Animals have become extinct for many reasons. The most famous example, the extinction of the dinosaurs, may have been the result of an asteroid hitting Earth or an Ice Age freezing them to death. Prehistoric mammoths and saber-toothed cats may simply have been hunted to extinction. Today, animals such as elephants, zebras, tigers and leopards, some wolves, and many kinds of primates may still face extinction due to climate change, habitat loss, hunting, poaching, and pollution. This fascinating book introduces and explains the designations of endangerment from extinct in the wild to vulnerable. Children are also introduced to fossils as a way of learning about animals that lived long ago.
This informative and beautiful book looks at apex or top predators - animals that are not eaten by other animals in their habitats - and why these animals play a very important role in keeping food chains in balance. Students are introduced to the energy pyramid, which shows that there are fewer top predators than other animals and gives reasons why many of these animals are endangered. Humans, the most powerful top predators, are the biggest threat to these essential endangered animals.
They feed on us, make their homes on us, and generally make our lives miserable. They are horrible guests, sometimes spreading deadly diseases. These blood-sucking parasites are lice and fleas and they are pests of the first order! This book delves into the tiny world of ectoparasites that prey on humans and animal hosts. Learn how lice and fleas cant live without us and how humans have been battling the itchy critters, often without much success, since the dawn of time. Special sections give information on the plague-producing history of rat fleas and how to combat the scourge of head lice.
This intriguing book looks at the remarkable abilities of plants and animals, which need to be studied to make our environment more sustainable. People have already used birds as models for constructing airplanes, but there are so many other models that have not been replicated. Living things live at the depths of oceans and at the tops of the highest mountains, harness the energy of the sun to make food, make oxygen from carbon dioxide, walk on water, build structures that are air-conditioned, and make materials stronger than steel without ever polluting or damaging the environment. They have done all the things we wish we could do. This book will make young scientists aware of the super powers of nature and may inspire some to find ways to change the future of Earth!
Wild ones are moving into the city! Follow the dog Scooter as he wanders an urban landscape, seeing many wild animals and not seeing even more. Supplementary material contains true stories and helps children become aware of the presence of wild animals and understand why they have taken to living in cities.
Plant it - water it - weed it - protect it - and under the blossoms is the perfect shady nook to read a book! Pretty soon its time to pick all those long, lean beans, and to harvest a full season of garden knowledge and experience.
Introduces facts about reticulated pythons, including physical features, habitat, life cycle, food, and threats to these rainforest creatures. Photos, captions, and keywords supplement the narrative of this informational text. Questions in the backmatter ask for text-dependent analysis.
Introduces facts about hornbills, including physical features, habitat, life cycle, food, and threats to these rainforest creatures. Photos, captions, and keywords supplement the narrative of this informational text. Questions in the backmatter ask for text-dependent analysis.
Introduces facts about red-eyed tree frogs, including physical features, habitat, life cycle, food, and threats to these rainforest creatures. Photos, captions, and keywords supplement the narrative of this informational text. Questions in the backmatter ask for text-dependent analysis.
Introduces facts about spider monkeys, including physical features, habitat, life cycle, food, and threats to these rainforest creatures. Photos, captions, and keywords supplement the narrative of this informational text. Questions in the backmatter ask for text-dependent analysis.
Introduces facts about harpy eagles, including physical features, habitat, life cycle, food, and threats to these rainforest creatures. Photos, captions, and keywords supplement the narrative of this informational text. Questions in the backmatter ask for text-dependent analysis.
Introduces facts about poison dart frogs, including physical features, habitat, life cycle, food, and threats to these rainforest creatures. Photos, captions, and keywords supplement the narrative of this informational text. Questions in the backmatter ask for text-dependent analysis.
What is a watershed? Why are watersheds important? What is it like to live where there is no clean, safe water supply? Read this book to find out more about the importance of watersheds and how you can help in the fight to keep Earth's freshwater sources clean and safe.
The seashore is a unique environment where water meets land. From gulls and turtles to kelp and fish, the range of life found by the seashore will fascinate children. Highlights include the nature of food chains and webs, how microscopic aquatic organisms kick-start food chains, migratory animals that come in and out of seashore food chains, and the dangers to seashore life such as pollution.
