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5.L.1 Understand how structures and systems of organisms (to include the human body) perform functions necessary for life.
5.L.1.1 Explain why some organisms are capable of surviving as a
single cell while others require many cells that are specialized to survive.
5.L.1.2 Compare the major systems of the human body (digestive,
respiratory, circulatory, muscular, skeletal, and cardiovascular) in terms of their functions necessary for life.

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Life science is the study of life and living things. Living things are also called organisms. Life science is often referred to as biology. Life scientists work in many different settings, from classrooms to labs to natural habitats. The science of life studies the most simple single cell organisms to the most complex, such as the human body. This has been instrumental in figuring out how species live and die in our world and how we can best take care of ourselves and the living world around us.

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What does it mean for something to be alive?

Biology- the study of living organisms, divided into many specialized fields that cover their morphology, physiology, anatomy, behavior, origin, and distribution.

Anatomy- the branch of science concerned with the bodily structure of humans, animals, and other living organisms, especially as revealed by dissection and the separation of parts.

Cell- the smallest structural and functional unit of an organism, typically microscopic and consisting of cytoplasm and a nucleus enclosed in a membrane. Microscopic organisms typically consist of a single cell, which is either eukaryotic or prokaryotic.

Reproduction- the production of offspring by a sexual or asexual process.

Systems- a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network. a set of organs in the body with a common structure or function. the human or animal body as a whole.

Organism- an individual animal, plant, or single-celled life form.

Life- the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.

Genetics- the study of heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics. the genetic properties or features of an organism, characteristic, etc.

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The following posts are active links to resources that can be used by educators to curate a unit plan on elementary biology.
Home Science Tools

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Science by Topic Guide | Elementary | Grades K-6

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Hands-on science discovery is just a few clicks away! Click on one of the fields of science below and then scroll down the science topics in the left column until you find a topic of interest. Choose one of the science kits if you need both science materials and instructions.

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National Geographic

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Resource Library | National Geographic Society

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National Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. © 1996 - 2021 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. Privacy Notice | Sustainability Policy | Terms of Service | Code of Ethics

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Smithsonian

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At the heart of our work is the idea that all youth-regardless of gender, sexual orientation, geography, race, native language, ability, or socio-economic status-should be given the opportunities to learn about the socio-scientific issues that challenge us.

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Growing Up WILD

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Growing Up WILD is an early childhood education curriculum that builds on children's sense of wonder about nature and invites them to explore wildlife and the world around them. Through a wide range of activities and experiences, Growing Up WILD provides an early foundation for developing positive impressions about the natural world and lifelong social and academic skills.

Growing Up WILD is a multi-award winning curriculum having received the 2009 Family Choice Award and the 2011 Renewable Natural Resource Foundation Excellence in Journalism Award.

The activity guide, Growing Up WILD: Exploring Nature with Young Children:

Is written especially for early childhood educators of children ages 3-7.

Features 27 field-tested, hands-on, nature-based, ready-made thematic units and over 400 experiences in a full-color 11"x17" activity guide.

Includes outdoor explorations, scientific inquiry, art projects, music and movement, conservation activities, reading and math connections and "Healthy Me" extensions.

Involves social, emotional, physical, language, and cognitive domains to help foster learning and development in all areas.

Supports developmentally appropriate practice allowing children to learn at levels that are individually, socially, and culturally appropriate.

Is correlated to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards and the Head Start Domains

Learn more about Growing Up WILD here, and click on the resources below.

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Growing Up WILD :: Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies

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Growing Up WILD is an early childhood education curriculum that builds on children's sense of wonder about nature and invites them to explore wildlife and the world around them. Through a wide range of activities and experiences, Growing Up WILD provides an early foundation for developing positive impressions about the natural world and lifelong social and academic skills.

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Project Zero

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Implementation of The Good Project Lesson Plans

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STEM Activities

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These We Are Aliens! related biology activities for the class room have been devised by Chris Carr. The resources includes practical activities and worksheets. Supporting videos demonstrate the activities.

