Research suggests that children who develop locomotor, balance, and manipulative skills at a young age are more likely to participate in physical activities throughout their lives. This action-packed title introduces these fundamental movement skills and provides readers with fun ways to incorporate them into their everyday activities.
From the sunlit-filled canopy to the shaded forest floor, readers will discover how a rainforest tree provides shelter, water, food, and other essential resources to meet the needs of a variety of living things.
Content-rich photographs and accessible text combine to guide readers as they discover the often overlooked ecosystems found outside their own back doors! Children will be fascinated to learn more about the animals, insects, and plants they often take for granted, including squirrels, skunks, bees, and dandelions.
Did you know that a Saguaro cactus can live for more than 200 years and grow as tall as 50 feet (15 meters)? Readers will discover how these desert giants are used for shelter by animals such as woodpeckers and owls, and provide food for animals such as bats and other small mammals. This captivating title provides a close-up look at the plants and animals that live in and around the Saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert.
From croaking frogs and quacking ducks to floating lily pads and buzzing dragonflies, ponds are bursting with life. Dynamic photographs and descriptive text help budding young scientists discover the plants and animals that live in these freshwater ecosystems.
Tide pools form from water left on rocky shores when the tide withdraws. From seaweed and sea snails to shore crabs and seabirds, readers will discover some of the plants and animals that live in and around these ever-changing ecosystems.
Vibrant photographs and descriptive text guide readers on an underwater journey through coastal waters to explore coral reefs. Home to more than one million kinds of plants, fish, and other ocean life, readers will discover how living things meet their needs for shelter, food, and more in this dynamic ecosystem.
Students will love learning about the way of life of polar bears and the challenges they face as babies and adults. An exciting narrative format supported by fun facts, questions, and activities, tells the story of two polar bear cubs born in a den dug by their mother deep under the winter snow of the Arctic. The cubs snuggle up to their mother to drink her milk and keep warm. In spring, the mother and cubs emerge from the den and face the challenges of moving onto sea ice, where the hungry mother hunts for seals to eat. The cubs are given hunting lessons and have their first taste of seal. They ride on their mother’s back in the ocean, wrestle and play, and explore their cold habitat. Readers will love these majestic animals and learn to write their own stories about them.
Students will love learning about the way of life of raccoons and the challenges they face as babies and adults. An exciting narrative format supported by fun facts, questions, and activities, tells the story of one of the most adaptable animals on Earth. Raccoons eat almost anything, live in many kinds of habitats, including cities, can climb buildings as well as trees, and are able to change to overcome many challenges. This story follows a raccoon family’s nightly adventures in a forest near a suburban community, as they look for food in both their natural habitat and people’s back yards. What other animals will they meet? Readers will be asked to write about their own experiences with these cute but often challenging animals.
Students will love learning about the way of life of foxes and the challenges they face as babies and adults. There are gray foxes, arctic foxes, fennec foxes, cape foxes, swift foxes, kit foxes, and red foxes. An exciting narrative format supported by fun facts, questions, and activities, tells the story of a red fox family. Found all over the planet, red fox families start with the birth of four to six kits. Born in a den, the baby foxes leave the den with their mothers after two to three weeks and start to play, pounce, and hunt. What adventures will they have? Will they meet some other animals along the way? Readers will love these adorable animals and learn to write their own stories about them.
Students will love learning about the way of life of wolves and the challenges they face as babies and adults. An exciting narrative format supported by fun facts, questions, and activities, tells the story of gray wolves who live in highly structured social units called packs. A pack has one breeding pair and their offspring, and may include older siblings or wolves from other packs. This delightful adventure story starts with the excitement created by the birth of newborn cubs and how the other members of the pack bond with them. The cubs are taught vocal and physical communication and soon learn to hunt with the pack. This exciting story will enrich students' understanding of the importance of gray wolves to ecosystems in North America. Young readers will be amazed by how much the lives of wolves mimic their own lives!
Good mental health is as important as good physical health to our overall fitness. This important book gives children ways to reduce feelings of anxiety and manage their emotions. Simple activities help children learn how to relieve tension and improve concentration.
This informative book explains how Earth is covered by landforms and bodies of water, all of which change shape over time. Interesting images feature landforms such as mountains, valleys, and sand dunes, as well as waterways such as oceans, rivers, and ponds. Children will learn how they develop and why they change.
Children between the ages of 5-12 need between 10-11 hours of sleep a night. Unfortunately, many children are falling short of this mark! Accessible text and relatable examples help young readers understand the importance of getting proper rest. Content includes sleep cycles, time management and maintaining a nightly routine, and creating a sleep-friendly environment.
Food is the fuel that gives our bodies energy, builds bones and muscles, and helps keep us healthy and happy. This informative book explains to children why our bodies need nutrition, how our bodies use it, and what they need to eat for a balanced diet.
Earth's surface is constantly being changed by heat, water, ice, salt, plants, and animals. Sometimes the changes are destructive to human activities such as farming and the building of structures. This interesting title shows the different ways people try to stop or reduce this change in the land. Examples feature such structures as dikes to hold back water and windbreaks, and adding shrubs, grass, and trees to an area of land to prevent erosion. Teacher’s guide available.
This exciting book explains how the shape of Earth can change with the sudden movement of Earth's crust or when molten rock explodes out of an opening in Earth's surface. Young readers will be fascinated to discover how volcanoes form - destroying the landscape and creating new landforms at the same time. They will also learn about tectonic plates and fault lines, the damage earthquakes can cause, and how to stay safe when an earthquake happens.
This fascinating book explains how the shape of Earth is changed by weathering and erosion - the breaking down of rocks and minerals which are then carried from one place to another by water, ice, wind, and gravity. It is this movement that carves out valleys, causes trees to topple over, and creates or destroys good farmland. Examples of changes to landforms help show young readers the effects of weathering and erosion, which can happen quickly or sometimes take centuries!
Sixty minutes of exercise a day is a habit children should get into at an early age. Not only does exercise build the body's strength and endurance, it helps prevent injury and improves concentration and mood. This engaging book explains the benefits of regular exercise and offers simple activities and advice on fitting fitness in during the day.
This informative book goes to great lengths to explain how scientists around the world use the metric system and related tools to help them compare, contrast, and analyze the measurement data they collect. Opportunities for hands-on learning make the content meaningful to readers as they refine their measuring skills.
Scientists use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they are trying to answer. Accessible text and child-centered examples guide readers as they learn to plan simple investigations based on fair tests to answer their own science questions.
This engaging and accessible book explains how scientists use models to help them understand systems in the natural world. Readers learn about different kinds of models and discover the similarities and differences between models and the real objects and processes they represent. Readers are given several opportunities to create their own models.
Science uses evidence in explaining the natural world. Using relatable, real-world examples, this informative book shows readers how to construct an argument with evidence to support a claim. Readers will act and think like scientists as they learn how to distinguish between fact and opinion, and use evidence and reasoning to evaluate the claims of others.
Animals are endangered in many kinds of habitats and for different reasons. This intriguing book looks at why some animals have become endangered due to changes in their habitat. Examples include animals in the Arctic that rely on ice for hunting face the challenge of melting ice due to climate change, the populations of animals born only on particular islands and nowhere else are shrinking, and many kinds of ocean animals are being poisoned by water pollution. Ideas are included to encourage readers to help protect these endangered animals and their habitats.
This entertaining book shows how animals communicate to share information, attract mates, or scare away enemies. They sing, growl, howl, spray smelly scents, and make their body parts bigger. Students will have fun learning about these communication skills and be asked to compare their communication methods with those of animals.
