin, "What To Do" sections in green boxes, "Explore More" sections in purple boxes, vocabulary words in blue bold text, color pictures and charts, Experiments located on grid paper, Creation Connections and Think About This in gold text, "On Your Own" (OYO) Questions and writing prompts in dark blue boxes; and at the end of each lesson: Summing Up, Answers to the "On Your Own" Questions, and a study guide. At the end of the textbook there is a Lab Supply List, Index to help find things in the book, and Image Sources.

Lessons:

1. The History of Science - Search For the Truth
2. Scientific Inquiry and the Scientific Method
3. Documenting and Interpreting Experimental Results
4. Scientific Analysis and History
5. Earth Science - Astronomy
6. Earth Science - Geology and Paleontology
7. Earth Science - Meteorology and Oceanography
8. General Chemistry
9. General Physics
10. Life Science
11. General Biology
12. Marine Science
13. Environmental Science
14. Science and Creation

The Student Notebook is spiral bound which makes it easier to lay flat and stay open. This is a required consumable workbook and each is intended to be used by a single student with the textbook. At the beginning of the notebook there is an Introduction. This Introduction has Parent Notes, About Not Taking, About Experiments, About Grading, Grading Experiments, Experiment Grading Rubric, Recording Grades, Experiments, Exams, Grade Recording Chart, Student Notes, Taking Effective Notes From Science Texts, and Lesson Schedule. The middle section of the workbook consists of: What To Do prompts, Vocabulary to be defined, Summaries to be filled out, OYO questions to answer, History of Science timeline instructions to follow, etc. for the student. The last section in the workbook is the Appendix with a Lab Report Checklist, Lab Report Grading Rubric, and Image Credits.

The General Science, 3rd Edition Test Pages and General Science, 3rd Edition Solutions and Test Manual are packaged together. The test pages has a test for the student to complete after each module. This comes in a softcover and is in black and white. Within the solutions manual are answers to the study guide, summary and tests. This comes in a glossy softcover and is in black and white.

Author Sherri Seligson on General Science's Big Ideas:

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I used this curriculum with my daughter Teela who is going into 5th grade and 11 years old. Even though this is actually for middle schoolers I think she did well with the content, but some of the lessons took her longer than it suggested, especially since she was distracted with summer. It suggests the each lesson/module should take about 2-2 1/2 weeks to complete, working four days a week for 45 minutes to an hour to work on this so the student completes the course in 33 weeks. For this review we did this for about five weeks starting at the beginning of the book, which got us through Lesson 1 (The History of Science - Search For the Truth) and Lesson 2 (Scientific Inquiry and the Scientific Method) during the review period.

Explore More activity about the distribution of food coloring in both cold (Teela's right) and hot (Teela's left) water.

The textbook has a lot of wonderful full color pictures and charts that make the learning a lot more fascinating. You could make spelling lists with the vocabulary words from each chapter too. I love the wonderful lesson by lesson lab supply list located in the back for knowing what to have on hand for the activities from each lesson. It is super helpful! Having an answer key for the "OYO" question sections was a tremendous help to me as well.

General Science Experiment for Surface Tension of Water

We loved using the link to the course website that is referenced in the textbook. It had a lot of fun third party websites that contributed more information to the study of different things. We especially loved links on: How to make Ancient Egyptian Papyrus, Model Si Nan of Han Dynasty, Greek Philosophy, Roman Coliseum, The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System, Galileo Journey to Jupiter Project, Video about Surface Tension, Medical Evidence in the Old Testament, Mars Global Surveyor photos, online tour of The Lowell Observatory, Mars Rover Mission, Great Salt Lake State Park, etc. There was a lot more too.

Teela reading the textbook.

The Student Notebook is all in color like the textbook. I like that they also have activities that included science Experiments and Explore More sections from what was taught in the textbook. These were lots of fun and were hands-on way of learning the material. Teela loved these the best.

Teela working out of the Student Workbook.

Having the Test Pages and Solutions and Test Manual was very helpful as well. These come shrink wrapped together. I didn't have to print these out myself and had them for Teela to work from. I am glad that these were given in the set we received.

I love the Apologia's Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition. I would recommend this highly to anyone searching for a creation-based curriculum about general science for middle school grades in homeschool. Apologia also has other great homeschool curriculum for science as well that I would love to check out and some others that I have reviewed here.