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Virtual Dissections

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Dissections. Does the word make you cringe? Feel a little sick to your stomach? Fill you with dread? For many reasons dissections can cause concerns for educators, but they are a very important part of a child's education. Understanding how things work from the inside, is vital to developing a strong understanding of biology, physiology and anatomy. Thankfully there are many solutions available. So save yourself the mess and the stress in your lessons and labs with these options for virtual dissections.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links
As a child I grew up in the country, doing animal rescue, breeding horses, and having a big sister who was a vet assistant (and eventually married a vet). Animals were my life. I entertained the idea of being a vet, a breeder, running a rescue or animal sanctuary. In the end, I enrolled in university into the bachelor of environmental sciences program, specializing in wildlife conservation. I wanted to protect endangered animals and their habitats.

However, two years into the program I was diagnosed with health issues that forced me to make some changes. I was loving my psychology programs, so I stayed in the sciences faculty, but moved over to the psychology department.

Now through all of that, the key was that I always worked with animals and had deep passion for biology and animals. Even in psychology, I specialized in the research field, and many of our labs worked with animals. But long before that, I started learning about what was under the skin from our vets, my sister and reading. I wanted to take the best care of my animals that I possibly could, so I was voracious in my search for information and knowledge.

With that came doing dissections, but also working on live animals. I've assisted on surgeries and so many medical procedures, it's too many to count. Learning in such a hands on way gave me a deep appreciation and understanding of anatomy, physiology and biology.

As much as I've learned from dissections, I totally get that they aren't for everyone. Some people struggle with the ethics, others the mess and smell, for others it's the cost, and sometimes it's simply a matter of logistics. Thankfully, there are a number of virtual dissection options available. Here are a few that I found.

Virtual Dissections

Next Level Homeschool Courses - Last year my kids took a shark course through Next Level and part of the course includes doing a shark dissection. Although you are given the information on how to order one to do your own dissection along with the instructor, you also have the option of just watching her do the dissection in the very educational videos.

Froguts - Is a very high quality, immersive virtual dissections and labs service that is available for a yearly subscription online or they now have an app. They cover a wide variety of labs and and lessons in anatomy and physiology. They even have labs on genetics.

The Biology Corner - This site offers many virtual dissection lessons and labs featuring a number of different dissections. They include worksheets and a quiz for some of their labs, however there are no videos. Reading and photography only. However, it is free.

The Science Bank - This is a lending library that specializes in learning options that remove the need for actual animals in dissections and labs. They have so many options, for all levels of education, including books, models, posters, and more. This is US only, so I have no experience with them, but the program was recommended to me by some American homeschoolers.

Late Nite Labs - This program is part of the educational publishing group MacMillian Learning. There is a cost to students, but you can watch a demo lesson here.

Getting Nerdy - If you like the idea of printable lessons, this store on TpT offers dissection lessons, workbooks, and 3-D paper models.

There are also many models, puzzles and coloring books that you can use as part of your unit studies. I especially love using these to supplement our lessons.

MORE FROM STEAM POWERED FAMILY

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Virtual Dissections and Labs - Save yourself the mess and stress

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Dissections. Does the word make you cringe? Feel a little sick to your stomach? Fill you with dread? For many reasons dissections can cause concerns for educators, but they are a very important part of a child's education. Understanding how things work from the inside, is vital to developing a strong understanding of biology, physiology and anatomy.

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Make it local/field trips

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north carolina wildlife resources commission

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North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission

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The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is the state government agency created by the General Assembly in 1947 to conserve and sustain the state's fish and wildlife resources through research, scientific management, wise use, and public input. The Commission is the regulatory agency responsible for the enforcement of N.C.

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World Wildlife Foundation

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Connecting educators and parents with tools and resources to help kids explore and understand the world around them. Help inspire the next generation to build a future where people and nature thrive!

