Joseph Powell 

When we redesigned our schools’ science curriculum, our desire was to move to a more comprehensive program that looked at the subject as interdisciplinary, instead of the more traditional siloed approach to teaching science. Our aim was to find a “textbook” that would cover the four core areas of science in our program—Earth and Space, Life, Physics, and Chemistry—and could be used as an at-home learning supplement that would get middle school kids really engaged. \nIt took a little less investigation to find \nScience!\n because our history department had already adopted another DK title, \nHistory: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Present Day\n. I love that the book is not massive; you don’t look at it and get overwhelmed by the amount of information within, even though there is in fact a lot of information being conveyed through the illustrations and examples as well as through the text. That clarity is what makes it impactful.

Science! is so visual, and the images so compelling, that it draws parents in. Parents can ask their kids to explain the illustrations and that creates a real entry point for parents to come and engage with their kids’ knowledge and learning, even for parents who might not be experts in the topics themselves.

The fact that the book is illustrated with the latest CGI technology also means it brings a really good ground-breaking visual approach to science texts—it’s not boring. It means we can use the book in a variety of ways. Sometimes we use it for pre-reading, so that the student can get an initial understanding and then take that further into class. Other times, we use it as a research tool, to try to make sure that the way that the kids navigate the text isn’t always only about reading and gathering, but also to solidify and apply their understanding. \nFor our phenomenon-based curriculum model, the fact that there are really clear, computer-generated artwork pieces helps to reveal and explain scientific concepts, while the wealth of anchoring phenomena in the book helps to support the kids’ understanding of the larger, bigger phenomena we seek to answer in class. From a parent’s lens, it makes things easier, too. \nScience!\n is so visual, and the images so compelling, that it draws parents in. Parents can ask their kids to explain the illustrations and that creates a real entry point for parents to come and engage with their kids’ knowledge and learning, even for parents who might not be experts in the topics themselves.\n\n

I particularly love the ‘micro to macro’ scale that the book gives. We focus a lot on scale, proportion, and quantity in our curriculum, and that can be very difficult for our early scientists in middle school to grasp. \nScience!\n talks about scale in a really good, tangible way, without narrowing things down. For instance, when looking at atoms in the book, the kids are also able to look at how atoms are portrayed in matter with examples like fake turf or comic books that live outside of just chemistry. It makes it much easier for them to analyze what they’re doing and make connections between what they’re getting out of the text and what they’re doing in class. \nThere’s been great success with the implementation of the text so far, which has been very exciting. Like \nHistory\n, \nScience!\n is getting students engaged with the content and excited about learning, and has freed up some class time to really dig into discussions on what the students have read and seen. We have had students come in and ask about an image or an example they hadn’t talked about, which really gets the teachers excited. As a final bonus, it has been really useful for the kids to have a history book and a science book that are very similar in the way they’re written and communicated, and this has strengthened our programs across the board. 

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A discounted bundle for educators that includes five elementary science titles from the DKfindout! series-Animals, Earth, Energy, Human Body, and Science-and access to supporting curriculum resources on the DKfindout! website. Perfect for use by teachers with children ages 5-10, the DKfindout! Elementary Science Pack provides access to: Print and digital information resources for both offline and online methods of learning Engaging, high-quality content aligned to curriculum Teacher lesson sequences and planning This pack contains five high-quality, accessible nonfiction books that focus on topics tied to curriculum and aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. In the true DK way, the DKfindout! series is characterized by highly visual and colorful page layouts with a mix of photographs, diagrams, boxes, bursts, timelines, and short chunks of text that make information easily digestible and learning fun for kids. But this pack makes things easy for you, the teacher, too. With instructions on how to obtain access to six free learning pathways-each outlining between eight and twelve lessons written by an experienced educator-and at-home support materials for guardians with additional activities and experiments, this pack serves as an affordable, one-stop resource for several weeks of teaching. And the free-to-use, child-safe encyclopedic DKfindout! website allows both you and your students to take learning even further with more fascinating topics, more amazing images, and more interactive quizzes. The DKfindout! Elementary Science Pack will make your next set of science lessons easy to implement and even more fun for your students, whether you're teaching remotely, in person, or homeschooling your own children. Once you have completed and received your purchase, head to the DKfindout! website and create a teacher account to get started.

 DKfindout! Elementary Science Pack

Welcome to the Explanatorium - the only science encyclopedia for children you'll ever need, with amazing photography that shows and explains how chemistry, physics, and biology work. Open up this book to reveal how science really works! Watch as mixtures merge and matter changes state. Discover how some chemical changes can be reversed, yet others can't, and why some reactions produce a bang! See bacteria at work in the world around us, and even inside the human digestive system. Understand the tricks that light plays and unlock the secrets of electricity to find out how it powers your home. Whether it's elements, evolution, or energy, the world of science is brought to life by stunning photographic explanations that answer the biggest and smallest questions about our Universe. Packed full of astounding close-up images, Explanatorium of Science is the ultimate guide to how the world works, explaining every aspect of science from gigantic galaxies to tiny cells.

Explanatorium of Science

\nFollowing the successful introduction of DK’s \nHistory: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Present Day\n into their history program, \nSuccess Academy Charter Schools\n in New York City has once again turned to DK following the recent overhaul of their science curriculum. Joseph Powell, Leader—Middle School and High School Science Content, explains how \nScience!\n has helped to enrich and invigorate their middle school science teaching.

How Success Academy is Using DK's Science! within their Phenomenon-Based Curriculum

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