Follow Them on Social Media:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/apologiaworld Tag: @apologiaworld
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/apologiaworld Tag: @apologiaworld
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/apologia/ Tag: @apologia
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/apologiaworld Tag: @apologiaworld
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/apologiaworld
• Hashtags: #hsreviews #homeschool #homeschooling #exploringcreation #livingapologia #apologiascience #apologiaworld #homeschoolscience #generalscience

BUY IT
Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition Basic Set is $119.

An MP3 audio CD and a Video Instruction Thumb Drive are also available for purchase as well to accommodate all types of learning styles. We; however, did not receive either of them for this review.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Apologia Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition...

Apologia Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Review

This post contains affiliate links that will benefit the blog. My family had the privilege of trying Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology from Apologia for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. is the #1 publisher of creation-based science and Bible curriculum. They focus on Christian based homeschool curriculum. Their products are all taught from a biblical worldview. They have creation-based science, apologetics, language arts, Constitutional Literacy, and resources and books to help homeschooling families succeed.

Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology by Jeannie Fulbright and pediatrician Brooke Ryan, M.D. is a creation-based human anatomy and physiology curriculum that is part of the Young Explorer Series consisting of a Student Textbook, Jr. Notebooking Journal, Notebooking Journal, and MP3 Audio CD. It is geared towards grades K-6. Students will explore the human body inside and out with fascinating facts, engaging activities, and intriguing experiments. This covers many subjects, such as the body systems: skeletal, muscular, respiratory, digestive, cardiovascular, nervous and more! Also included is nutrition and health, embryology, DNA, etc.

This includes:

• Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Student Textbook
• Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Junior Notebooking Journal
• Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Notebooking Journal
• Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology MP3 Audio CD

Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Student Textbook is a hardbound textbook. This textbook has a total of 14 lessons that explain human anatomy and physiology and its many wonders. The book starts out with Apologia's Young Explorer Series Instructional Support that explains the curriculum parts. It then has a table of contents and Introduction which tells you about the lesson increments, narration, notebooking activities, personal person project, projects and experiments, course website, textbook, and supply list. Each lesson has: colored boxes that contain things to contemplate with activities to do, vocabulary words in bold, scripture in italics, color pictures and charts, questions and writing prompts in light blue text; and at the end of each lesson questions to summarize of what was learned (in the "What Do You Remember?" section), notebooking activities, personal person project, and a large project or experiment. At the end of the textbook there is an Appendix with a Answers for the Narrative Questions, Photo and Illustration Credits, and Index to help find things in the book.

Lessons:

1. Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology
2. The Skeletal System
3. The Muscular System
4. The Digestive and Renal Systems
5. Health and Nutrition
6. The Respiratory System
7. Life in the Blood
8. The Cardiovascular System
9. The Nervous and Endocrine Systems
10. The Nervous System Extended
11. Your Senses
12. The Integumentary System
13. The Lymphatic and Immune Systems
14. Growth and Development

There are two slightly different notebooking journals. They are both spiral bound. The regular Notebooking Journal is for older elementary students (meant for grades 3/4 and older) and the Jr. Notebooking Journal is for younger elementary students (meant for grades K to 2nd/3rd). These are both consumable books and each is intended to be used by a single student. The main differences between the Jr. Notebooking Journal and the Notebooking Journal is that the Jr. Notebooking Journal has handwriting lines for copywork and writing assignments, beginning letter clues for the crossword puzzles, and coloring pages are in the Jr. Notebooking Journal instead of "What Do You Remember?" questions that are in the Notebooking Journal. Both versions have both manuscript and cursive copywork. The junior version also gives a lot more guidance and less writing. At the beginning of the journals there is a suggested daily schedule that outlines four to seven assignments per lesson. At a pace of two daily assignments per week, this course would take a full year.

The Audio CD contains the complete audio recording of the course Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. It is read by Jeannie Fulbright (the textbook and journals' author). This is great for auditory learners, slow readers, or students with other learning disabilities that make reading difficult. This is an MP3 CD so you have to play it in a MP3-compatable CD player or a computer.

Zari coloring in the Jr. Notebooking Journal.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I used this curriculum with my daughter Zari. I used the Jr. Notebooking Journal with her because she is 7 years old and in 1st grade. She has trouble reading larger words so I read some of the instructions to her and helped her through some of the writing as well. It suggests two days a week to work on this, but for this review we only did one day per week for about seven weeks starting at the beginning of the book, which got us through Lesson 1 (Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology) and Lesson 2 (The Skeletal System) during the review period.

