Human activity often leaves a trail of harmful carbon behind that directly impacts our planet. This informative book describes how every individual produces a “carbon footprint” by using energy made by burning fossil fuels and by creating waste from packaging that gets thrown away. Find out how to measure your own carbon footprint and see what effect you are having on Earth. Learn about new developments being made to reduce the amount of carbon we create and what steps you can take to make your own "footprint" smaller.
This inspiring book describes how people are becoming more aware of the effect of their daily activities on the planet. Find out how more and more people are eating and living "green" by buying food grown locally, eating food that is organic, and even growing their own food. Many people are also building eco-friendly homes and choosing to live “off the grid,” which means they are creating their own, sustainable forms of energy instead of getting electricity from a power station. Discover how eating and living green is becoming more and more possible, and why this way of living could help build a sustainable future for the next generation.
Go west to see how people in the towns lived, selling goods to the settlers, miners, and prospectors. Some became hugely successful, such as Levi Strauss, who began selling overalls and tents to prospectors in the California gold rush. Others scraped out a living by selling essential goods in the local general store, or by running stables, saloons, hotels, or newspapers. Some merchants made their money by shipping goods west or east across the continent. In some places, groups of settlers from different countries formed townships, such as the Chinese in San Francisco and the Mormons in Salt Lake City.
Go west seeking your fortune with those who came because of the land's rich natural resources. "News stories" reveal the hard lives of miners in the Rockies and the desperation of prospectors searching for riches in the gold rushes in California, Alaska, and on the Klondike River in the Yukon. Find out which was the wealthiest occupation - trapping for furs, logging in the forests of the northwest, or mining borax in Death Valley.
Heed the government's urging and "Go West" with the many people who accepted the challenge. Motivated by the ideal of Manifest Destiny - the right of the United States to expand across the continent - the U.S. government created laws that encouraged settlers to move west by offering free land. "News stories" describe significant events, including the independence of Texas and the Mexican–American War. Travel with settlers on the great migration routes, such as the Oregon Trail, and find out how the farmers who made up the bulk of the settlers lived in their new communities.
As settlers came west, they discovered there were already people living on this "new" land. Discover how this mass invasion of settlers impacted the indigenous peoples of the West: their first contacts with explorers such as Lewis and Clark; the gradual encroachment of white settlers on their traditional lands; the enforced removal of native peoples to the West; the clashes with native peoples after the Civil War; resistance by native leaders such as Sitting Bull; and the end of Native American resistance in the 1890s.
When the cattle trade moved west, herds took over vast expanses of land. Go west with the cowboys that rode the range and herded cattle along the trails from the southwest to the railheads. Discover how many of the cowboys were African Americans or Latin American vaqueros. Find out what life was like for the ranchers who owned the herds and how ranching practices sometimes led to armed conflict with neighboring farmers, such as in the Johnson County War.
Wild animals are facing huge challenges in the natural world today. Many are endangered - some critically. This eye-opening book shows how animals are being threatened by habitat loss, climate change, non-native species taking over their habitats, pollution, over-fishing, poaching, collisions with cars and boats, and human diseases. Many recovery efforts are in progress to bring back the populations of some nearly extinct animals and to reintroduce some captive ones to their natural habitats. Readers will learn how scientists are working to save blue iguanas in the Cayman Islands, black-footed ferrets in the Canadian prairies, penguins and albatross in Patagonia, and great apes in Africa. This engaging book also encourages students to compare their life challenges to those of animals in the wild.
Foxes, rabbits, mongooses, rats, starlings, turtles, Burmese pythons, and Asian carp are just a few of the invasive animals introduced by people into countries and ecosystems to which they do not belong. This important book describes how these animals are destroying habitats and endangering the lives of native animals, some of which have been brought close to extinction. Students will learn how some arrived accidentally on boats, while others were brought in by people, to be used either as a form of pest control on farms, for hunting or hobbies, or as pets that sometimes get abandoned in the wild by owners. Many native animals, such as raccoons, squirrels, and coyotes have also become invaders in cities, back yards, and homes. Students can research invasive species in their areas and help find ways to stop these wild invaders from taking over the natural habitat.
This exciting book follows the travels of British explorer Sir John Franklin on his doomed expedition to the Arctic. Historical information and high-interest fact boxes are presented in an entertaining tabloid style that guides readers through major voyages, explorations, and discoveries. Topics include the search for a Northwest Passage through the Arctic, life stuck in the ice, contact with the native Inuit, Franklin's disappearance, and the long quest to discover the expedition's fate.
