High School Astronomy: The Planets

The Planets

by Dava Sobel

This is such a delightful book through the solar system. There are chapters devoted to each of the planets (and some other astronomical bodies) that cover science along with history, mythology, poetry, and literature. The goal is not to impart all the knowledge possible, but to invite the reader to glory in the wonder and mystery of the universe, and to long to know more in the future.

I read this book a bit ahead of First Son this year as he completed the Astronomy study guide from Sabbath Mood Homeschool. This study is considered required for the Astrophysics one he will be completing in the third term, so I selected it for his Earth Sciences in eleventh grade, even though it's designed for Form 3-4 science. It does include activities and labs, which were relatively easy to implement. Certainly First Son had more success with them than with some of the chemistry and physics experiments we've attempted over the high school years.

I added some work to increase the difficulty level a little.

• I made all the math exercises required. (They are optional in the text.)
• First Son read the skipped chapters of The Planets.
• I also added Brother Guy Consolmagno's Brother Astronomer to his required reading, with narrations.
• I think we'll also have time at the end for him to listen to An Introduction to the Universe.
• I wanted to add some evenings at the local observatory, but between Covid restrictions and our own schedule, we didn't make it there even once. 

I intend to assign this study and book to First Daughter next year in ninth grade. I will probably keep the extra assignments the same for her. I expect it to be a good fit for freshman year.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. I purchased the Sabbath Mood Homeschool study guide and will receive nothing if you follow the link. I received my copy of The Planets from a member of PaperBackSwap.com (not an affiliate link). Links to Bookshop are affiliate links.

North American Earth Studies: The Great Quake

The Great Quake:

How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet

by Henry Fountain

I stumbled across this book in our library catalog when looking for something on plate tectonics for high school geography earth science reading. This isn't exactly what I had in mind (I was looking for a readily available history of science book), but it is definitely high on my list. It's fascinating reading that indeed covers the theory of plate tectonics underlying a modern understanding of earthquakes.

The geologist George Plafker provides a focus point for the book. His professional work in a variety of environments before and after the earthquake placed him in a unique position to synthesize information from different sources and points of view.

He was finding that his scientific education never really ended--there were always new things to see and discover.

Just the story of his scientific career provides an informative look at how science really works and the value in thinking about big ideas in a field rather than focusing on a tiny piece of a puzzle.

The descriptions of the people of Alaska, the places they lived and worked, and the ravages of the earthquake are riveting. Along the way, Mr. Fountain explains the development of the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics, and how those ideas were furthered in the course of the study of the measurable effects of the 1964 Alaskan earthquake.

I haven't decided exactly what geography will look like for First Son next year (in twelfth grade) or what it will look like for my later children (probably slightly different), but this book is a possibility for an earth sciences book in a North American course. I do have some hesitation, mainly because many of the descriptions of the earthquake's effects are disturbing. People died, some of the violently, but most of them are written of as individual people, with names and families, stories of what they were doing and why when the earthquake or their own personal tragedy struck. While these stories give a strength to the narrative, they are also sometimes difficult to read. Including this book in a course might depend on the student.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop or Amazon are affiliate links.

Literary Weather: 18 Miles

18 Miles: The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its Weather

by Christopher Dewdney

This far-ranging book begins with the creation of the earth, the weather that might have ranged in the early millennia of earth's existence, and the development of life in the primordial landscape. He then covers the atmosphere, clouds, rain, storms, hurricanes, wind, weather forecasting, seasons, ice ages, climate change, and dramatic weather's role in human history.

Mr. Dewdney is a poet and his finesse with words shows on every page. He incorporates quotes and references to poems, stories, and novels throughout the book. He even quotes from my favorite Lucy Maud Montgomery novel, The Blue Castle.

It's a book best for more mature readers, though I think you could adjust on the fly if you wanted to read it aloud to multiple ages. There are, for example, descriptions of people dying due to lightning strikes or hypothermia, which young children may find upsetting.

