PREHISTORIC GREAT LAKES
An Illustrated History For Children by John Mitchell & Tom Woodruff

  Reviews:

 FREE PRESS BOOK CLUB SELECTION   For Upper Elementary
"Prehistoric Great Lakes is packed with facts about what Michigan was like when the Earth first came to be. It's like a time line, but with more art and text as the reader follows life developing in the Great Lakes area. This may spur your young reader to be a future fossil hunter. -Cathy Collison, Detroit Free Press

"John Mitchell has condensed 4.6 billion years into a 47-page book for children called Prehistoric Great Lakes, An Illustrated History for Children. This pithy book beautifully illustrated by former Suttons Bay resident Tom Woodruff examines the region in relation to the history of earth." -The Leelanau Enterprise

"While the 48-page book is geared for upper elementary school children, big kids shouldn't let the target audience scare them away. Prehistoric Great Lakes is also a handy little reference book or refresher course for adults who don't know igneous rock from metamorphic rock." -Traverse City Record Eagle

"Our First three books explored aspects of the Great Lakes after the glaciers, a period of about 12,000 years. PREHISTORIC GREAT LAKES examines the region in relation to the 4.6 billion-year history of the earth. Writing this book was a great educational experience, revealing how the weight of time has added beauty and depth to today's Great Lakes region."-John Mitchell

"PREHISTORIC GREAT LAKES explores the geological formation of the Great Lakes region and the bountiful natural resources, which have shaped our human history. Travel through time from the Precambrian bedrock of the Lake Superior region, laden with copper and iron-to limestone deposits rich with fossils from ancient seas-to a legacy coal and oil from lush and tropical swamps. Discover how the collision of continents, the power of glaciers and the persistence of life in an ever-changing environment have shaped the Great Lakes region."-Tom Woodruff

 We have all four books in stock for immediate delivery at $16.95 each or $64.95 for the Set  

Ancient Life Illustration Workshops:

In the following Workshops, students explore the sciences of Geology and Paleontology. Select from a variety of drawing formats, from a single page of illustrations to a folder with multiple pages of illustrations.  Each workshop includes the rendering and study of fossils, bringing them to life through art and imagination, and a self portrait of the student as a paleontologist. Through storytelling, we relate ancient rocks to the resources we depend upon and how we use them in our modern times. 

For Single-session workshops, select a drawing topic from the following geological time periods:

Precambrian Era-Volcanoes, earthquakes and ancient seas, yield a legacy of iron ore, copper and mountains in the Lake Superior region. 

Paleozoic Seas-A two page spread explores the explosion of marine life in the Cambrian and Ordovician Periods and the rise of fish, sharks and Life on land in the Silurian and Devonian Periods. Our wealth of limestone, salt, & gypsum.

Carboniferous Swamps-The Age of Amphibians and Giant Dragonflies. Ancient Michigan's tropical swamps form coal & oil essential for our industrial age.

Mesozoic Era- The Age of Reptiles- Journey west from the Great Lakes region, to the Niobrara Sea. Students draw Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Pterosaurs and Dinosaurs. The Big Stuff. 

Quaternary Ice Ages-Receding glaciers leave behind hills, valleys, lakes and rivers. We explore how one resource leads to another creating an environment just right for the Paleo-Indians.

Multiple session workshops may combine any or all topics above, as time allows. 

Each fall, in 4-5 session  workshops, 6th grade students at Milan Middle School create an 8-page book consisting of the above illustrations with a table of contents made of the Geological Time Scale, Cover Art, Brag Page and Dedication/Publisher Page. Color techniques are introduced in the final session and completed with text in the classroom. The results are wonderful! Thanks to Sandy Potter, Karen Sussex and the sixth grade staff & students at MMS for the opportunity to develop and refine this extended workshop.

All workshops are adaptable, through content and delivery, to grades K-12 and adult.

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