Crustaceans, arachnids, and insects are part of the arthropod family. Reading Essentials in Science.
Jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals are members of the stinging cnidarian family. Flatworms, roundworms, and earthworms are three major types of worms. Reading Essentials in Science.
Protists and fungi are two unique groups of organisms that thrive in moist environments. This book explores the appearance, characteristics, and behavior of protists and fungi, life-forms which are neither plants nor animals, and discusses their beneficial and harmful qualities. Reading Essentials in Science.
Snails, oysters, scallops, and octopuses are among the typically shelled, soft-bodied invertebrates knows as mollusks. Reading Essentials in Science.
Bacteria are single-celled organisms with the ability to help and harm other living things. Viruses can only reproduce in host cells, often causing infections. Reading Essentials in Science.
Dinner is served. What in nature could be more poetic than the hunt for food and the struggle for survival? In twenty-nine poems readers will squirm at the realities of how the animal world catches food, eats it, and becomes dinner in turn. In these quirky poems readers are introduced to many animals with disgusting eating habits, such as the marabou stork that lurks on the periphery, like a vampire in the shadows, waiting for a chance to pick at a rotting carcass. The dermestid beetle does not mind doing the dirty work, cleaning up animals on the road side and often made busy at museums cleaning up bones for exhibits. And, baby wasps hatch inside an unsuspecting caterpillar and eat their way out. Gross, cool, and extremely funny, David Clark's illustrations get to the heart (and skin and guts) of the food chain and the web of life, depicting the animal world at dinner time in all its gory glory. Back matter includes further information about the animals in the poems and the scientific terms used.
Enjoy a day in one of the most dynamic habitats on earth: the salt marsh. Fun-to-read, rhyming verse introduces readers to hourly changes in the marsh as the tide comes and goes. Watch the animals that have adapted to this ever-changing environment as they hunt for food or play in the sun, and learn how the marsh grass survives even when it is covered by saltwater twice a day. An activity on adaptations is included in the "For Creative Minds" section.