I'm still considering options for high school science, but this is now at the top of my list for a spine on meteorology. I think, paired with some labs of measuring weather indicators and working with forecasting ideas, it could be a good term (twelve weeks) of earth sciences.

Mr. Dewdney is not a Christian, but he is generally pleasant when describing Christian beliefs. This mainly is an issue in the first chapter when he discusses the beginning of life on earth.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Bookshop are affiliate links.

Continental Drift and Weather: Ending in Ice

Ending in Ice: The Revolutionary Idea and Tragic Expedition of Alfred Wegener
by Roger M. McCoy

This book explores the life and legacy of Alfred Wegener, the scientist who first provided extensive multi-disciplinary evidence for the movement of continents. He was mistaken in many of his arguments, but his ideas are now recognized more formally in the theory of plate tectonics.

The first chapter of the book is a brief biography of Wegener. Then there are a couple of chapters outlining his revolutionary ideas about the movement of continents. The author shares many ideas here about how new scientific ideas are accepted (or not) and why, a topic that is continued in the last few chapters of the book.

Then there are eight chapters detailing Wegner's expedition to Greenland and his disappearance. These chapters are a thorough and fascinating window into Arctic (and Antarctic) expeditions between the World Wars. Dramatic advances in mechanical engineering and aeronautics have since eliminated many of the most dangerous aspects of arctic research.

The last two chapters discuss Wegener's contributions to science from his research as a meteorologist and for geology and earth sciences through his ideas about continental drift. The last chapter covers a lot of technical information on plate tectonics in a readable way.

One of the aspects of the proofs of the continental drift theory the author pointed out was the transition from science by an individual (Galileo, Newton, Curie) to that of vast organizations and governments. The evidence that led to the understanding of continents moving over time was only possible because governments invested in extensive ocean floor mapping during and after World War II. No single individual could have undertaken such a task. 

The author explored reasons why Wegener's theories were initially refuted. One of the main problems was that his ideas about how continents moved were recognized as incredibly weak. Scientists therefore, erroneously as we now know, discounted his entire theory of continental drift. This is a good reminder to us all that one point of weak evidence does not negate an overall idea. It is best to consider all the evidence, setting aside that which is weak, but giving full consideration to that which remains.

I appreciate books that describe the history of scientific ideas in a way that shows how scientists communicate and assess each other's work. Scientists are people, people who have disagreements and make mistakes. Science is also a discipline in which people offer best guesses based on the current information. Over time and with the accumulation of new information, theories coalesce. This is an important lesson in a world that expects answers at the swipe of a touchscreen or the posing of a question aloud to a computer.

This book would be an excellent choice for a supplemental reading book on North American geography. It combines a relatively recent understanding of plate tectonics, an interesting story about climate research in Greenland, and a biography of a fascinating scientist. It does feel a little like a book inside a book rather than a coherent whole, but that's a small complaint.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. I borrowed the book from my library. Links to Amazon are affiliate links.

An Earth Science Tour of the United States: The Earth in Turmoil

The Earth in Turmoil: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and their Impact on Humankind

by Kerry Sieh and Simon LeVay

The Earth in Turmoil covers plate tectonics and its ramifications for earthquakes and volcanoes in a readable but thorough way. The events and locations explored are all in the United States, mainly the West coast, Basin and Range, and Hawai'i, but also chapters dedicated to Yellowstone, the New Madrid Fault, and the Northeast. They always remind readers of other places in the world with similar physical conditions and phenomena.

Through the course of the book, the authors explore the history of geology and earth science, describing theories proposed, experiments conducted, and papers from a variety of scientists around the world. They provide excellent diagrams, maps, and drawings to illustrate geological principles like the recycling of the lithosphere and how volcanoes are produced by a subducting slab, to name a few from the first two chapters.

