Medieval Europe - Italian Maritime Republics

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Middle Ages

Discussion:
Major maritime trading cities in Italy and their shipping routes across Asia and Europe
Goods traded
Conflict against each other and with Holy Roman Emperors, Popes

Activity:
History journal
Map study

Astronomy - Solar System - Earth - What Makes Earth Unique

Seven Wonders of the Rocky Planets and Their Moons by Ron Miller
Don't Know Much About the Solar System by Kenneth C. Davis
Earth by Dana Rau Meachen

Discussion:
Life on Earth
Water and Atmosphere
The Moon and Earth - a "double" planet

Activity:
Make a chart listing Earth's unusual features

Astronomy - Solar System - Earth - Orbit

Earth by
The Kingfisher Space Encyclopedia

Discussion:
Time - years and days
Seasons
Actual length of orbit vs. calendar (necessity of leap years)

Activity:
Draw a schematic of Earth's orbit

Medieval Europe - Frederick II

The Crusades by Timothy Levi Biel

Discussion:
Wars with popes/other entities
Centralization of government; efficient state bureaucracy
Crusade accomplishments through diplomacy

Activity:
History journal

Medieval Europe - Art in the 12th-13th Centuries

The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe
History of Western Art

Discussion:
Developments in style from post-Carolingian era to post-Dante
Symbolic representations in religious art
Recognizing provenance

Activity:
Field trip to the National Gallery of Art

Astronomy - Solar System - Venus - Orbit and Time

Venus by Elaine Landau
Venus by Dana Meachen Rau

Discussion:
Venus' orbit
Days and years on Venus
Distance from Earth, Sun

Activity:
Draw a schematic of Venus' orbit and relative distances from Earth/Sun

Astronomy - Solar System - Venus - Composition and Geology

Venus by Dana Meachen Rau
Venus by Elaine Landau

Discussion:
Mineral composition of Venus, structure
Atmosphere of Venus, geography

Activity:
Draw and label schematic of Venus

Medieval Europe - Dante Alighieri

Read-aloud: The Inferno, ed. Mark Musa (skip the Florentine bits)

Discussion:
Life of Dante - general mess of Italian political states and the papacy
Divine Comedy - influences from Catholic theology and Scholastic physics
Influence

Activity:
History journal - draw a schema of the Inferno
Maps and Charts about the Comedy, Florence, Aristotelian science

Astronomy - Solar System - Venus - Overview

The Kingfisher Space Encyclopedia
Don't Know Much About the Solar System by Kenneth C. Davis

Discussion:
Venus - named for the Roman goddess of love
Rocky planet with a very hot atmosphere
Viewing Venus from Earth

Activity:
Learn how to recognize Venus in the night sky

Medieval Europe - Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure

Albertus Magnus - Bartholomew's World
Bonaventure - Bartholomew's World
The Treasury of Saints & Martyrs by Margaret Mulvihill
Loyola Kids Book of Saints by Amy Welborn

Discussion:
Albert as a scientist - experiments
Thomas Aquinas - major contributions
Bonaventure - mysticism and theology

Activity:
History journal
Take a look at Thomas' handwriting - (it's the second one, not the illuminated folio)

Medieval Europe - Scholasticism

Bartholomew's World - What is scholasticism?
Important Authors of the Scholastic tradition

Discussion:
Aristotle, Averroes, and Avicenna
Major western thinkers
Theories of motion, psychology, elements, humors

Activity:
History journal
Draw a map outlining where the interior senses are in the brain, see Algazel on the Interior Senses

Astronomy - Solar System - Mercury - Climate and Temperature

Science Bulletins: MESSENGER Mission to Mercury

Seven Wonders of the Rocky Planets and Their Moons by Ron Miller
Mercury by Dana Meachen Rau

Discussion:
Climate
Atmosphere
Average temperature

Activity:
Learn what Mercury's path across Earth's skies looks like

Medieval Europe - St. Francis and St. Dominic

The Treasury of Saints and Martyrs by Margaret Mulvihill
Read-aloud: Francis and Clare: The Complete Works 
The Illustrated World Encyclopedia of Saints

Discussion:
Effects of the Crusades - poverty and the way of the cross
St. Francis and St. Dominic - radically different approaches to holiness

