F3-4 Biology

In this Form 3-4 study guide, students will be introduced to the principles and tools of biological study, food webs, life processes, some anatomy, adaptation, natural selection, extinction, cell theory, simple genetics, and reproduction.

Spine Text

This study guide is based on the book Men, Microscopes, and Living Things by Katherine B. Shippen (Living Library Press, 2016).

  • 183 pages, 18 chapters
  • Reading Level: 6 grade and up
  • Prerequisites: none
  • Newbery Winner in 1956
  • Note: Because this book was written in 1955, you might assume that the ideas are out of date, however, because it is addressing the history of biology–its foundational ideas, it is not outdated. In order to cover the discoveries which have happened since 1955, primarily in the area of cell theory and genetics, we will use supplementary resources.
  • This study guide would work well for a Form 4 (grade 9) student, as well. While the reading level of Men, Microscopes, and Living Things is not difficult, the quality of the material is worth reading at any age.
  • Please Note. The study guide includes religious content. If you require a secular version, please see this page.

Author Bio:

Katherine Binney Shippen (1892-1980) was a young girl from New England who spent her time much as you may have.  She ‘swum and paddled and picked berries, had been close to rabbits and squirrels, the green grass snakes and the big spiders that built their nests among the blackberry bushes’.

She grew to be a lover of people and languages, traveling much and adventuring far.  She collected stories of people and was an avid researcher in the libraries.  Ms. Shippen became a history teacher and then the curator of social studies at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.  

Her lectures were particular favorites among children of all ages.  She found their questions to be so probing and their appetite for knowledge so great that she began to write books to tell stories in answer to their questions. 

Ms. Shippen published 21 books, many of them award winning and published in other languages as well.  Men, Microscopes, and Living Things won several prestigious awards, including a Newbery Honor in 1956.  She saw all of life as beautiful and exciting and wanted its stories to not be forgotten but desired to share them with all. (source)

Guide Pages: 61

Other Necessary Items to Complement This Course

Schedule:

This study guide includes 33 lessons, each requiring approximately 30-40 minutes. You can either schedule it:

  • Three times a week for 11 weeks allowing for exams during the 12th week, or
  • Once a week for an entire year, allowing time for exams at the end of each term, and including other science subjects on the other days of the week.

This study guide uses the following tools and prompts: 

  • Reading assignments
  • Narration and discussion prompts
  • Activities and experiments related to the reading
  • Supplemental current events, books, videos, and article suggestions
  • Leisure reading options
  • Exam questions

We have started your guide and I think we’re going to love it! My pharmacist husband was very impressed with it!” -Robin, Children’s Legacy Library

Sample Lessons:

A digital version can be purchased below, but the paperback copies of this study guide must be purchased on Amazon.