Since we live in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by forest, I was thrilled to receive the Pine Trees Unit Study from Creation Illustrated. We also received a unit study on Snow.
In addition to the PDF unit studies, I also received access to the magazines that accompanied each. Here’s the cover of the Fall 2017 issue that went with the Pine Trees Unit Study.
The Snow Unit Study corresponded to the Winter 2018 edition.
What Were the Unit Studies Like?
We focused primarily on the Pine Trees Unit Study. It was a 16-page PDF download. Each page was full of information and cross-curricular activities about pine trees.
At the beginning, there were several links to explore. These included free access to the Fall 2017 magazine, encyclopedia type facts about pine trees, and educational videos to watch. These resources helped provided a great baseline of information for the students.
After the resource page, the activities began. There was:
- A vocabulary/spelling study
- A Bible study on pine trees
- The Geography of Pine Trees
- Information on identifying different varieties of pine trees
- Math problems using information about pine trees
- A writing prompt
- An art study
- A puzzle
At the end, an answer key provided all the answers to make checking work easy.
The Snow Unit Study
The Snow Unit Study was similar in scope and length. It also included many of the activity types listed above, such as the puzzle, vocabulary activities, and math problems. However, it included more hands-on activities, such as a science project to make snow like crystals out of Borax, and building a snow structure. There were also directions for photographing snow flakes that I’m looking forward to using with the kids next winter!
How Did We Use This Unit Study?
The Creation Illustrated website lists the Pine Tree Unit Study for children in grades 3-8. However, it was definitely too hard for my third grader. I think grades 5-8 would be more appropriate, though I’m sure some advanced third graders could handle it.
Because of the difficulty, I had to adapt many parts of this unit study to make it appropriate for my learner. We did the majority of the vocabulary work orally.
I read aloud the recommended articles in the corresponding magazine, and we took plenty of field trips into the woods to make the learning more active.
We found rings on trees, counted needles on different types of pine trees, and tried our hand at identifying them based on characteristics.
My kids loved this part of the unit study. They also enjoyed watching the recommended videos. And the word search. That was my third-grader’s favorite. He loved looking for the words. My oldest also did the word search, and realized one of the words was missing a letter.
The Bible study was my favorite part. We took turns looking up the verses and reading them aloud. Then we talked about the meaning of them, and how trees were used.
The math problems were almost all too difficult for my kids. They involved a lot of long multiplication and division, which we just haven’t worked on yet. So I skipped those.
We didn’t work through the unit study in order, but rather I selected activities that were appropriate for my learners. I also created some of my own to help us learn more about pine trees.
What I Thought of These Products
I really liked the magazines! They’re created by a homeschool family and are really well done. Each article is well-written, and points to truths about God.
There are so many junk magazines for kids available, but this doesn’t fall into that category. It’s a magazine my kids could read over and over again. While the digital version was nice, I think the print one would be even better.
The print editions come out quarterly, and are ad-free. They are currently 25% off. You can learn more here.
The upcoming spring issue looks beautiful:
The corresponding unit study will be about butterfly and transformational life lessons.
I also enjoyed the concept of the unit studies. I like how they corresponded to the magazines. However, in my opinion, many of the activities were too complicated for a traditional third grader.
But, there were some fun things included. My kids enjoyed the parts they could do.
To learn what other families thought about the unit studies and magazines from Creation Illustrated, please click on the banner below.
