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Earth's Rocks and Fossils Review by Maggi Beardsley

Jim Pipe
Gareth Steven Publishing
A Weekly Reader Company
www.weeklyreader.com
1-800-542-2595
1 Reader's Digest Road
Pleasantville, NY 10570-7000
https://garethstevens.com/

Earth's Rocks and Fossils is a 30-page paperback book published by Gareth Stevens Publishing. It is a good book for introducing students to the study of the earth. There are four chapters: Our Rocky Planet, How Rocks Are Formed, Rocks at Work, and Fossils. There is information about each of those topics, plus many color photographs to illustrate the lessons. There are also three experiments: how to make crystals, how ice breaks rocks and how to make fossils. It is a book that upper elementary aged students can easily read to themselves.

Earth's Rocks and Fossils is a book that is not based on creationism. The book begins chapter two by stating: "More than 4 billion years ago, the Earth was a giant ball of molten..." In chapter three there is a picture of a cave painting. The author states that "The first mines were dug by early humans about 10,000 years ago......cave paintings in France were made on rocks more than 17,000 years ago." Fossils are listed as being "millions or even billions of years old." It states that ancient plants and animals "ended up under sand and mud" but does not explain how. Then there is a chart of the Paleozoic Era that begins before 540 million years ago. Families with a strict creationist theology may avoid this book.

I really liked the beautiful color photographs of nature. My favorite page had a picture of Mount Rushmore for igneous rocks, sandstone for sedimentary rocks and marble as an example of metamorphic rocks. There is also a photograph of fossilized insects. My son and husband, both science aficionados, enjoyed the book too.

The reference to "billions of years ago" I could have crossed out, but the page about the Paleozoic Era had too many references to cross out. This gave us an opportunity to refer back to Genesis to talk about God creating the earth. I did refrain from having my younger child read the book yet. As a family, we first study Genesis and creationism, then we study evolution.

Overall I enjoyed all of the photographs in the book. They illustrated the basic concepts of earth science with beautiful pictures of nature. I would have preferred to read fewer references to "millions of year ago". However, given parent-child instruction or conversation, the text can be put into context.

Product Review by Maggi Beardsley, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, December, 2008

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