TOS Review: AIMS Earth Book

One of the things I love about being part of the TOS Review Crew is discovering new curriculum products from vendors I have never encountered before.  The Earth Book, subtitled, Hydrosphere, Geosphere, Atmosphere, and Their Interactions contain activities integrating math and science.  It is published by AIMS Education Foundation. AIMS is an acronym for “Activities Integrating Mathematics and Science.”

From the Back Cover:  “The AIMS Education Foundation is a research and development organization dedicated to the improvement of the teaching and learning of mathematics and science through a meaningful and integrated approach.

I received a thick reproducible book (it’s over 475 pages!) and a CD-ROM.  The CD-ROM contains PDF files for the activities.  What a convenience!  I didn’t have to tear my book apart and I could print only the pages we needed.  The PDF files do not contain all of the information from the book but it does contain all of the consumable parts that can be reproduced.

At first I had a hard time wrapping my brain around how to use this resource.  Should I use it as a stand alone science curriculum?  Should I try integrating it with an earth science curriculum?  I have some earth science resources so I thought I would try to incorporate those readings with the hands on activities in AIMS Earth Book.  That proved more difficult for me and in the end, we decided to just use the book as is by itself at least for now.

Divided into four sections, this fun resource covers the hydrosphere, geosphere, atmosphere and interactions.  Each section is further divided into lessons each with a hands on activity.

A typical lesson includes:

• one to two pages of explanation for the teacher which includes the topic, Key Question, Learning Goals, Materials, Management, Answers and more
• pages necessary for the hands on activity
• a rubber band book
• a section entitled Connecting Learning .

Turtlegirl,decided to start with the Hydrosphere.  Here she has laid out everything she needs to do an activity about currents.

Here she records her results on an activity page:

Retailing for $49.95 the Earth Book is listed for grades 6-9.   You can purchase this activity book directly from AIMS Educaitonal Foundation HERE.  You can see what other products are available HERE.  AIMS has a series called Essential Mathematics that looks very interesting!

We’ve enjoyed Earth Book.   Turtlegirl and I both love the Rubber band books that accompany each lesson.  We’re both looking forward to the other 3 sections of the book.  I think this program would be awesome for home school co-op. I love how it worked so well for us as an independent way for Turtlegirl to explore science.

The Crew reviewed several AIMS products.  Click on the banner below to read what my fellow crewmates have to say:

All information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

Disclaimer: As a TOS Crew member, I received this product free of charge to review. This review is my honest opinion with, hopefully, enough detail as to why I liked or did not like a product so that my readers can make an informed decision. I received no compensation.