This solemn, silent, sailless sea--this lonely tenant of the loneliest spot on Earth--is little graced with the picturesque. [Mark Twain in Roughing It, describing Mono Lake, quoted in The Earth in Turmoil]

All these descriptions and explanations are woven into the chapters through stories from people who experienced earthquakes or survived volcanic eruptions, stories which make the events come alive for the reader in a way the scientific descriptions alone never could. The authors also show how first person accounts and other primary source documents can allow the dedicated scientist to develop a more comprehensive picture of earthquakes or other events, even when modern scientific instruments were not around to measure anything at the time. 

This book was published in 1998 and takes into account new research and events right up until their print deadline. A lot of time has passed since then in human terms, so there are some chapters for which I'd recommend searching recent events online to see if there's new information.

The book is out of print, but seems reasonably easy to find used. I'm probably going to assign it as our earth studies reading at some point in high school. I've been looking for one to cover plate tectonics and this one seems to be the best mix of stories of real people and essential geological information without being an actual (expensive and dense) college textbook.

One thing to note, if you have a sensitive student, the purpose of the book is to develop the relationship between knowledge of the earth's forces that results in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and how humans use the land and spaces affected by those forces. Someone anxious about the chances of massive eruptions or earthquakes may find some of the risks outlined upsetting. In fact, the authors often comment on the psychological ramifications of experiencing extended times of frequent earthquake activity.

On the other hand, the authors sometimes explore how those risks translate into public policy, laws, and insurance coverage, which can be useful and fascinating information for anyone interested in politics, environmental law, or urban development. Given the current conditions as I write this in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the discussions of the balance between scientific forecasts of risks and impacts of those forecasts on businesses and daily lives (especially in the chapter on Mammoth Lakes and Long Valley) were fascinating and relevant.

Sam Walker, who owns a brewery and a restaurant and has been chairman of the chamber of commerce, told us that relations between the townspeople and the USGS scientists had improved greatly in recent years. A lot of the misunderstanding, he told us, was caused by inaccurate reporting of what the USGS people had said. If the USGS said that an eruption was a possibility, some TV station or other would announce that lava was flowing down the street. 

The last chapter explores these ideas of risk assessment and policy in the most detail. 

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. All links to Amazon and Bookshop are affiliate links.

Finally - Actual Crystals!

One of the activities in the Mater Amabilis™ Mountains and Volcanoes study in Level 1A Year 2 (third grade) is to grow a crystal. We tried some different kits and methods with First Son, First Daughter, and Second Daughter, with varying degrees of success.

This year, I purchased the 4M Crystal Growing Experimental Kit and it was far and away the best kit we've ever used. Second Son (the third grader) used it to grow enormous crystals. It actually got away from us. Then later in the year, First Son (the tenth grader) used it to grow a second set of crystals for his geology term.

There's enough left for another set but I don't know if it'll still be around in three years when First Daughter is ready for tenth grade geology. We may have to use them up just for fun before then.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. Links to Amazon are affiliate links.

Begin by Looking Up: Introduction to Astronomy

An Introduction to the Universe: The Big Ideas of Astronomy

by Brother Guy Consolmagno

I recognized Brother Consolmagno's name from Brother Astronomer when I saw this audiobook and a few others in a recent Audible sale. This series of twelve audio lectures, each less than thirty minutes in length, begins with an exhortation to go outside and look at the sky, to document it over days, months, even a year.

It begins with wonder.

For Brother Guy, an astronomer with a degree from M.I.T. and a position at the Vatican Observatory, the night sky and the big ideas of astronomy connect directly to our Creator. He covers a wide range of astronomical topics in a conversational manner, none of them in the kind of detail you would encounter in an astronomy course, but all of them with delight. He also balances well the scientific rigor of the academic world with the rational exploration of how those academic facts and ideas inform our spiritual lives.

