If someone dropped you on the moon without an astronaut's equipment, what would happen? You'd die, of course. The human body depends on its environment. This engaging four-volume set examines our bodies' inseparable relationship with the environment. Each volume presents the parts of a particular body system and how they work, things that go wrong and how they're treated, how the environment affects the particular body system and impacts our health, controversial environmental issues (where applicable), and changes individuals and groups are making to fix environmental problems and restore health.
Volume 1: The Muscular & Skeletal Systems
Volume 2: The Circulatory & Respiratory Systems
Volume 3: The Digestive & Urinary Systems
Volume 4: The Reproductive & Nervous Systems
Set Features:
• 576 pages in 4 volumes
• 7 x 10
• 2-color interior
• 175 Photographs
• 50 Charts and Illustrations
• Sidebars and Fact boxes
• Glossary
• Pronunciation key
• Source list (books, Web sites, etc.)
• Index.
Curriculum Themes:
• Anatomy
• Body Systems (parts of each system and how they interact together)
• Diseases
• Common tests and treatments
• Environmental impact on health
• Wellness techniques.
Reading Level: 6th-8th Grade
Grade 4-8-Attractive volumes on the human body and how its various systems interact, for good or ill, with the physical environment. Each title announces two major systems, though others are included. Circulatory & Respiratory also considers the immune system and Digestive & Urinary discusses the lymphatic system. Muscular & Skeletal collapses these two systems into musculoskeletal and adds information about the skin. Reproductive & Nervous starts off with the endocrine system and concludes with the senses. The books describe each system, detail common diseases, and discuss effects of the environment. The final chapters look at ways of keeping the systems healthy. The writing is crisp, clear, and accessible. The environmental information is current and often frightening. Each book has its own glossary, bibliography, and index, and can thus stand on its own, though locating the five systems not mentioned in the titles might require searching through each volume. Charts, graphs, insets, and numerous black-and-white photos and illustrations appear throughout the set. Unfamiliar vocabulary is highlighted in a beige color that fades into the page. Despite a few shortcomings, these books provide an important perspective for students. Some librarians might prefer to circulate them so that students can spend some time with them.
Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA
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