Our units are taught through living book format. If you would like to see how we adjust each level for difficulty (while allowing the whole family to come together), please visit this page HERE.
As always, this unit can be used as your core curriculum, or as an extracurricular (or fun with mom or dad!).
**SEE CORE CONNECTIONS DESCRIPTION BELOW MAIN UNIT DESCRIPTION**
Have you ever tried to create a unit on a topic that already has a million different books and has been done a thousand times before? Navigating the pitfall of doing the “same ‘ol, same ‘ol” and avoiding the trap of repetition is insanely difficult. Thankfully, we did it! As you know, Campfire doesn’t do “same ‘ol” or “repetition”! We brought to you something that isn’t just a unit on dinosaurs. It’s a unit on paleontology (that your dinosaur lovers are going to adore).
There are SO MANY books on dinosaurs that simply show grand pictures of these mysterious, monstrous creatures with a list of “facts” about them, while failing to move beyond those images into something more. Campfire dug deeper to reveal the evidence, separating fact from fiction within one of the newest science fields in our world today.
As is standard, we made it advanced enough for university-aspiring high school students and adults (with recommended activity options straight from professors, as well as dives into scientific theory, geology, anatomy, and more). The unit is packed with science and critical thinking!!
…. And, we made it fun enough for your littles who want everything dino. This was a bit harder of a topic to spread over such a wide age range (for the black font), but we did it!
Oh, and did we mention (just a fun side note)… no paleontologist agrees. On anything. Really. Okay, maybe that’s a slight over exaggeration, but WOW did we have to navigate some landmines as we created this unit. When we make that comment, we aren’t even referring to evolution or creation or age of the Earth or anything like that. We just mean they disagree about EVERYTHING.
We have learned so much over the past many months, and we cannot wait to share it all with you in a completely brand-new way that has never been done before. This unit is truly an explosion of Campfire with the mystery and wonder of dinosaurs and paleontology. Parents, be prepared to learn alongside your children, as all ages will LOVE it!
PS: In foreseeing potential “big” questions, we just wanted to say the following before we come out with the official unit description:
1 – We are personally young earth creationists.
2 – Still, we wrote the unit such that it could be used by anyone—secular, Christian, etc.
3 – The Faith Talks (separate section for followers of Christ) focus on God being the creator of everything.
4 – The SYW pages go over errors on BOTH sides for sake of learning from scientists before you (mistakes from creation scientists and evolutionists). These sections are neutral and scientifically objective, promoting critical thinking and deeper understanding of scientific theory for more advanced students.
5 – The unit does not promote any particular Earth age. In fact, it is rather irrelevant when you see how it was done (you’re all going to love it).
6 – Yes, geology is obviously included, but again, it’s really unique and the focus is fantastic. It is NOT like every other dinosaur book or unit you’ve seen before.
CORE CONNECTIONS COMPANION:
This can be used as core curriculum (with Core Connections) or as an extracurricular (without Core Connections).
You are going to LOVE the Core Connections in this unit as we focus on ancient history in the Middle East! We get to dip our toes into the very first evidence of human civilization in ancient Mesopotamia and watch how it brings us through to modern-day Iraq and our current world today. The students get to do this while seeing an overlapping theme of DRAGONS!!!
They will experience the social and cultural impacts within each society in the ancient world, and how it all overlapped with dragons and dinosaurs, as well! These connections are utterly priceless. They will see why societies collapse, why they divide, how they rise, how they fall, and how they come together.
Language Arts is amazing! Students get to create a language arts field guide while expanding their critical reading skills, academic vocabulary, and more. Each day there is a language arts project, reading focus, and grammar focus. There are picture studies, fun activities, and so much more to bring this assignment to life! Everything is tiered, as usual in our Core Connections, so if your student needs a higher level of difficulty, bump them up! If they need review, bump them down! It is set up perfectly so you can use it for EVERYONE in your family!
*Areas of focus – quick glimpse:*
HISTORY FOCUS: Ancient history, Bronze age, Mesopotamia, Iraq, Euphrates, Epic of Gilgamesh, Rise of Babylon, 7 wonders, Assyria, etc… [You’ll see how it all connects… it’s amazing!]
SOCIAL STUDIES/GEOGRAPHY FOCUS: Mythology, dragons, and faith across the world; how it impacts history, civilizations, and cultures
LANGUAGE ARTS FOCUS (PROJECT FOCUS): Language Arts Field Guide, critical reading, academic vocabulary development
LANGUAGE ARTS FOCUS (GRAMMAR FOCUS): Adjusts by age, but includes some of the following:
Comma splices, adverbial conjunctions, conjunctive adjectives, cumulative adjectives, independent vs dependent, subject/verb, etc.
LANGUAGE ARTS FOCUS (WRITING FOCUS): Essays, paragraph structures, thesis statement, topic sentence, concluding paragraphs, etc.
SCIENCE FOCUS: Geology, Biology, Earth Science
BIBLE/ETHICS/PHILOSOPHY/CRITICAL THINKING: ALL INCLUDED
EXTRACURRICULAR/JOB SHADOWING FOCUS: PALEONTOLOGY
DIFFERENCES FROM THE NORM:
Created: July, 2023
PAGE COUNT: 230 (GROWING), 230 (ADVANCED), 44 (CORE CONNECTIONS), 114 (CORE CONNECTIONS)