My husband is a Catholic theologian and I am a scientist by training (a biology degree many years in the past). This course includes many of the ideas and questions we want our children to consider. It will be, I think, a perfect "introduction" to a brief look at astronomy (currently planned for third term of junior year in high school; the last part of our earth sciences which will also include weather in ninth grade and geology in tenth grade). I do want to find something a little more academic to include as well, but this is where we'll start.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post. I purchased this audiobook during an Audible sale. Links to Amazon are affiliate links.

Winds and Weather and a Bit on Sabbath Mood Homeschool: Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather

Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather

by Eric Sloane

This is the textbook for Sabbath Mood Homeschool's Form 3-4 Weather. It is written for grades 7-9 and is scheduled for the third term of ninth grade in the high school integrated science plan. The idea of studying a bit of biology, chemistry, physics, and earth sciences each year appealed to me. I thought it would bring a bit more interest to science as we'd be moving on to another discipline before becoming overwhelmed. I also thought it might be interesting to have more opportunities for noticing the inter-relationships of the different disciplines. The divisions are sometimes arbitrary as there is, of course, much physics in chemistry and much chemistry in biology, and so on.

Sabbath Mood's courses were appealing to me because of the focus on a living book rather than a dry textbook of definitions and practice problems. I thought this kind of approach would be more likely to immerse my son in the kind of study that made biology, chemistry, and physics a part of his daily life rather than an artificial study of "ideal" and therefore illusive environments.

Overall, I think I still like the idea of Sabbath Mood Homeschool and the integrated science. I have not yet decided whether I'm satisfied with the level of First Son's learning and whether that has more to do with his lackadaisical attitude than the coursework. Certainly the lab work for both chemistry and physics was informative and challenging. The mathematical aspects were missing, almost entirely, though I'm not sure how much of a problem that would be for First Son in college. I took every science class my high school offered (three semesters each of biology, chemistry, and physics) and basically felt like I knew exactly nothing once I sat down on the second day of my science courses in college. Yet I still managed to graduate with a degree in biology.

This particular book, Look at the Sky and Tell the Weather, is a delight. The author's voice shines clearly through along with his love of weather. His illustrations are enjoyable and, when appropriate, informative. The "main character" of the book is cP, the air mass that flows from the Canadian Rockies.

In her voyage from Canada, sweeping down through the middle United States, eastward to New England, and finally out over the Atlantic Ocean. As each person breathes her in and exhales her out, she will have become a part of their existence; not just a matter of rain or shine, but a backdrop to their living moments.

While there is a substantial amount of information about weather in the text, it's certainly not a full year's worth of meteorology. Nor is it intended to be; it's one-third of a credit of earth sciences. Even so, I think I'd prefer something a little more substantial and have my eyes on a few options for my younger children. This lovely book will be a supplemental reading book, I think.

There is a description of a young man who parachutes out of a plane and waits too long to open his parachute. It's not graphic, but may be distressing to a young reader.

The activities provided by Sabbath Mood seemed good and thorough enough. Many of them were weather observations made on homemade instruments, which could foster a life-long interest in weather-watching.

I believe that the sky was created for pure beholding; that one of man's greatest joys can be simply looking at the sky.

I have received nothing in exchange for this post which contains only my honest opinions. Links to Sabbath Mood Homeschool are not affiliate links, but links to Amazon are affiliate links.

Faith, Science, Life: Brother Astronomer

Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist

by Brother Guy Consolmagno

A fellow member of the Mater Amabilis™ Facebook group recommended this book as a living book on astronomy. I have read The Heavens Proclaim by the same Jesuit brother and was thrilled to find this one at our library. It will be a marvelous supplement to our study of astronomy in eleventh grade.

The book is a mixture of essays and explorations on the relationship between faith and science and stories of his own personal experiences as a scientist and as a Jesuit scientist. It feels a little disjointed rather than a coherent whole as it seems to be a mixture of essays he'd originally written for other publications, but I think it's still valuable.

Brother Consolmagno writes about his life as a scientist at the Vatican. Most days are spent answering emails and examining meteors or preparing presentations or papers, but he does share some dramatic experiences as well. He writes about his reluctance to get up early to see a comet in person because he'd learned so much about them in books and pictures. When he woke and couldn't go back to sleep, he dragged himself from bed.