The textbook has a lot of wonderful full color pictures and charts that make the learning a lot more fascinating. You could make spelling lists with the vocabulary words from each chapter too. I will probably do this when I teach my daughter Teela next out of the regular Notebooking Journal. I love the wonderful lesson by lesson supply list located in the front for knowing what to have on hand for the activities from each lesson. It is super helpful! Having an answer key for the "What Do You Remember?" sections was a tremendous help to me as well.

Zari experimenting with water droplets to magnify text in the book in a "Try This" section.

We loved using the link to the course website that is referenced in the textbook. It had a lot of fun third party websites that contributed more information to the study of different things. We especially loved links to the Egyptian Medicine, Microscope History, Inside the Cell Video, How Big is a Cell? interactive, DNA Double Helix Video, Human Skeletal System Using Pictures, Label the Bones, and The Amazing Regenerating Rib. There was a lot more too, but I did run into a few links that no longer worked as well and need updating.

Both the regular Notebooking Journal and the Jr. Notebooking Journal were in black and white except for the pages at the end that you cut out and paste onto other pages throughout the journals, for example; the mini books. The cut and glue pages reminded me a lot of a lapbook in this regard. I like that they also have copywork and activities that included science experiments and observations from what was taught in the textbook. These were lots of fun and were hands-on way of learning the material. Zari especially loved the coloring and drawing pictures to illustrate things...like the cell. She also loved the cutting and pasting because she was good at this.

Zari drawing animal cell anatomy and labeling parts in the Jr. Notebooking Journal.

The Audio CD is very useful for Zari because she can't read the textbook on her own yet. She liked listening and following along a whole lot better and the lady that reads has a nice voice that makes it more interesting. You can also listen to the MP3's in your car on the road traveling if you have a MP3 player there. I liked that I was given the option of listening too because I could hear what she was learning about without reading the text myself.

I love the Apologia Educational Ministries Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. I would recommend this highly to anyone searching for a creation-based curriculum about the human body for elementary grades in homeschool. Apologia also has other great homeschool curriculum for science as well that I would love to check out and some others that I have reviewed here.

Follow Them on Social Media:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/apologiaworld Tag: @apologiaworld
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/apologiaworld Tag: @apologiaworld
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/apologia/ Tag: @apologia
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/apologiaworld Tag: @apologiaworld
• Google+: https://plus.google.com/105053356034237782125
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/apologiaworld
• Hashtags: #hsreviews #homeschool #homeschooling #elementaryscience #youngexplorerseries #exploringcreation #apologiascience #homeschoolscience

BUY IT
Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Student Textbook is $42. The Notebooking Journal and Jr. Notebooking Journal are $29 each. The Audio CD is $29.

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Apologia Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology...

Apologia Educational Ministries Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition Review

The set of Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition curriculum.

My family had the privilege of trying the Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition from Apologia Educational Ministries for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family. This post contains affiliate links that will benefit the blog.

Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. is the #1 publisher of creation-based science and Bible curriculum. They focus on Christian based homeschool curriculum. Their products are all taught from a biblical worldview. They have creation-based science, apologetics, language arts, Constitutional Literacy, and resources and books to help homeschooling families succeed.

Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition is a creation-based astronomy curriculum that is part of the Young Explorer Series consisting of a Student Text, Notebooking Journal, Jr. Notebooking Journal, and Audio CD. It is geared towards grades K-6. Here students will explore the most distant reaches of God's creation and His incredible universe. This is the newest and most revised edition, now in full color and with even more activities. Students will explore our solar system, including our sun, the planets, the asteroid belt, dwarf planets, and the Kuiper belt, then stars and other galaxies far far away in our night sky.

We Received The Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition Which Included:

• Student Text
• Notebooking Journal
• Jr. Notebooking Journal
• Audio CD

Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition Student Text is a hardbound textbook. This textbook has a total of 14 lessons that explain astronomy and its many wonders. The book starts out with Apologia's Young Explorer Series Instructional Support that explains the curriculum parts. It then has a table of contents and Introduction To Astronomy which tells you about the textbook, activities, course website, notebooking journals, and Apologia science kit. Each lesson has colored boxes that contain scripture and things to contemplate, activities to do, vocabulary words in bold, color pictures and charts, questions and writing prompts in orange text, cautions in red text, and questions at the end of each lesson to summarize what was learned. At the end of the textbook there is an Appendix with a supply list for the activities in each lesson, Answer Key for the questions at the end of each lesson, Index to help find things in the book, and Photo Credits.