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Lesson plans and activities

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Biology Lesson Plans

Enjoy the following biology activities and fun lesson plans that will help you teach interesting biology topics to your students. The various teaching ideas and educational classroom resources will help children learn about subjects such as the human body, plants, microorganisms, bacteria, fungus, mold, genetics and DNA. The interesting facts and hands on science activities are perfect for kids.

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Biology Activities for Kids - Fun Lesson Plans, Teaching Ideas, Classroom Resources

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Biology Lesson Plans Enjoy the following biology activities and fun lesson plans that will help you teach interesting biology topics to your students. The various teaching ideas and educational classroom resources will help children learn about subjects such as the human body, plants, microorganisms, bacteria, fungus, mold, genetics and DNA.

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The following posts are active links to interactive websites that students can use during biology lessons.
NOVA Labs

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Utah Genetics

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Learn.Genetics [Internet]. Salt Lake City (UT): Genetic Science Learning Center; 2018 [cited 2023 Nov 27] Available from https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/

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Biology Corner

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A collection of virtual labs created by glencoe. Many of these allow students to manipulate variables and conduct tests that might be too dangerous or expensive to perform in class.

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / anatomy & physiology

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - anatomy & physiology

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / anatomy & physiology

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - anatomy & physiology

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Bones: Skeletons and How They Work [Jenkins, Steve, Jenkins, Steve] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Bones: Skeletons and How They Work

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super simple biology: the ultimate bitesize study guide

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children’s / teenage general interest: information resources

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children’s / teenage general interest: science and technology

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general (see also headings under animals or technology)

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juvenile nonfiction / school & education

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / biology

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / general (see also headings under animals or technology)

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - biology

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teenage general interest: information resources

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teenage general interest: science and technology

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books for 14 year old girls;books for 14 year old boys;biology kids;back to school books for kids;back to school;science study guide;biology study guide;science books for kids;books for teen boys;how biology works;science books for kids age 12-14;books for 12 year old girls;books for 12 year old boys;books for 12 year olds;plant biology;essential biology;biology book;biology concepts;concepts of biology;human biology;biology for dummies;molecular biology;biology textbook;ap biology;biology

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science books for kids; biology; books for 12 year old boys; books for 12 year old girls; books for teen boys; how biology works; science books for kids age 12-14; books for 12 year olds; plant biology; essential biology; biology book; biology concepts; concepts of biology; human biology; biology for dummies; molecular biology; biology textbook; ap biology; books for 14 year old girls; books for 14 year old boys; biology kids; back to school books for kids; back to school; science study guide; biology study guide

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juvenile nonfiction / school & education

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / biology

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / general (see also headings under animals or technology)

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - biology

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children’s / teenage general interest: information resources

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children’s / teenage general interest: science and technology

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Super Simple Biology: The Ultimate Bitesize Study Guide

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Super Simple Biology: The Ultimate Bitesize Study Guide [DK] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Super Simple Biology: The Ultimate Bitesize Study Guide

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This stunning illustrated children's book takes an innovative look at the circle of life, including animals, dinosaurs, stars, volcanoes, and even YOU.
Everything has a beginning and an end, but what happens in between? Follow the migration of zebra across the vast plains, meet penguins guarding their eggs on the ice, and watch butterflies emerge from their cocoons. Shoot back in time 4.5 billion years to see how planet Earth was formed and then leap into the future to see what happens when stars die. Discover a new life cycle every time you turn the page.

You'll take a closer look at the life cycles of environments, too. Discover how a river forms and changes over time. Find out how a tree grows and all of the other life cycles it supports within it. See the amazing sculptures the ocean waves carve out of cliffs. Dive beneath the surface to see how coral reefs form, and what causes them to die. Follow the life cycles of weather--from the water cycle to ice ages, to give you a better grasp of the climate situation we find ourselves in now.