It was simply the most stunningly spectacular sight in the sky I have ever seen. It was as big and bright as a photograph on a planetarium ceiling. Five times as big as Comet Hale-Bopp. I would not call it impressive; I would call it frightening. In a world where the regularity of the stars is one of the few things that can be counted on, the presence of this flamboyant looming stranger shook me to my core.

We had a similar experience when we changed our vacation plans to drive through the full eclipse of the sun in 2017. We wondered whether it was worth changing everything and planning our vacation around an eclipse, but it was mesmerizing and unforgettable.

There is a long section in the book where Brother Consolmagno examines the historical facts of Galileo's trial and its enduring effects on the modern understanding of the relationship between faith and science.

But it was the jealous, possessive attitude of Grassi and Galileo -- all the more offensive for coming from supposedly calm and rational men of science -- that caused the final breach. The ill feeling on both sides that led to Galileo's final trial in 1633 helped set back science in Italy for years, and has fed antireligious and antiscience bigots on both sides of the issue every since.

Brother Consolmagno explicitly and clearly states that the Church was wrong it its treatment of Galileo. Unfortunately, that wrong has created a perceived insurmountable rift between faith and science in the modern world. Our response as Catholics to modern scientific theories has lasting effects on the ability to evangelize our modern society.

So why does everyone still think a Church-science conflict exists? Why is it that in the popular culture, science and religion are thought to be opposed? To understand why, we need to look not at science, nor at religion, but at the popular culture.

He talks about where people learn about the faith, pointing out that much of what we know comes from Sunday school, an hour a week during the school year when we are in elementary school. People who leave the church at a young age understandably have a childish view of religion. Similarly, most people stop studying science seriously in high school, or perhaps even younger. Finally, modern society draws on media accounts highlighting dramatic conflict, popular books with simplistic (and misleading) explanations of scientific principles, or books on astrology or UFOs, and most of all, fiction.

So what do our stories tell us about science and religion? One message all too present is that both are to be feared, each in its own way. In the movies, all preachers are power-hungry, money-driven hypocrites; all scientists are mad. They're both caricatured by wild hair and a fanatical gleam in the eye.

These ideas are ones that my children will regularly encounter, helping them to build a foundation of understanding not only the true relationship of faith and science, but also why modern culture's misunderstanding persists. After a chapter presenting how our culture has come to see science and religion as opposed, Brother Consolmagno affirms the roles they each play in supporting the other.

Good science is a very religious act. The search for Truth is the same as the search for God. And if you accept that God was the creator of this physical universe, then it immediately follows that studying creation is a way of worshipping the creator. 

Later he says:

The desire for truth and understanding, including understanding the truth of the natural world, was given to us by God in order to lead us to God. It is the desire for God. It is why I am a scientist; it is why the Vatican supports me.

St. Athanasius's On the Incarnation receives much attention in an essay called "Finding God in Creation." Mater Amabilis™ includes it in Level 5 Year 1 (ninth grade) as optional reading, so some students may be pleasantly surprised to see it related to the modern studies of faith and science (as I was).

There is even a chapter on extraterrestrial life.

People think we're looking for philosophical answers with our telescopes. What we're actually doing is inspiring philosophical questions. 

Brother Consolmagno writes about his time as a student when physics was a struggle. He writes later about what his days are like at the Vatican Observatory and about his visit to Antarctica to search for meterorites. He talks about his life as a Jesuit and how his faith is strengthened by his study of the natural world. These sections are perfect for a student considering a life in physics, geology, or astronomy.

Though I haven't selected a text or thought seriously about lesson plans for our eleventh grade earth sciences exploration of astronomy, Brother Astronomer is going to be on the free reading list as a complement to whatever else we do.

I have received nothing for this post; all opinions are my own. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. I borrowed this book from our library.