There are two slightly different notebooking journals. They are both spiral bound. The regular Notebooking Journal is for older elementary students (meant for grades 3/4 and older) and the Jr. Notebooking Journal is for younger elementary students (meant for grades K to 2nd/3rd). These are both consumable books and each is intended to be used by a single student. The main differences between the Jr. Notebooking Journal and the Notebooking Journal is that the Jr. Notebooking Journal has handwriting lines for copywork and writing assignments, beginning letter clues for the crossword puzzles, and coloring pages where open-ended questions are in the Notebooking Journal. Both versions have both manuscript and cursive copywork. The junior version also gives a lot more guidance and less writing. At the beginning of the journals there is a suggested daily schedule that outlines four to seven assignments per lesson. There are three different types of assignments: textbook reading assignments are designated in green, notebook section assignments are designated in blue, additional activities found exclusively in the Apologia Science Kit are designated in brown, and the additional bonus activities only found in the kit are designated by a symbol.

The Audio CD contains the complete audio recording of the course Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition. It is read by Jeannie Fulbright (the textbook and journals' author). This is great for auditory learners, slow readers, or students with other learning disabilities that make reading difficult. This is an MP3CD so you have to play it in a MP3-compatable CD player or a computer.

I also want to mention that Apologia Educational Ministries has an Astronomy 2nd Edition Science Kit as well. We did not receive this, but I really wish we did. It has all the materials needed to complete 63 total activities: 42 activities found in the textbook and 21 bonus activities noted in the textbook and found only in the Apologia Astronomy Science Kit. These bonus activities are marked with a symbol in the textbook. Since we did not have this kit we could not do the bonus activities and for some of the activities we needed to go purchase the things we were missing because we did not have all of the required materials at home. This kit looks like it would be a great addition to the rest of the set because it would give you everything you would need to complete all the activities.

Also listed in the textbook as one of the recommended resources for the Astronomy course is the Field Trip Journal that I reviewed previously. This is great to record up to ten field trips from planning stage to memories. Great to take textbook lessons to the next level with real-life adventures.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:

I used this curriculum with my daughter Teela who is 8 years old and in 3rd grade. I used the Jr. Notebooking Journal with her because she needs a little help with her handwriting. She also tires of writing too much. We did an average of two daily assignments per week, and starting at the beginning of the book, which got us through Lesson 1 (What is Astronomy?) and Lesson 2 (The Sun) during the review period.

Teela reading the Exploring Creation with Astronomy Textbook.

Both the textbook and journals have a lot of  wonderful full color pictures and charts that make the learning a lot more fascinating. We also made spelling lists with the vocabulary words from each chapter too. I loved the wonderful lesson by lesson supply list located in the back for knowing what to have on hand for the activities from each lesson. Having an answer key for the "What Do You Remember?" pages also was a tremendous help to me.

We loved using the link to the course website that is referenced in the textbook. It had a lot of fun third party websites that contributed more information to the study of different things. We loved the Planet Size Comparison website that lets you compare the size of two planets, NASA on The Commons Flickr page with lots of pictures to look at, discussion of What was the Star of Bethlehem?, The Sun website which provided information about the sun and the Total Solar Eclipse that will be happening August 21st, 2017 and a movie from NASA of 3 years of the sun in 3 minutes. There was a lot more too, but I did run into a few links that no longer worked as well and need updating.

Teela doing the minibooks and coloring in the Jr. Notebooking Journal.

Both the regular Notebooking Journal and the Jr. Notebooking Journal has some pages (for example the minibooks) to cut out and glue to other pages. This reminded me a lot of a lapbook in this regard. I like that they also have copywork and activities that included science experiments and observations from what was taught in the textbook. These were lots of fun and were hands-on way of learning the material. Teela especially loved the crosswords and making mnemonic devices to remember the planets in order.

Teela working on the writing portion of the Jr. Notebooking Journal.