Activity:
History journal
Visit Franciscan Monastery

Astronomy - Solar System - Mercury - Composition and Impact History

Seven Wonders of the Rocky Planets and Their Moons by Ron Miller
Mercury by Dana Meachen Rau

Discussion:
Composition of Mercury
Craters and impact history

Activity:
Draw Mercury and label its most important geographical/geological features

Astronomy - Solar System - Mercury - Orbit and Time

The Kingfisher Space Encyclopedia
Mercury by Dana Meachen Rau

Discussion:
Mercury's year and day
Elliptical orbit
Temperature on Mercury

Activity:
Draw Mercury's orbit, labeling distance from sun and shortest and longest points

Medieval Europe - Robin Hood and the Charter of the Forest

Bartholomew's World - Robin Hood and Robert Grosseteste
Read-aloud: Robin Hood  by Sarah Hayes

Discussion:
The Saladin tithe and other effects of the Crusades
Royal forest system - Robin Hood as hero
Charter of the Forest

Activity:
History journal
picture study - Robin Hood in the media

Astronomy - Solar System - Mercury - Overview

The Kingfisher Space Encyclopedia
Mercury by Dana Meachen Rau

Discussion:
Mercury - named for the Roman messenger god
Distance from the sun (varies)
Rocky planet (vs. gas planet)

Activity:
Learn when to observe Mercury and why we can't see it today

Medieval Europe - Magna Carta

Bartholomew's World - Magna Carta

Discussion:
Limiting monarchial power
Due process of law
Establishment of individual rights

Activity:
History journal
Reading the Magna Carta

Medieval Europe and Medieval Middle East - The Crusades - Effects of the Crusades on Muslim and Christian States

The Crusades by Timothy Levi Biel

Discussion:
Financial difficulties of European states and citizens
Attitudes of Muslims towards Christians and vice versa
Exchange of information and culture, East and West
Trade routes, rise of trading cities, mercantilism

Activity:
History journal
Map study - trade routes, trading cities

Astronomy - Solar System - The Sun - Solar Cycles

NASA | Solar Cycle

NASA Solar Physics - The Big Questions
The Kingfisher Space Encyclopedia

Discussion:
Difference between Sun Spot Cycle and Solar Cycle
Solar polar reversal
Effects of Solar Cycle on Earth

Activity:
List ways that solar flares and solar cycles affect Earth
Study the 1859 Carrington event

Astronomy - Solar System - The Sun - Sun Spots and Flares

NASA | Magnificent Eruption in Full HD
NASA Sun Earth Day - What are Sun Spots?

The Kingfisher Space Encyclopedia
The Sun by Elaine Landau

Discussion:
Sun spots - cooler areas caused by magnetism
Flares - explosions
Effects on Earth

Activity:
Draw the Sun with sun spots and flares

Medieval Europe - Frederick Barbarossa and the Holy Roman Empire

The Crusades by Timothy Levi Biel

Discussion:
Investiture Controversy - weakening of German influence and power
Italian campaigns
"Holy" Roman Empire established
Third Crusade and death

Activity:
History journal
Map study
Picture study - Cologne Cathedral, reliquary of the three kings, Bust of Frederick

Medieval Middle East - The Crusades - Third Crusade and Richard the Lionheart

Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam by Diane Stanley [Warning: This book is woefully one-sided]
The Crusades by Timothy Levi Biel

Discussion:
Call to the Third Crusade
Saladin's siege of Acre against Guy
Richard's campaigns against Saladin

Activity:
History journal
Map study

Astronomy - Solar System - The Sun - Solar Wind

5 Remarkable Facts About the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) - The Countdown #35

Northern Lights by DM Souza

Vocabulary Added:
solar wind: flow of atomic particles from the Sun's surface

Discussion:
Solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field
Creation of auroras
Color in the northern lights

Activity:
Art project - draw a picture of the northern lights

Medieval Middle East - Saladin and the Ayyubids

Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam by Diane Stanley [Warning: this book is woefully one-sided]

Discussion:
Establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty
Saladin's early conquests
Recapture of Jerusalem
*special* evaluating source material for bias

Activity:
History journal
Map study

Astronomy - Solar System - Sun - Composition

The Sun by Elaine Landau
The Kingfisher Space Encyclopedia

Vocabulary Added:
convective zone: section of the Sun where gases allow its energy to travel outward
radiative zone: section through which photons travel
prominence: where the convective zone becomes turbulent
core: center of the sun, where sunlight and other energy are released
photosphere: surface of the sun
corona: (crown), outermost surface area that we can't see except during an eclipse

