The Secret Zoo, By Brian Chick (our reviews)

Late one night Megan notices something strange about the animals in the next door zoo. Shortly after that she disappears. Her brother, Noah, is convinced that the zoo had something to do with her disappearance, and when he starts receiving strange visitations and communications from the animals there, he enlists the help of close friends Ella and Richie in getting her back. The kids are used to having adventures together, but they aren't at all prepared for the bizarre experience that awaits them at the zoo in their quest to rescue Megan. Told with humor and warmth, The Secret Zoo is a unique story of friendship and conservation, and in this capacity it was enjoyable read. But being a mystery, the element of suspense is strong, and a war at the end of the book brings fighting and death into the conversation, so this may not be the best read aloud for young children. Additionally I found the sarcastic tone of humor to be off-putting, especially in an example of young friendships.

Interview with Calvin:

What is the story about?
Noah is looking for his sister Megan. She's been missing for two months. He goes to the zoo two times because he receives notes from two animals that are pieces from Megan's journal. At school he finds two of the scouts and they go to the zoo together. At the zoo they meet some animals. Noah goes to Arctic Town and meets a penguin. The penguin takes him to the Secret Zoo. Ella and Richie go to the prairie dog exhibit and they prairie dogs take them to the Secret Zoo. Then they find Noah and they find all their animal friends and some scientists.  Then Mr. Darby tells them the story of the Secret Zoo. Then the go to the Dark Lands and find Megan and bring her home with help from Mr. Darby and all the animals.

What did you like or not like about the book?
I liked the characters and the animals and how they work together to find Megan.

Exploring Antarctica (a resource list)

Antarctica, August 14–September 15
This unit was mostly a matter of reading and writing about Antarctica with plenty of play thrown in.

Click here for a list of blog entries on Antarctica (which will include images of all Calvin's work that was posted, although I did not post the majority of the printed sheets from Evan-Moor because of the copyright).

Topics of focus (in no particular order):
Map skills: latitude, longitude, hemispheres
Astronomy: orbit of the earth around the sun (seasons)
The climate of Antarctica
The landforms of Antarctica

Penguins
Plant and animal life on and around Antarctica
Food webs
Exploration and research of Antarctica, past and present

Book list, non-fiction (alphabetical):
365 Simple Science Experiments, by E. Richard Churchill, et. al.
Antarctica, by Mel Friedman (Scholastic True Book)

Antarctica: A Guide to the Wildlife 3rd ed. (Bradt), by Tony Soper

Antarctica: Land of Endless Water, by Michael George

Arctic & Antarctic (an Eyewitness Book)

Evan-Moor Education Antarctica Unit Study (grades 3-6)
 (review)
Grolier Student Library of Explorers and Exploration: Polar Explorers
Nature’s Children: Penguins, by Merebeth Switzer
Penguins and Antarctica (The Magic Tree House), by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce

Penguins of the World, by Wayne Lynch

Rand Mcnally Picture Atlas of the World
Summer Ice, Life along the Antarctic Peninsula, by Bruce McMillan

Book list, fiction (alphabetical):
Eve of the Emperor Penguin (Magic Tree House #40), by Mary Pope Osborne
 (review)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Richard and Florence Atwater (review)
Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, illustrated by Ed Young

Video list (alphabetical):
Challenging Antarctica (New Zealand Ltd)

Emperors of the Ice (National Geographic)

Life in the Freezer, David Attenborough (BBC)

a note—all of these videos covered predation and death in a very realistic way

Other (in no particular order)
Globe
Map
Compass
play dough
Standard project supplies

Activity list (in no particular order):
Science experiment
s with ice (glaciers, melting ice, and icebergs)
Making dimensional maps out of play dough
Charting locations on the globe/map
Going to the zoo
Playing with felt
Playing Mammoth Hunt
Illustrating
Writing stories and poems
Activities from the Even-Moor Unit Study (including map labeling, research hunts, word searches, crosswords, and trivia, etc.)

Experimenting with ice

Designing his desired felt set

Making a book of explorers (from the Evan-Moor unit study)

Antarctica Unit Study, by Evan-Moor Education (review)

I purchased this "complete" curriculum from Currclick as an e-book for $12.99 back in August. The download was smooth and easy and viewing the book as a pdf was no problem.

Subjects covered by the unit are:
• An introduction to geography as a study
• The basic use of a globe and more complex map skills
• Icebergs and glaciers
• The landforms of Antarctica
• The plants and animals of Antarctica (penguins in particular, and the food web)
• Exploration and explorers of Antarctica
• The people (research stations) on Antarctica
• Politics of Antarctica
• Pollution
• A brief overview of the Arctic for comparison

Worksheets and other printouts in the study include:
• short report forms
• a number of charts
• some question and answer forms
• trivia cards
• a crossword
• a word find
• a glossary
• a bibliography (to be filled out)
• comparison charts
• maps for marking and for reading
• a timeline
• a booklet to be cut out and assembled

I have been hesitant to use curriculum because I don't want to become reliant on it, because I was afraid they would all be formulaic (I was disappointed by what I felt was mindless busywork and jabber in the Amanda Bennett unit studies), and because mostly I try to follow Calvin's interests when we go "exploring". Having done this once, though, I'm likely to do it again with the right publisher. The Evan-Moor study had a handful of busy-work projects, but even these had some purpose, and mostly it was a number of open-ended worksheets. More importantly, this was not a collection of short readings with comprehension questions to reinforce learning. Instead, the unit provided short readings as a jumping off point, and any questions that were posed required additional research outside of what the unit provided.

The study is meant to be used in a classroom, and there  is plenty of material directed at the teacher suggesting ways to present material, but I didn't even read these pages. I did not follow the order of presentation, and I skipped over some of the sections completely. The great thing about the study is that it was completely bendable to our specific needs.

As a warning, the physical page numbers are not the pdf page numbers—the title and cover page are existent here in the pdf but not numbered in the physical book—so when printing specific pages be sure to add two to the desired page number. I found this out the hard way.

Surprise Island, Boxcar Children Book #2 (review by Calvin)

Penguin, an acrostic poem