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!
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.
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.
Animals adapt, or change, to stay alive. Adaptation can happen in an animal’s body or in the way it behaves. Some adaptations have taken place over many years, and others are caused by changing habitats due to the actions of people. This informative book shows animal adaptations due to changing climates, habitat changes, and opportunistic behaviors that help animals survive, such as the creation of new species. The coywolf, for example, is a new species. It is part coyote and part wolf, and has a much greater chance of survival than either of the animals that created it.
People have learned a lot from animals and copied many of their ways of surviving. This interesting book details many, often surprising, examples: bird flight and airplanes; defensive equipment such as helmets and turtle shells; strong spiderlike threads for surgeries; heating and cooling systems such as those created by termites; camouflage patterns on uniforms or vehicles in battle; and animal prints copied in fashions and decorations.
This fun title asks readers to think about how different body coverings protect animals by keeping them warm and safe. From fur and feathers to scales and shells, readers get a close-up look at different animal coats to see how they suit the habitats and lives of the animals that are covered in them.
Discover how a tiny seed grows to become a pumpkin with the help of water, sunlight, air, and soil.
Read about the things that change outdoors with the season, including the hours of sunlight and the temperature.
Everything in nature has an opposite, or at least, that is the way people describe things that are the most unlike. This engaging book shows these extreme differences in sizes, colors and light, texture, smell and taste, the states of water, landforms, positions and directions on Earth, seasons, and even in people. An activity spread asks children to find opposite characteristics in a group of animals.
Engineers often look to nature to help them solve problems. Read about human technologies that have been inspired by animals and plants.
Energy powers the things that make our lives easier, safer, and more fun. Read about the Earth-friendly tools that are used to gather energy.
We can all make good choices to do our part to care for Earth. Read about the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling, as well choosing items that can be used over and over.
How does a frog grow? Follow the journey through a frog's life cycle, from the time the egg is laid, through it stage as a tadpole to becoming a fully grown frog.
How does a chicken grow? Follow the journey through a chicken's life cycle, from the time the egg is laid, through hatching as a chick to becoming a fully grown hen.
How does a butterfly grow? Follow the journey through a butterfly's life cycle, from the time the egg is laid, through hatching as a caterpillar, to forming a cocoon and emerging as a fully grown butterfly.
How does an oak tree grow? Follow the journey through an oak tre's life cycle, from an acorn to becoming a fully grown tree.
Bread is an everyday food, but do you know where it comes from and how it ends up on supermarket shelves? Follow the story of a loaf of bread, from wheat farming to the manufacturing process. Simple text is accompanied by large, attractive photographs.
Apples are a tasty food, but do you know where they come from and how they end up on supermarket shelves? Follow the story of an apple from the first pink buds on an apple tree, through the farming process to packing houses and eventually to your fruit bowl! Simple text is accompanied by large, attractive photographs.
Everyone loves chocolate, but do you know where it comes from and how it ends up on supermarket shelves? Follow the story of chocolate through the farming process to manufacturing. Simple text is accompanied by large, attractive photographs.