The Audio CD is very useful when Teela got bored of reading the textbook on her own. She liked listening and following along a whole lot better and the lady that reads has a nice voice that makes it more interesting. I liked that I was given the option of listening too because I could hear what she was learning about without reading the text myself and my younger daughter, Zari, who is in Kindergarten and does not read yet could listen as well and glean information from it too.

I love the Apologia Educational Ministries Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition. I would recommend this highly to anyone searching for a creation-based astronomy course for their homeschool. Apologia also has other great homeschool curriculum for science as well that I would love to check out.

BUY IT
Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition Student Text is $39. The Notebooking Journal and Jr. Notebooking Journal are $27 each. The Audio CD is $29.


Follow Them on Social Media:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/apologiaworld
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/apologiaworld @apologiaworld
Pinterest  https://www.pinterest.com/apologia/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/apologiaworld/ 
Hashtags: #hsreviews #apologia #astronomy #homeschoolscience

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Apologia Educational Ministries Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition...

Noah A Wordless Picture Book by Mark Ludy Review & Giveaway

This review and giveaway is sponsored by Propeller Consulting, LLC. This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Noah A Wordless Picture Book by Mark Ludy is an impressive illustrative retelling of the biblical story of Noah's Arc without words. Well technically it has the words, "Methuselah welcomes his grandson, Noah...", on the first page, but then there is pretty much silence. You can see so much expression in the peoples' faces on each page. The artist literally paints epic pictures of how he thinks Noah and the people around him acted, felt, and lived. It really does make Noah and his ark seem more tangible. Although this work is Mark Ludy's own interpretation of the biblical story, he goes about the retelling in pictures fairly accurately.

This amazing illustrated work was funded a while back by Kickstarter. Mark Ludy is a fabulous artist and illustrator! I commend him in getting this project successfully funded.

I have some mixed feelings about Noah A Wordless Picture Book by Mark Ludy. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous. They remind me of a hardcover graphic novel/comic book with no words.  Some of them; however, are for the more mature audience. Ludy, himself, said that if he left the bad stuff out of the story it would be a disservice to all...I am not sure I agree, but everyone has their own opinions. There are pictures in this book that are of the darker more grim scenes of the flood (like people drowning, being swept away by the waters). This is certainly not a "Sunday school version" that smooths out all the bad stuff or completely ignores it in the retelling. Although the age range is 2-18 on Amazon for this book, I really feel that the younger set might not be ready for the graphic and intense nature of some of these pictures. Depending on your own standards, you might want to screen some of these. Also, I am not sure what to make of the dinosaurs on some pages. My church doesn't really take a stance on creationism or intelligent design verses evolution in relationship to dinosaurs and how old the Earth really is. All I do know is that we don't have all the answers...there really is no way of knowing everything, unless you are THE omnipotent God.

So, I would say it is probably best to use your own best judgement and wisdom with this book. If you do narrate the pictures for your children do not stray from the actual Bible version of the story, especially if you are rusty on the story, and be ready to answer questions that might come up. The new 2014 Noah movie is far from an accurate biblical account, so please don't base your narration off of it.

Also, as a fun little bonus, you can try to find Squeakers the mouse on every page of this book. It is harder than it looks and I am still looking for that illusive little rodent on some of the pages! My older kids were trying to help me to no avail.

This book would be great for the Creationist or possibly someone who loves biblical illustration or art. I recommend it for older kids. I think that it would also be great in some church circles.

About the author:

Mark Ludy has written or illustrated eight children’s books including The Farmer, The Flower Man, The Grump,When I Was a Boy I Dreamed, When I Was a Girl I Dreamed, and Jujo the Youngest Tribesman. When he’s not immersed in his sketchbooks, you’ll find him in schools promoting art and literacy. He lives in Colorado with his wife, daughter, and two sons.

Mark’s website: http://www.markludy.com  
Official NOAH website: http://www.plough.com/en/ebooks/n/noah
 
BUY IT:


WIN IT
Prize:  Noah A Wordless Picture Book by Mark Ludy

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Dinosaurs for Kids by Ken Ham FIRST Wild Card Tour Book Review

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Ken Ham

and the book:

Dinosaurs for Kids

Master Books (October 15, 2009)

