This is part two of a two-part course in high school anatomy. In this series of high school study guides, students will learn in a clear and entertaining way, about the organs or organ systems of the human body, from head to toe. This guide includes sections about the skeleton, the effects of exercise, equilibrium, the immune system, the lungs and breathing, food and the digestive system, sleep, the reproductive system, nerves and pain, and disease.

Spine Text

This study guide accompanies the living book The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson (Doubleday, 2020). ISBN: 0552779903

**Please note, as of 12/14/21, the study guide also includes the page assignments for the British version of this book. I call it the “white book.” See all available versions and translations on GoodReads.

The Body is available on Amazon, but for a more extensive used-copy search, try used.addall.com. It is also available as a well-read audiobook.

464 pages, 23 chapters (184 pp, 8 chapters in this guide)
Reading Level: Grade 9 and up
Prerequisites: Form 3-4 Biology. While the content in The Body does not build on the content in Men, Microscopes, and Living Things by Katherine B. Shippen, I still recommend it as a prerequisite because it is the only survey of biology available in a living book format. Still, it is your choice and your student can get along fine without it.
Please Note. The study guide includes religious content. If you require a secular version, make that selection below. For more information, please see this page.

*Please note — There are sections of this text that will not be included due to the nature of the content, and still, there will be sections assigned that might not be okay with you. Even if you are pretty relaxed about the content your children take in, I think this book is worth prereading. In particular, take note of the insert pages. There is one you may wish to remove as you may find it inappropriate. Also, note that the author of The Body primarily takes a naturalistic view of creation. You can read how I approach that with the kids on the third sample page below.

So WHY use a book that has issues? 1) It’s actually a really good book. It’s just not written to kids, which is the case for almost all of my high school selections. The other authors just have a little more tact, and let’s be honest, conversations about the human body and its functions can cause us to get a little squirmy in ways chemistry and physics never will! 2) As Charlotte Mason once lamented, “We have not a copious scientific literature in English but we have quite enough to go on with in our schools.” (6/219) This is the best in-print option I have come across. If you do not want to use it, you can always select an out-of-print book from the Human Body (extra option.) Just be aware that daily lesson plans are not included with those options.

Author Bio

Bill Bryson (1951) grew up in Des Moines, Iowa but ultimately settled in England. He has authored more than twenty books which can be categorized into four broad categories: travel, history, language, and science.

He believes in the importance, worth, and excitement of science for all, both for now and for our future. This led him to set up the Bill Bryson Prize for Science Communication, with the Royal Society of Chemistry. This competition helps to engage students from around the world in explaining science to non-experts. The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world’s most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence, of which Bill Bryson is an Honorary Fellow.

In one of the first chapters of one of his first books, The Lost Continent, we see what shines in all of his writings and in life: a true curiosity into journeys of discovery. (source)

Other Necessary Items to Complement This Course

Supply List

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 guide uses the tools and prompts