Learn about the key concepts used in space technology, and explore them by coding your own simulations of how rockets and spaceships move. Seven step-by-step projects use the latest version of Scratch, the free online coding program, to help you learn about gravity, create a jetpack game, program a spaceship's return to Earth, and much more!
Learn all about the computer technology used in smart homes and buildings that is making our lives easier and our homes more secure. Use the algorithms and ideas used to control devices within buildings to create your own coding programs. Five step-by-step projects use the latest version of Scratch, the free online coding program, to help you learn about motion sensors and create burglar alarms for your computer that use sound and motion to detect intruders.
Find out how the different systems within a robot work to make it move around, sense where it is, and interact with us. Use the algorithms and ideas that control real robots to create your own on-screen robots. Seven step-by-step projects use the latest version of Scratch, the free online coding program, to help you learn about sensors, create a robot arm game, program a robot, and much more!
Pollution is seriously damaging our planet. Human activity and waste are harming the environment by polluting the air, water, and land. Discover the facts about where pollution comes from, where garbage really goes after we throw it away, and how we can reduce waste.
Human overpopulation is putting pressure on our planet and its natural resources.The more people there are, the more resources are consumed, harming the environment and depleting the world's supplies. Discover the facts about the world's growing population, which countries have the highest and lowest birth rates, and how overpopulation affects climate change.
Natural resources on Earth are at risk of running out. Using too many natural resources, such as water, trees, and fossil fuels, is putting pressure on our supplies and damaging the environment. Discover the facts about how resources are used around the world, which resources are renewable and non-renewable, and what the future of natural resource management looks like.
Our modern world runs on energy to power our homes and industries. We all know the problems with burning fossil fuels to create energy— it pollutes the planet and we are running out of these resources. Discover the facts about renewable and non-renewable energy resources, how our energy use contributes to global warming, and what the future of energy looks like.
Climate change is reshaping the planet before our eyes. From melting ice caps and rising sea levels to drought and destructive hurricanes, no corner of Earth is protected from the effects of global warming. Discover the facts about what climate change is doing—and will continue to do—to our planet, and how we might reduce its impact.
The huge variety of plants and animals that live on Earth is called biodiversity. As ecosystems are destroyed by climate change and human activity, plants and animals are becoming endangered and even extinct. Find out how the loss of biodiversity affects food chains and natural habitats, why it is important to humans, and how its loss threatens the health of all living things on the planet.
Native to several mountain ranges and plateaus in south Asia and eastern Europe, the snow leopard has been threatened by habitat loss, poaching, and a reduced food source. Learn how collaborative programs across borders and with local people have helped the species populations in some areas remain steady, and also benefit the big cat's main food source, wild sheep and goats, whose numbers are reduced by hunters and competition for grazing from livestock.
The lesser long-nosed bat became the first bat species to be removed from the US endangered species list due to population recovery. This mammal plays a vital role as a pollinator in desert ecosystems in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Readers will learn about the collaborative efforts between the two countries, conservationists, tequila producers, and citizen scientists that are bringing back not only the lesser long-nosed bat, but the plants they rely on for food.
The black-footed ferret was once listed as extinct on the prairies of North America. Its population had been devastated by a disease that also reduced its main food source—prairie dogs. This book tells the fascinating story of the black-footed ferret's rediscovery in 1981 by a dog in Wyoming. Readers will learn how the find inspired a captive breeding program that is restoring not only this prairie species to the wild, but its essential food source as well, the prairie dog.
Does bottled water do more harm than good? Should clear-cutting for agriculture be allowed? Every day, we hear arguments about environmental issues in the media. This book gives readers the tools to make sense of and evaluate some of these arguments. Using relatable and accessible environment-related examples, this book introduces readers to the parts of an effective argument and prompts them to use the knowledge they have gained to evaluate the effectiveness of arguments on opposing sides of the issues.
Is constant access to technology safe for children? Should driverless vehicles replace human-controlled cars? Every day, we hear arguments about technology issues in the media. This book gives readers the tools to make sense of and evaluate some of these arguments. Using three relatable and accessible technology-related examples, this book introduces readers to the parts of an effective argument and prompts them to use the knowledge they have gained to evaluate the effectiveness of arguments on opposing sides of the issues.
Scale models are usually built as accurate miniatures of real objects such as vehicles, buildings, and even people. This awesome introduction to model making explains the mathematics of scale, and the difference between building from a kit and building from scratch. Tips on painting, scoring, cementing, and weathering help build fine-motor skills. Young readers are encouraged to build patience, concentration, perseverance, and problem-solving.
The year 2017 saw the most active and costly hurricane season on record. Moving photographs help tell the human stories of Harvey, hitting Texas and Louisiana; Irma, the strongest Atlantic basin hurricane ever recorded, pummeling Florida; and Maria, the worst natural disaster ever to hit Puerto Rico and Dominica. Detailed information tracks the paths of each storm, the clean-ups that followed, what remains to do.
It cost $10 billion to combat the wildfires in California in 2017 that scorched 300,000 acres of land and left 100,000 people displaced. With dry weather and drought bringing more catastrophic wildfires to the western United States and Canada, this timely title discusses the human and physical impacts of these and other fire disasters and how fire professionals and policymakers are combatting them.
Are you fascinated by insects? Welcome to the field of entomology. This book shows how entomologists study insects to learn about Earth’s history, find ways to prevent the spread of diseases some carry, use insects in agriculture, and much more. With an estimated 1.3 million species, there’s always something new in the world of insects.
Chemists study matter. The medicines we use, the chair you are sitting on, and the vehicles we drive are products that chemists helped produce. This compelling new book examines the many fields of work made possible because of chemistry.
Food scientists apply their knowledge of chemistry, biology, and other sciences to the study and analysis of food. This compelling title explains how food scientists search for ways to improve the ways food is grown and prepared commercially for thousands of people.
Draw a realistic-looking fossil like paleontologist Mary Anning did and make a plaster cast of it; or make your own terrarium like Doctor Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward to study plants and insects. This title gives readers both an understanding of the properties of living things and the skills to investigate great discoveries and works. Exciting and easy-to-understand experiments encourage budding scientists, inventors, engineers, and artists to stand on the shoulders of the curious and creative people who came before them.
Build a model hovercraft like engineer Christopher Cockerell did, or a sculpture that moves in the breeze like artist Lin Emery. This title gives readers both an understanding of the properties of forces and the skills to investigate great discoveries and works. Exciting and easy-to-understand experiments encourage budding scientists, inventors, engineers, and artists to stand on the shoulders of the curious and creative people who came before them.
Readers bored with seeing the same information on renewable energy will love the focus on relevant contemporary examples in this book. How does solar power give energy to medical clinics in Ghana or cut fossil fuel use in Australia? Infographics make finding detailed information easy and interesting.
How can eating better ourselves improve life for everyone on the planet? This intriguing title combines images and infographics to help explain how choosing foods that don't have to be shipped long distances, don't add to world pollution, and are not in danger of running out helps to ensure the world's food supply. Close-up boxes and case studies illustrate relevant examples of topics such as soil protection, organic vs industrial farming, and overfishing.
Make a simple refrigerator like pottery-maker Mohammed Bah Abba did that does not use electricity, or create little models of people out of ice like sculptor Néle Azevedo. This title gives readers both an understanding of the different states of matter and the skills to investigate great discoveries and works. Exciting and easy-to-understand experiments encourage budding scientists, inventors, engineers, and artists to stand on the shoulders of the curious and creative people who came before them.
