Misty Copeland is an author, global volunteer, and principal ballerina. But her path to success was not a straight one. Discover how Copeland used perseverance and talent to achieve her dream.
Point guard Chris Paul not only led the NBA four times in assists and six times in steals—he also won two gold medals. Get to know this Houston Rockets hero!
The countdown clock is almost at zero—and suddenly, a player scores a three-pointer to win the game! Professional basketball is full of underdog stories. Sometimes, a lower-seeded team can dominate the top seed to win an NBA Championship. Learn about some of the biggest upsets in basketball history.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias not only broke records—she took athletics by storm, winning two Olympic gold medals for track and field before turning to professional golf. Witness more exciting moments from the life of this multi-talented athlete.
Melissa Vivianne Jeffersion, known professionally as Lizzo, started singing and rapping at age 10 and performed with several musical groups in her hometowns of Houston and Minneapolis. With her strong lyrics, danceable beats, and positive message, she's become one of the biggest solo musicians in the world.
Ariana Grande always wanted to be a star. After honing her voice in community theater, Grande landed her first big role in a Broadway musical. On the Nickelodeon show Victorious, her dream of singing before a national audience came true. Soon Grande's music career was ready to soar. Her albums sold millions of copies, and fans from around the world flocked to see her perform. When tragedy struck her concert in Manchester, England, Grande responded with care and support for her fans. Trace Grande's journey from local talent to global superstar and see how she rocks the stage, advocates for mental health, and speaks up for women everywhere.
What happens when a young elephant steps on a buried land mine? What happens when a sea turtle’s flipper is injured by a predator? Thanks to recent advances in technology, we have new ways to design and build prosthetic body parts that can help these animals thrive. Meet an Asian elephant named Mosha, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle named Lola, a German Shepherd named Cassidy, a greylag goose named Vitória, and Pirate, a Berkshire-Tamworth pig. Each of these animals was struggling, but through a variety of techniques and technologies, humans created devices that enabled the animals to live and move more comfortably. Discover the stories of how veterinarians, doctors, and even students from around the world used 3D printing and other techniques to build bionic body parts for these amazing animals.
In the history of life on this planet, 99.9 percent of all species have gone extinct. But a few have survived almost unchanged. Author Rebecca E. Hirsch introduces readers to six living fossils, including the chambered nautilus, the horseshoe crab with its sticky blue blood, and venomous platypuses that sting, as well as a comprehensive explanation of evolution and extinction for readers who may not be familiar with the terms yet. Readers will also discover a a spectacular timeline of the history of animal life on Earth. Dive into the stories of these incredible animals and find out how they help scientists piece together evolutionary history.
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia, so when one showed up dead along the side of a Florida highway in 1979, scientists wondered where it came from. No one knew the snakes had launched a full-scale invasion. Pet pythons that escaped or were released by their owners started breeding in the wild, and these enormous predators began eating every animal in their path. Today a group of scientists at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida is tracking Burmese pythons to find ways to stop their spread. Page Plus links lead to video clips and photos of the scientists working in the field. Delve into the science of pythons and their role as invasive predators.
The fossil fuels powering cars, trains, and planes are harming the environment, but scientists are creating innovative and clean transportation solutions. Explore the future of transportation from self-flying drones to levitating trains.
Beginning coders can build their skill set with step-by-step instructions and animation projects. Start with stop-motion, add text and emoji, and finish with a few special effects! Page Plus links to hands-on coding activities are included. These project-based titles are created in partnership with Vidcode, an online coding platform for grades 4 and up.
As Earth's human population grows, scientists and farmers must find new ways to create more food with less space. Learn about the challenges farmers face, how the meat industry may change, and more about the future of food.
How can we make the world a better place? This inspiring resource for middle-grade readers is organized as a dictionary - each entry presents a word related to creating a better world, such as ally, empathy, or respect. For each word, there is a poem, a quote from an inspiring person, a personal anecdote from the authors, and a "try it" prompt for an activity.