***Special thanks to Robert Parrish of New Leaf Press for sending me a review copy.***

MY THOUGHTS:
I was a bit interested in finding out what a non-evolutionary Christian revisionist's view of paleontology was because growing up in school I was only taught the evolution side of things. This book is an interesting spin on the whole idea behind the creation of dinosaurs. It is very one sided and very creationism based. My opinion is that this book actually has very little fact and that inquisitive children asking further questions will be left without all the answers. I am not saying I think evolution is all correct either or that it has all the answers, but I believe that both are lacking in specific truths. I guess what I believe is a spin off of both beliefs, not just one or the other. I recognize the possibility that God could have used evolutionary mechanisms to bring the earth to its present state. The official stance of my church on the subject is neutral. On a different note the book is laid out very well and has beautiful illustrations to capture the eye.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ken Ham is the founder and executive director of Answers in Genesis in the USA and one of the most sought-after Christian speakers in North America. He is the author or co-author of many books and is heard daily on the radio program, “Answers...with Ken Ham,” on more than 300 stations worldwide. Ken is also featured in various videos including the series, “Answers in Genesis with Dr. Gary Parker,” and the 12-part series of 28-minute videos, “Answers...with Ken Ham.” Ken's teaching is clear, true to the Bible, engaging, and challenging. Many have found salvation and others have been encouraged and equipped to reach others with the gospel through Ken's ministry.


Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

Price: $14.99
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 64 pages
Publisher: Master Books (October 15, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0890515557
ISBN-13: 978-0890515556

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Dinosaurs for Kids

by

Ken Ham, illustrated by Bill Looney


Dinosaurs can provide a great way to learn about history. You may already be familiar with some of these dinosaurs. These drawings show you what we think they may have looked like. Now, we don’t know for sure, of course, as we usually only find their bones as fossils (and most times, only a few of their bones). Artists use what bones have been found, knowledge about living animals, and some imagination to come up with drawings like these. See if you can pronounce these dinosaur names:


Dilophosaurus (die-LOF-o-SWAR-us), meaning “two-crested lizard.”
Styracosaurus (sty-RAK-o-SAWR-us), meaning “spiked lizard.”
Triceratops (tri-SER-a-tops), meaning “three-horned face.”
Megalosaurus (MEG-a-lo-SAWR-us), meaning “big lizard.”
Iguanodon (i-GWAHN-o-don), meaning “iguana tooth.”
Ceratosaurus (ser-ah-toe-SAWR-us), meaning “horned lizard.”
Deinonychus (die-NON-i-kus), meaning “terrible claws.”
Velociraptor (vee-LOHS-i-RAP-tor), meaning “swift robber.”
Ultrasaurus (UHL-tra-SAWR-us), was so nicknamed because of its enormous size.
Seismosaurus (SEIS-mo-SAWR-us), meaning “earthquake lizard.”


Did you know there are hundreds of dinosaur names? However, there were not hundreds of types of dinosaurs. There were a number of similar ones that should be grouped into categories known by what the Bible describes as “kinds.” Does that sound a little confusing? Well, this book will help to explain this and a lot of other things about dinosaurs you may not know.


(Pictures with names):

Dilophosaurus
Styracosaurus
Triceratops
Iguanodon
Ceratosaurus
Velociraptor
Ultrasaurus
Seismosaurus


Before we begin, I don’t want you to miss out on knowing what my very favorite dinosaur is! In fact, I think he deserves this whole page to himself! It is the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex (ti-RAN-oh-SAWR-us-rex), meaning “tyrant lizard king.” I’ll let you in on a secret – I love T-rex because I like his teeth! I use teeth to teach kids and parents some very interesting things about dinosaurs – things that you may not have heard or really understood before. But it is very important to understand the truth about dinosaurs!


FOUR FAST FACTS

T-rex fossils are found in Canada and the western United States.
The first documented T-rex fossil was discovered in 1902 by Barnum Brown.
Scientists think T-rex skeletons were made up of close to 200 bones.
T-rex had around 60 teeth, which ranged in size based on their placement in the jaw of the skull.


With a strong tail extended for balance, an adult T-rex could be a little over 40 feet in length, 12-13 feet tall at the hips, and weigh between 5 and 7 tons. T-rex’s jagged teeth could be up to 9 inches long, and like sharks, the T-rex was able to replace teeth when one was lost.

What’s in a name? Remember that the T-rex name means “tyrant lizard king.” But secular scientists are still wondering whether T-rexes were active hunters or clever scavengers, or a combination of both. However, creation scientists are able to explain the evidence in a different way using the biblical account of history, as we will soon learn.


