First Grade, Science, Set Six

Here are the resources I recommend using for learning about the Grasslands:

• A Walk in the Prairie by Rebecca L. Johnson -- this book has great photographs and drawings and is written for younger children. It takes you through the seasons on the prairie, introducing you to a variety of animals and plants that live there. The prairie is located in the United States, from the Rockies to Illinois and Southern Canada to Texas. The book is part of a series called Biomes of North America.
• The Wide Open Grasslands: A Web of Life by Philip Johansson -- this book talks about grasslands all over the world. It has a good map on pages 10 and 11.
• Hiding in Grasslands by Deborah Underwood -- a book about camouflage
• Grasslands by Cathryn Sill -- this book has great illustrations and very little text, making it ideal for young children
• Grassland Mammals by Elaine Landau -- a good book for young children, it tells about grasslands and then about African elephants, prairie dogs, giraffes, aardvarks, and kangaroos
• What are Earth's Biomes? by Bobbie Kalman -- I wish I had found this book back at the beginning of the year. It talks about the differences between biomes, habitats, and ecosystems, and then has a few pages about each biome: forests, grasslands, deserts, tundra, marine, and freshwater.
• Prairie Food Chain by Kelley MacAulay -- we were able to use this book to figure out some food chains

For learning about specific animals, we made a list of animals K. was interested in from the two books listed above. Then we went to the library and checked out books about each animal. We found it much easier to get the information we want this way. Most of the books are okay, but here are some that I would recommend:

• Zebras by Melissa Stewart
• Coyotes by Julia Vogel -- this one as "Fun Facts" on almost every page
• Fox by Jinny Johnson
• The Friendly Prairie Dog by Denise Casey
• Prairie Dogs: Animal Prey by Sandra Markle
• A Rhinoceros Grows Up by Anastasia Suen
• My Life in the Wild: Cheetah by Meredith Castain
• Sandhill Cranes by Lynn M. Stone
• Elephants by Martin Schwabacher

Literature or Picture Books:

• Prairie Friends by Nancy Smiler Levinson -- this is "An I Can Read Book" about a girl who lives in Nebraska wanting another girl to play with. It takes place back in homesteading days.
• Saving Samantha by Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen -- this is a true story about a farming family that finds a fox pup with a broken leg. They raise it and then return it to the wild.
• Buffalo Thunder by Patricia Wittmann -- story of a family traveling west in a covered wagon. The boy wants to see buffalo and one day there is a buffalo stampede.
• Phantom of the Prairie by Jonathan London -- about a black-footed ferret