American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the US Congress. Learn about her young life, her work as an activist, and her career in the House of Representatives.
Create a filter, dress up a photo, share it with your friends! Beginning coders learn solid skills while they build their own filters. Page Plus links to hands-on coding activities are included. These project-based titles are created in partnership with Vidcode, a rigorous and creative online coding platform designed for grades 4 and up that appeals as strongly to girls as to boys.
During the Middle Ages, your position in life was based on birth. This position would follow you throughout your life. To make it easy for others to know your social class, rules about what you could wear—or not wear—were created. Such rules, called sumptuary laws, determined colors of clothing, types of fabric and trims, length of garments, types of sleeves, and types of furs. The laws also regulated shoe lengths and height, hat height, types of buttons, and even the number of buttons you could wear. People were to dress according to the class in which they were born. In this way, just by looking at someone, you could tell if they were important or not.
Scott Schroeder dreams of a day when he and his father can have a home of their own. Following an accident that took his mother's life eight years before, doctors discovered Scott was suddenly deaf. Blessed with being an accomplished gymnast and skilled at signing and reading lips, Scott's biggest challenge is convincing others he is able to do all the same things as those in the hearing world. Picking up on conversations he observes along the way, Scott figures out a big family secret concerning his father and uncle and makes his mind up to play a part in their reconciliation.
Growing up on Chicago's South Side, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson loved school and her family. Driven by her parents' passion for education and her own desire to succeed, she graduated first from Princeton and then Harvard Law School and landed a job at a prestigious law firm, where she met her soon-to-be husband, Barack Obama. While raising their two young daughters, Michelle Obama committed herself to public service. She kept that commitment as her husband's political career soared and worked hard to continue serving the public when her family landed in the White House. Follow Obama's journey from Chicago school kid to history-making First Lady and beyond as she continues to make her mark as an inspiring speaker, bestselling author, and agent for positive change.
On December 18, 2019, Donald Trump became the third president in US history to be impeached by the House of Representatives. He was later acquitted by the Senate. Earlier that summer, Trump held a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. An unknown whistleblower raised concerns about the call, claiming that Trump had improperly pressured Zelensky to get involved in US politics. Over the following months a dramatic impeachment inquiry unfolded. Fraught hearings played out on television while Democrats and Republicans traded interpretations, arguments, and even insults. Faced with suppressed information and conflicting accounts, the nation tried to discover the truth. In over two hundred years Congress has gathered only a handful of times to debate what makes an impeachable offense. What events led to Trump’s impeachment? How does the impeachment process work? What other presidents have been impeached, and why? Learn the history, mechanics, and milestone events behind impeachment, and discover how the most recent one may affect US politics for years to come.
Follow the spectacular shots, thrilling comebacks, and monumental moments of basketball's most exciting games. Readers learn about the history and greatest players of the NBA (National Basketball Association) and WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) Finals.
Fuel up for an exciting look at Formula 1 racing! Readers will learn about the history of the sport, some of the most well-known racers, and more with the aid of exciting photos and thrilling facts!
Enter the thrilling world of stock car racing! Readers will discover the history of stock car racing, what a typical race day looks like, who the hottest racers are, and more.
The first official Paralympic Games were held in 1960 in Rome with 400 athletes competing from 23 countries. Then in 1976, the first Winter Paralympic Games were held in Sweden. The 2018 Games in Pyeong Chang were the biggest Winter Games ever with over 500 athletes from nearly 50 countries. Like the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games showcase super strength and stamina both individually and through teamwork.
Start your engines and get in gear! Exciting photos and facts will have readers turning the pages to discover the history of drag racing, what a typical race day looks like, and more about the sport.
Center Joel Embiid racks up points for the Philadelphia 76ers. Readers will learn how this All-Star National Basketball Association (NBA) player stays at the top of his game and how he spends his time off the court.