From the single-celled amoeba to how the Earth formed, the life cycles in this book have been carefully chosen to give you an amazing overview of the universe, and how everything is intricately linked. Filled with facts to amaze your friends, stunning photography, and beautifully detailed illustrations by Sam Falconer, Life Cycles gets to grips with the essence of life itself.

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life cycles: everything from start to finish

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children’s / teenage general interest: nature

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children’s / teenage general interest: rocks

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children’s / teenage general interest: science and technology

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / biology

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / earth sciences / general

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / zoology

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - biology

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - earth sciences - general

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - zoology

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science & nature - earth sciences - general

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teenage general interest: science and technology

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biology; stem books for kids; science books for kids age 7-9; dk; zoology; animal books for kids; evolution of earth; evolution books for kids; dinosaur history; kids history book; natural history books; dinosaur books for kids; history for kids; nature books for kids; life on earth dinosaurs; history books for kids; fossil books for kids; water cycle books for kids; butterfly life cycle books for kids; life cycle of a butterfly; non fiction books for kids age 7-9; life cycle books for kids; books in spanish; libros

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books in spanish;libros;dk;biology;zoology;animal books for kids;evolution of earth;evolution books for kids;dinosaur history;kids history book;natural history books;dinosaur books for kids;history for kids;nature books for kids;life on earth dinosaurs;history books for kids;fossil books for kids;water cycle books for kids;butterfly life cycle books for kids;life cycle of a butterfly;stem books for kids;non fiction books for kids age 7-9;science books for kids age 7-9;life cycle books for kids

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / biology

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / earth sciences / general

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / zoology

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - biology

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - earth sciences - general

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - zoology

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children’s / teenage general interest: nature

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children’s / teenage general interest: rocks

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children’s / teenage general interest: science and technology

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Life Cycles: Everything from Start to Finish

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Life Cycles: Everything from Start to Finish [DK, Falconer, Sam] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Life Cycles: Everything from Start to Finish

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health & daily living - mindfulness & meditation

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / biology

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / environmental science & ecosystems

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juvenile nonfiction/health & daily living - mindfulness & meditation

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - environmental science & ecosystems

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science & nature - environmental science & ecosystems

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calm; meditation; peace; gratitude; stress; anxiety; busy life; self care; self help; destress; natural world; small miracles; stop and smell the flowers; environment; science; garden; pollination; bumblebee; butterfly; cocoon; kids science; homeschool; classroom; flowers

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / biology

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juvenile nonfiction / science & nature / environmental science & ecosystems

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juvenile nonfiction/health & daily living - mindfulness & meditation

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juvenile nonfiction/science & nature - environmental science & ecosystems

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Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature [Williams, Rachel, Hartas, Freya] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature

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The acclaimed author of Black? White! Day? Night! and Lemons Are Not Red First the Egg

by bestselling author and illustrator Laura Vaccaro Seeger is a 2008 Caldecott Honor Book and a 2007 New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year. This title has Common Core connections.

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First the Egg (Caldecott Honor Book and Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards))

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First the Egg (Caldecott Honor Book and Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards)) [Seeger, Laura Vaccaro, Seeger, Laura Vaccaro] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. First the Egg (Caldecott Honor Book and Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards))

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Do Not Lick This Book [Ben-Barak, Idan, Frost, Julian] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Do Not Lick This Book

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Episode 7:
Ive reached that point in my 20s where pretty much everyone I know is having babies. I have two mom-to-be friends who love books as much as I do, and I know they will be consistently reading to their children and exposing them to a literary environment from an early age. I would love to give them childrens books as presents, but I want to go beyond the standard Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle repertoire. Do you have any recommendations for books that feature diverse characters and substantial...more

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Episode 7:Ive reached that point in my 20s where pretty much everyone I know is having babies. I have two mom-to-be friends who love books as much as I do, and I know they will be consistently reading to their children and exposing them to a literary environment from an early age.