Discussion:
Composition of the Sun

Activity:
Draw a schematic of the Sun and label its components

Astronomy - The Solar System - The Sun - Overview

Bill Nye the Science Guy on the Sun
If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel 

The Sun by Elaine Landau

Discussion:
Sun as center of the solar system
Sun's effect on Earth and the other planets
Size, shape, distance from Earth, brightness relative to Earth

Activity:
Make a sun viewer - box with pinhole and paper

Medieval Europe and Medieval Middle East - The Second Crusade

The Crusades by Timothy Levi Biel

Discussion:
Zengi and Baldwin III - Muslim re-conquests
Call to the Second Crusade - Bernard of Clairvaux
Failure of the Second Crusade

Activity:
History journal
Map study

Medieval Europe - The 12th-Century Renaissance

Read-Aloud: The Lais of Marie de France, Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes

Discussion:
"Re-birth" of the arts and sciences in Europe
Flowering of culture, trade, technology
Centralization of government, expansion of cities

Activity:
History journal
Picture study - works from the 12th and 13th centuries, major painters and writers of the era
Recover from medieval feast of last night

Astronomy - Solar System - The Moon - Phases

Mr. Lee - Phases of the Moon rap

The Moon by Isaac Asimov
The Moon by Elaine Landau

Discussion:
Why the moon has phases
What a "blue moon" is
Using the moon as a calendar

Activity:
Draw the phases of the moon and learn their names
Start a moon observation chart, noting the date and the phase of the moon

Astronomy - Solar System - The Moon - Orbit and Effect on Earth

NASA: Lunar Eclipse Essentials
The Moon's orbit around the Earth

The Moon by Elaine Landau
The Moon by Isaac Asimov

Discussion:
Orbit of the moon; eclipse
Gravitational relationship of Earth and Moon
Tides and other effects of the moon

Activity:
Two balls activity - understanding moon's orbit

Medieval Europe - Feasting and Celebrations

A Medieval Feast by Aliki
Food and Feasts in the Middle Ages by Imogen Dawson
Medieval Feasts and Banquets by Tehmina Bhote
The Original Mediterranean Cuisine by Barbara Santich
The Medieval Kitchen by Redon, Sabban, and Serventi

Discussion:
Foods native to Europe
Importance of presentation in banqueting
Foods for special feast days

Activity:
Medieval feast! (greatly reduced)

Astronomy - Solar System - The Moon - Geography

The Moon by Isaac Asimov
The Moon by Elaine Landau

Discussion:
Moon geography
Dark and light side of moon - why

Activity:
Map study: the moon
Observation with telescope

Medieval Europe - Music

On Secular Music and the texts of the songs presented
Read-Aloud: The Lais of Marie de France

Discussion:
Courtly love's influence on music
Types of musicians and music
Performance venues

Activity:
Listening to medieval music

Medieval Europe - Arthurian Romances and Courtly Love

Read Aloud: The Lais of Marie de France, Chretien de Troyes

Discussion:
Courtly love and chivalric ideals
Poetry based on King Arthur and his legends
Ideals of knighthood - modern ideas about the Middle Ages that persist from this time period

Activity:
History journal
Picture study: The Oxford History of Western Art

14th century depictions of Guenevere and Lancelot

19th century representations of courtly love:
John Keats, La Belle Dame sans Merci, and paintings
Leighton, God Speed! painting

Astronomy - Solar System - The Moon - Composition

The Moon by Seymour Simon

Discussion:
Composition of the moon
Natural history of the moon

Activity:
Observation of moon with telescope

Medieval Europe - Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine

Don't Know Much About the Kings and Queens of England by Kenneth C. Davis
Read Aloud: The Lais of Marie de France

Discussion:
Marriage as political alliance - France and England
Henry vs. Thomas Becket
Henry and Eleanor's children and their many disagreements

Activity:
History journal
Family tree

Astronomy - Solar System - The Moon - Formation

The Moon by Isaac Asimov, ed. Richard Hantula

Discussion:
How the moon formed

Activity:
Playdough moon formation re-enactment
Field trip to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum