All living things die. Fortunately, nature has cleaners that eat decomposing things. Scavengers, detrivores, and decomposers are three groups of living things that use the leftover energy in things that have died. From hyenas and vultures eating carcasses, to mushrooms feeding on rotting wood, to dung beetles rolling in animal waste, this book has it all in vivid color!
Maps can show more than just cities - they can also show you what the landscape looks like in different areas. Physical maps use colors and symbols to identify landscape features like forests, plains, valleys, deserts, mountains, and bodies of water. Full-color maps and accessible text help readers understand the specific features of physical maps.
Camouflage is blending into a natural environment, but mimicry is pretending to be another living thing to survive. Mimics use shape, pattern, sound, smell, and/or behavior to fool predators or prey. This amazing book will thrill readers of all ages with photographs of some of the masters of mimicry. Some are simply unbelievable! Mimics such as mantises, leaf insects, snakes, frogs, butterflies, and ocean animals will make readers wonder if what they are seeing is truly real!
Do you want to know what the weather is like in different parts of the world? Climate maps can help. In this book, readers will learn to read climate maps to discover different climate zones, microclimates, and the average temperature and precipitation levels of places around the world. They will also identify the features that characterize climate maps and how these maps can be used to track climate change.
This informative book introduces young readers to the defining characteristics of the various groups of animals that make up the animal kingdom. The bodies of many animals, including several types of mammals, fish, reptiles, birds, and arthropods, are described in simple, easy-to-understand text. Children will learn about invertebrate and vertebrate animals, warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals, how animals move, the habitats of different animals, and how various animals find food.
This fascinating book uses pictures, illustrations, and easy-to-read text to introduce the characteristics of birds to young readers. Birds of all Kinds focuses on facts about birds bodies and behavior in a way that will make this book a delight to read.
Kids will love the beautiful, full-color images and easy-to-read style of Dolphins and other Marine Mammals! This books takes kids on an underwater journey, where they will learn about the bodies, feeding habits, and natural habitats of dolphins, whales, seals, and many other marine mammals. Vivid photographs and concise text highlight which marine mammals can live on land as well as in water, how marine mammals breathe air, and which foods marine mammals eat and how they find it.
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.
Rodents have teeth called incisors that never stop growing! They must grind their teeth or gnaw on things to keep the teeth from growing too long. Kids will be eager to "sink their teeth" into the intriguing facts in Guinea Pigs and other Rodents. This book explores many of their favorite kinds of rodents, including rats, mice, guinea pigs, beavers, and squirrels. Engaging text and vivid images help children understand how rodents build different types of homes in various habitats, what kinds of foods rodents eat, and which rodents hibernate in winter.
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.
Some of the topics covered in this book are bodies of water, the equator, poles, and hemispheres, latitude and longitude, urban and rural areas, landforms, extreme continents, and many more. This book certainly shows a different and fun way to study this important curriculum topic!
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.
This comprehensive title introduces young scientists to the properties of metals. Through clear, concise text and supportive images, readers will discover that most metals are shiny, ductile, malleable, and conductive. Hands-on experiments encourage readers to investigate the structure and properties of metals.
Full-color images and engaging text combine to help readers understand the properties of non-metals. Non-metals make up a small, but fascinating part of the periodic table. Readers will learn how to identify non-metals and how they differ from other elements.
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.
One of the three basic states of matter, this fascinating title provides insight into the properties of gases. Although most gases cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted, they are always present. Readers will discover what gases are, how they react when heated or under pressure, and the gases that make up the atmosphere.
This informative title introduces readers to periodic table of elements. Clear, concise text and supportive images explain how the periodic table was created and its significance in the scientific world. Readers will discover what the table reveals about the distinct properties of each major group of elements and how the elements are used in everyday life.
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