FOUR FAST FACTS

The word “fossil” is from the Latin word meaning “dug up.” Scientists often make assumptions about dinosaurs based on a few fossilized bones, bone fragments, or other fossil remains, impressions, etc.
Only a few thousand dinosaur skeletons have been discovered.
The vast majority of fossils discovered are marine invertebrates (creatures that don’t have backbones like clams).


I’m sure you have lots of questions about dinosaurs. I believe I can answer many of those questions for you because dinosaurs are not a mystery at all. I know someone who was there when dinosaurs came into existence, and was also there when they seemed to disappear from the earth. In fact, this “someone” has written a book for us that gives a detailed account of the history of the universe. He tells us when the earth began, as well as when all the living creatures and the first humans appeared.

Now, you may be asking “Who is this someone you say was there to see the dinosaurs?” He is the Creator of all things. He knows everything because He is all powerful and has always been around. And this Creator had a book written for us to give us the details of how time began, and how the universe and all life came into existence. This book also tells us who we are, where we came from, and why we exist. It also gives us information on what is going to happen in the future! There is no other book like this on earth. It is unique, and it is called…the Bible.

When you understand the Bible, you will understand more about dinosaurs. The Bible helps us to answer questions about dinosaurs and about the world around us today.

Bigger. Among the most widely known type of dinosaurs, the sauropods (“lizard foot”) are some of the largest creatures to ever walk the earth. Many of these dinosaurs are known by only a few pieces of bone fragments, and debate continues on just which dinosaur was the largest ever. As discoveries continue, more will be known about these massive giants. Sauroposeidon (“earthquake god lizard”) was considered the largest dinosaur ever to live, until the discovery of Argentinosaurus (“silver lizard”). Though only a few bones of each creature have been found, many scientists estimate that Argentinosaurus was larger, though Sauroposeidon may have been taller.

Smaller. Compsognathus (“elegant jaw”) is among the smallest dinosaurs discovered. A little bigger than a chicken, this dinosaur weighed around 6 pounds. Some scientists have found smaller creatures, like Microraptors, which they try to use to prove dinosaurs were the evolutionary ancestor of birds – real science and the Bible disprove this idea. Archaeopteryx (“ancient wing”) is another example of a creature once thought to prove this link, but that idea has now been proven false.

Did you know that the Bible is really a collection of books written by people specially inspired by God, the Creator, to write down exactly what God wanted us to know? The Bible tells us more about who God is and why we can always trust Him to tell us the truth:

The God of the Bible is the true God: “But the LORD [is] the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King…” (Jeremiah 10:10).
The God of the Bible is infinite – He is all knowing, all powerful: “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.” (Psalm 147:5).
The God of the Bible lives forever – He lives in eternity – He had no beginning and has no end: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever…” (1 Timothy 1:17).
The God of the Bible is the only true God – other gods people claim to have are false gods: “Therefore You are great, O LORD GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides…” (2 Samuel 7:22).
The God of the Bible is all wise and all knowing: “…in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3).
Wow! What an awesome God.


The Only One.

Only God is a witness to the entire history of the world, including the history of dinosaurs. During the creation week, God created dinosaurs and flying reptiles. Pterosaur (“winged lizard”) like this one, could have wing spans of 30 feet. Stegosaurus (“roof lizard”) is easy to recognize with two rows of large plates running along its arched back, and its multi-spiked tail. Corythosaurus (“helmet lizard”) is a great example of dinosaurs with bony crests on their heads. Scientists think these crests were used in making sounds.

Does any human being (including any scientist) know everything? Has any human being always existed? The answer to both questions is, of course, NO. However, who is the only one who knows everything? Who is the only one who has always been there? The answer to both of these questions is, “the Creator God of the Bible.”


True History!

I call the Bible “The History Book of the Universe.” This is because it is a book that tells us how time and the universe began. And in the very first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, we are given a detailed account of not only how God created everything to begin with, but also major events of history that happened after creation.

You might be saying, “Wait a minute, haven’t scientists already found out lots of things about dinosaurs – that they lived millions of years before people and that they lived during the dinosaur age 200 million to 65 million years ago, and then they became extinct?”

Well, not all scientists say that! And though the majority of people today might believe that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago, the majority are wrong on this. And more and more people are now finding out the truth because they listen to and understand God’s Word!