Yeah, we're still studying Greeks. There is a TON to dig into during this period of course. In terms of all of us together, we read The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky.
Kathryn Lasky is one of my favorite authors for kids, and this book did not disappoint. It is a nicely-illustrated biography picture book about Eratosthenes, the Greek who came up with a way to measure the circumference of the earth. It talks about his life, his intense curiosity about everything and finally the method he used to calculate the circumference of the earth (which was incredibly accurate by the way!). Given the content and calculations, even though it is a picture book, it suits upper elementary better than lower elementary students. My 6th grader liked it a lot even, and he rarely will admit to loving a picture book lately. My 1st grader liked the story okay, but the calculations of course were well beyond her understanding, even with the good pictures and descriptions. You really need basic geometry at 2nd or 3rd grade level to get much out of that part. What a fantastic book though, and a great addition to our ancient history studies this year.
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