Mcgraw Hill Science Grade 2: Macmillan/Mcgraw-hill Edition

This is a institutional text book. The book is printed and bound with high quality. The pages are colorful and the content is meaningful, but very light on substance. It's almost like a colorfully illustrated outline for a science program that covers all the bases but doesn't teach much itself.I homeschool my boys, ages 5 and 6 and I bought this 2nd grade Science book based on the preview at the publisher's website. From the preview I could tell this wouldn't be too difficult for my 5 year old to understand. Later grade texts understandably begin to demand more independent reading and writing from the students.I also purchased McGraw Hill's "Science: A Closer Look" Grade 2 (with the bee on the front). These two books from the same publisher are totally unique -- they don't share any pages verbatim -- but they contain virtually the same content and I would characterize them exactly the same way -- comprehensive but shallow overviews.To use this book effectively, a teacher should plan on incorporating a number of experiments or 'labs' in their lessons. The books offer some suggestions that could be a lot better if you consider getting a little more involved. For example, the books cover "simple machines" (although they only describe about half of them in what amounts to a fairly incomplete unit). As an example, they suggest using two pencils, one as a fulcrum and the other as a lever to lift a notebook. It's not hard to imagine a better fulcrum and lever to demo for your students. I found some stuff in the garage that was a lot more exciting. Admittedly, I'm not able to offer up elaborate experiments at a rapid pace like "Bill Nye the Science Guy" -- but I can certainly recommend following up your own demos with his (available on Youtube and elsewhere) to complement this comparatively uninspired book.

I absolutely love the McGraw Hill Science books. I'm currently using the book for grade 2 and grade 4, and both of them are simply explained, and remind me of what I used in public school. The experiements in them are almost all doable at home with what we have on hand. My kids are really enjoying these books.

Helpful outline to branch of off for a general science class that reaches over different learning levels...and got it for under $5 with shipping. Lots of great science activities start each section and comprehension questions at the end. Would work well as a High-low book for 7-10 year olds.

We read half the book together the day we got it. My three year old loves it and although some of it is over her head (meant for second grade) the pictures were descriptive and there are some great experiments to do together. Book was purchased in like new condition and it truly was like new. Glad i didnt spend a fortune on a new book for some home educational fun. Water conservation parts of plants, whats inside the earth, dinosaurs, and much more

As with most of the textbooks I've found for second grade, this one is too vague and simply-worded for even an average student. It's a bit better than others I looked at, considering the helpful exploratory activities that appear throughout. Still, my second-grader is always left disappointed and longing for more in-depth material after a lesson from this book. Needs more substance!

Great layout, well done, easy to follow. My daughter has enjoyed what we have done so far. I'm using it more for summer at the moment but will be caring it through 2nd grade to supplement school. It works great with the workbook, but if needed can also stand alone. I would place this on any good shelf for students.

Big fan of McGraw and love the format of the book... My son has ADHD and it is really good about explaining Concepts and approaches to learning the material that's provided... The seller was fantastic and the used book was in amazing condition

Cute book but no answer key and barely any activities or questions post chapter.