In this Form 3-4 (grade 7-9) study guide, students will learn about the field of botany. They will study the physiology of plants, including their structure, function, classification, and sensitivity.

The study guide includes reading assignments from the spine text, narration prompts, and open discussion questions. Experiments related to the reading are also included. Optional supplemental activities, such as current events, videos, and article suggestions when there is time, are also included. Finally, you will find a link to an exam for each course in the introductory material.

Pages: 70
Prerequisites: none

Spine Text

The study guide accompanies the living book First Studies of Plant Life by George Francis Atkinson. (Yesterday’s Classics, 2017, ISBN: ‎1633340902), which must be purchased separately.

280 pages, 33 chapters
Reading Level: grade 7 and up

George F. Atkinson (1854-1918) left home at 13 to make his own way in reconstruction-era America. After “doing everything as boy and man that he could get to” he realized “if I were ever to be anything but a crude laborer, I must have education.” Back home he attended high school for the first time, a grown man amongst kids. He graduated from Cornell University then taught at several universities before being asked to return to Cornell as a professor of Biology.

Atkinson was a pioneer in the use of photography for documentation. He taught his students to do as he did, strictly and thoroughly identifying and cataloging specimens. Collections before this were often inadequate and incorrectly labeled. He loved to be in nature with his class or across the world collecting and studying fungi.

Professor Atkinson was remembered as “a leader who was always in his workroom, always accessible, who always cheerfully stopped his own work to help a younger man over a difficult place.” —Michele Jahncke (source)

Other Necessary Items to Complement This Course

Review the Supply List for this guide.
Seed packets may be hard to find in the fall and winter, so be prepared by purchasing your seeds early.

Schedule:

This study guide includes 33 lessons, each requiring approximately 30-40 minutes. It is scheduled 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. Please note that there will be times when an experiment will require the student to make observations outside of the once-a-week lesson time. This study guide just didn’t want to play by the rules!

We have been using SMH guides for science for middle school and high school. My kids LOVE the material. I love that they are learning science through living books. The notebooks they create are incredible. I only wish I had learned science this way.

—Erin, Wisconsin

Sample Lessons