Plants and animals in the Sonoran Desert food chains have had to adapt to the hot, dry climate of this habitat. Conserving water is a large part of these food-chain adaptations. Learn about the spectacular Saguaro cacti and the many herbivores and carnivores that are part of the food chains of this desert. Children will learn about: how plants make food how desert plants and animals adapt to drought and heat desert hunters and scavengers dangers to Sonoran Desert food chains and webs how to help save desert plants and animals
Beautiful photographs and illustrations highlight the plants and animals that live in the grassy meadow areas at the edges of forests and along the banks of rivers and lakes. Children will learn about how plants make food, the plants and animals that live in meadows, how animals find food in different seasons, and the dangers to meadow food chains and webs. how you can protect meadows
Global warming, greenhouse gases, melting mountains, habitat loss, pollution, floods, deforestation, endangered animals, and holes in the ozone are just some environmental problems highlighted in this book. Solutions such as e-cycling, the three Rs, alternative power sources, zero-carbon economy, composting, and reducing our energy footprints are a few of the possible solutions presented in this new book by Crabtree Publishing.
Lions, hyenas, giraffes, and zebras are just a few of the many fascinating animals that help make up Savanna Food Chains. Children will enjoy learning about these animals, their habitat, and the plants and animals they eat. Photographs and illustrations help show how savanna plants make food, the relationships between herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores, and the dangers to savanna food chains.
Earth has more than a million species of insects! There are helpful insects, harmful insects, flying insects, insects that work together, endangered insects, and some really weird insects! This fun book with great photographs will delight children and encourage them to identify insects in their world. It will also give them information to write their own books about insects!
Bobbie Kalman presents some of the most endangered animals on Earth: rhinos, bats, butterflies, penguins, gorillas, monk seals, komodo dragons, and tigers, to name just a few. This beautifully photographed volume also explains the various classifications of endangerment, as well as the major reasons why some animals are facing extinction.
Kids will be shocked to learn that arthropods outnumber all other animal species combined! They will also be fascinated by the variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and behaviors found among these invertebrates. Labeled diagrams and startling close-up photography will introduce concepts including the similarities and differences among insects, arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans, the functions and features of an exoskeleton, molting, metamorphosis, and other interesting body facts, and the crucial function of arthropods in food chains and webs.
Marsupials are the only mammals that have a pouch on their body in which they carry their young. Most of these amazing animals live in Australia, where they have adapted to the harsh conditions of life in the outback. In What is a Marsupial? children will learn astounding facts about marsupials, including the important differences between marsupials and placentals, how kangaroos, koalas, wombats, Tasmanian devils, opossums, and bilbies are related, how marsupials reproduce and raise their young, the ways in which they hunt and feed, and why some marsupials are in danger.
Whales, manatees, seals, dolphins, and sea otters are just some of the many mammals that have evolved over time in order to survive in the water. From Arctic waters to tropical seas, vivid photographs and surprising facts about these salt water mammals reveal how these air breathing creatures have adapted to the water, their underwater senses, what they eat and how they raise their young, what cetaceans, pinnipeds, sea otters, sirenians, and polar bears are, marine zoos, and the dangers of pollution, commercial fishing, and poachers.
Amphibian means two lives since these animals spend the first part of their lives underwater and the rest on land. From flying tree frogs to slithering caecilians, kids will be captivated by this slimy animal group in What is an Amphibian? Young readers will discover the amphibian family tree, an amphibian's body, special skin and senses, how they move and what they eat, water- versus land-dwelling species, their life cycle and parental care, and defending themselves.
While humans are different from monkeys, apes, and lemurs, they are all primates and are similar in many ways. For example, primates make many sounds that humans make, such as sneezes, burps, hiccups, and even laughter! What is a Primate? identifies the members of the primate family tree and describes how they are different from each other. This book describes reproduction, communication, and feeding, the complex social structures of primates such as chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and gibbons, Old and New World monkeys, and how people are different. what is being done to rescue threatened primates from destruction by their human cousins
