Optional Spines
Level 1 Spine: An Encyclopedia of Everything: Our World in PicturesThis is wonderful "jumping off point" for a lot of the topics in this course. I'd say it's best for lvl 1, but lvl 2 students might also get some good information from it!

DK Website 
Book Shop

1	Big Bang	pg. 10-11
2	Stars Forms	pg. 12-13 pg. 14-15 pg. 158-161
3	Our Galaxy & Solar System	pg. 16-17pg. 20-29
4	Gravity	pg. 12-13
5	Earth Forms	pg. 46-47
6	Rock Cycle	pg. 58-61
7	Plate Tectonics	pg. 47-49pg. 52-57
8	Water Cycle/Atmosphere	*
9	Definition of Life	pg. 146-147
10	First Life	pg. 83pg. 104-105
11	Oxygen	**
12	Multicellular Life
13	Eukaryotes	pg. 148-149
14	The Cambrian Explosion
15	Life in the Ordovician and Silurian Seas

* https://climatekids.nasa.gov/water-cycle/ 
https://climatekids.nasa.gov/menu/atmosphere/

** https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/oxygen/353585 
https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/photosynthesis/353624 

Level 2 Spine: DK's Science as You've Never Seen it BeforeThis is wonderful "jumping off point" for a lot of the topics in this course. I'd say it's best for lvl 2, but could be accessible for some lvl 1 students. The visuals and amount of information are wonderful!

DK Website 
Book Shop 

1	Big Bang	pg. 112-113
2	Stars Forms	pg. 116-117 pg. 194-195 pg. 28-29 (The Elements)
3	Our Galaxy & Solar System	pg. 114-115pg. 118-121
4	Gravity	pg. 102-103
5	Earth Forms	pg. 122-123
6	Rock Cycle	pg. 22-23 (or to pg. 27)
7	Plate Tectonics	pg. 124-125
8	Water Cycle/Atmosphere	pg. 187
9	Definition of Life	pg. 134-135(there are a LOT of pages that could be referenced for this, but the main characteristics are 134-135)
10	First Life	pg. 135 (archaea and bacteria)pg. 140-141
11	Oxygen	pg. 39pg. 148-149
12	Multicellular Life	https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/how-did-multicellular-life-evolve/Links to an external site.https://biologydictionary.net/endosymbiotic-theory/Links to an external site.
13	Eukaryotes	pg.. 142-143
14	The Cambrian Explosion	pg. 171 (endoskeleton vs. exoskeleton)pg. 200(start using spring books)pg. 136-137 (fossils)
15	Life in the Ordovician and Silurian Seas	pg. 200-201(start using spring books)pg. 136-137 (fossils)pg. 150 (Hagfish)

Optional Spines Starting in Week 14 and 15 (and used in all of semester 2)
Both of these books I HIGHLY recommend and would be useful for nearly ever week of semester two (plus week 14 and 15 of semester 1!). The an additional book in the series about Human evolution will be used toward the end of spring or summer.

When Whales Walked

When Plants Took Over the Planet