This fascinating book follows the travels of Italian navigator John Cabot along the northeast coast of North America. Historical information and high-interest fact boxes are presented in an entertaining tabloid style that guides readers through major voyages, explorations, and discoveries. Topics include what led Cabot to sail west, life on board ship, the cod industry on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the fate of Cabot's unsuccessful second voyage, and Cabot's legacy.
This adventurous book follows the travels of British navigator Captain James Cook and his voyages in the Pacific. Historical information and high-interest fact boxes are presented in an entertaining tabloid style that guides readers through major journeys, explorations, and discoveries. Topics include why the British sent Cook to the Pacific, technological innovations in navigation, claiming Australia for the British, contact with the Maori, and Cook's violent death in Hawaii.
This informative book follows the travels of the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in Peru. Historical information and high-interest fact boxes are presented in an entertaining tabloid style that guides readers through major voyages, explorations, and discoveries. Topics include what led Pizarro to head into the Andes, first encounters with the Inca, the Inca capital at Cusco, Pizarro's desire for gold, and the overthrow of the Inca Empire.
Everybody has the right to keep somethings private! This carefully crafted book helps children understand what things should be kept private and what shouldn’t to help keep them safe.
Rules are a fact of life. Knowing why they are useful can help children make the right choices. With a focus on safety, this title discusses freedom and the consequences of breaking rules, norms, and laws.
This intriguing title will help children learn the importance of earning, saving, raising, and spending money. They will gain an understanding of how money can make a difference in peoples’ lives.
Once thought to be extinct in the wild, the southern white rhino is now classified as near threatened and lives mostly on protected reserves. Over 100 years of conservation efforts have made it the only rhino of the five rhino species not listed as endangered. This engaging book explores how habitat loss and relentless poaching for their horns nearly brought this species to extinction. Readers will discover how this species was saved from extinction and whether similar strategies may help other rhino species in peril.
Less than two decades ago, four Island Fox subspecies faced extinction. Human activities, including pollution and the introduction of invasive species, threw the Channel Islands’ ecosystem out of balance. Thanks to the concerted efforts of wildlife biologists, government officials, and others, the island fox has made the fastest recovery of any mammal in the history of the Endangered Species Act. This fascinating book traces the events that nearly caused the island fox’s demise, and the collaborative efforts that led to recovery of this “comeback kit.”
The California Condor is one of North America’s largest birds. These mighty scavengers were nearly wiped out by habitat loss, poaching, and lead poisoning. In 1982, only 22 California Condors remained in the wild! In this engaging book, readers will learn about the captive breeding programs, public education, and other conservation efforts that have led to a small but increasing population of California Condors in the wild.
The Grand Cayman blue iguana is named after the small island in the Caribbean Sea on which it lives. The largest reptile on the island, it had few predators until people arrived. Habitat loss and invasive species quickly diminished the blue iguana population to fewer than 25 by 2005. This captivating book traces the iguana’s remarkable journey back from the brink of extinction and highlights the continued efforts to protect the species.
Gratitude is an attitude that helps change negative feelings to positive ones. It helps us appreciate everything in life, even the simple things. Through many fun activities, such as practicing mindfulness, starting a gratitude journal, volunteering in a school or community, young readers will experience the power of gratitude. They will also learn to express their gratitude to friends, parents, teachers, and community workers verbally and in writing.
This fascinating book introduces children to the “butterfly effect,” a theory that states that a small change in the present, such as the simple flapping of a butterfly’s wings, can cause big changes to happen in the future. Children will learn how even their small acts of gentleness, kindness, and compassion to family, friends, classmates, and community can have huge positive impacts where they live, around the world, and most importantly on themselves.
This instructive book looks at schools as safe places where children of all backgrounds and abilities can build strong social and emotional skills and improve attitudes about themselves and others. Showing kindness, accepting differences, learning to resolve conflicts, and expressing gratitude makes school a happy place for both students and teachers.
Would you be surprised to see a coyote wandering down a suburban street? Once considered a native of open grasslands and plains, coyotes have become “adaptors” to the human territory of paved streets and houses. An examination reveals the ways in which animals such as coywolves, white-tailed deer, red foxes, red-tailed hawks, and alligators live on the periphery of developed areas. Special sections address encroachment and how humans can learn to adapt to wild animals in their backyards.
Paris, France has a population of 2.2 million people and 3.8 million rats. Toronto, Canada is the raccoon capital of the world. This intriguing book focuses on urban animals called “exploiters.” These are animals such as squirrels, raccoons, skunks, opposums, rats, and crows who have turned living near humans to their advantage. An examination reveals the ways in which these animals have adapted to living alongside humans. Special feature boxes address city-specific animal control and rehabilitation programs.
