The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals


Joel Sartore - 2017
    His powerful message, conveyed with humor, compassion, and art: to know these animals is to save them.Sartore intends to photograph every animal in captivity in the world. He is circling the globe, visiting zoos and wildlife rescue centers to create studio portraits of 12,000 species, with an emphasis on those facing extinction. He has photographed more than 6,000 already and now, thanks to a multi-year partnership with National Geographic, he may reach his goal. This book showcases his animal portraits: from tiny to mammoth, from the Florida grasshopper sparrow to the greater one-horned rhinoceros. Paired with the eloquent prose of veteran wildlife writer Douglas Chadwick, this book presents a thought-provoking argument for saving all the species of our planet.

The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History


David Beerling - 2007
    Will temperatures rise by 2�C or 8�C over the next hundred years? Will sea levels rise by 2 or 30 feet? The only way that we can accurately answer questions like these is by looking into the distant past, for a comparison with the world long before the rise of mankind.We may currently believe that atmospheric shifts, like global warming, result from our impact on the planet, but the earth's atmosphere has been dramatically shifting since its creation. This book reveals the crucial role that plants have played in determining atmospheric change - and hence the conditions on the planet we know today. Along the way a number of fascinating puzzles arise: Why did plants evolve leaves? When and how did forests once grow on Antarctica? How did prehistoric insects manage to grow so large? The answers show the extraordinary amount plants can tell us about the history of the planet -- something that has often been overlooked amongst the preoccuputations with dinosaur bones and animal fossils.David Beerling's surprising conclusions are teased out from various lines of scientific enquiry, with evidence being brought to bear from fossil plants and animals, computer models of the atmosphere, and experimental studies. Intimately bound up with the narrative describing the dynamic evolution of climate and life through Earth's history, we find Victorian fossil hunters, intrepid polar explorers and pioneering chemists, alongside wallowing hippos, belching volcanoes, and restless landmasses.

When Is a Planet Not a Planet?: The Story of Pluto


Elaine Scott - 2007
    Yet because of the history-making reassignment of Pluto from “planet” to “dwarf planet” on August 24, 2006, all books on the solar system are now out of date. Enter When is a Planet Not a Planet? The Story of Pluto by Elaine Scott, an esteemed writer of non-fiction for children. Scott is the first to put the answer to the title question into terms simple enough for a very young audience to understand, based upon the new definitions determined by the International Astronomical Union. Well-researched and accompanied by large, awe-inspiring photographs and paintings, this exciting new book makes clear what astronomers have argued about for decades.

Fossils: A Very Short Introduction


Keith S. Thomson - 2005
    However, their impact has not been limited to debates about geology and evolution: attempts to explain their existence has shaken religion at its very roots, and they have remained a subject of ceaseless fascination for people of all ages and backgrounds. In this readable and wide-ranging book, Keith Thomson provides a remarkably all-encompassing explanation of fossils as a phenomenon. How did Darwin use fossils to support his theory of evolution? What are living fossils? What fossils will we leave behind for future generations to examine? Beyond the scientific aspects, Thomson highlights the impact of fossils on philosophy and mythology, our concept of time, and today's popular culture. From the black market to the Piltdown Man, and from mythological dragons to living dinosaurs, fossils hold a permanent place in the popular imagination.

Birds, Nests & Eggs


Mel Boring - 1996
    Children learn to identify a variety of different plant, animal and insect species.-- Helps children identify different species.-- Includes scrapbook pages, for notes or drawings.-- Features detailed true-to-life illustrations.

David Attenborough's First Life: A Journey Back in Time with Matt Kaplan


David Attenborough - 2010
    First Life travels the world, from Canada to Australia, Morocco to Scotland, to unearth the secrets hidden in prehistoric fossils and meet the palaeontologists who have harnessed new techniques to enhance greatly our understanding of the origins of life.With an introduction by David Attenborough, and insights captured during the making of the television series, this book is a journey of discovery, showing us what these early animals would have looked like and how they would have lived, bringing them to life with the help of modern computer technology. First Life shows us how evolutionary features of the first creatures have been passed down to modern animals, including humans, giving us amazing insight into the remarkable evolutionary journey that has brought us here today.

Feel the Wind


Arthur Dorros - 1989
    We can't see air moving, though we can watch it push clouds across the sky, or shake the leaves of a tree. We call moving air the wind. In this enlarged edition, find out about the wind - what causes it, how it can be used to help us, and how it affects the weather.

From Caterpillar to Butterfly


Deborah Heiligman - 1996
    Soon, it disappears into a hard shell called a chrysalis. Where did it go? This is a perfect beginner's guide to the mystery of metamorphosis.Named as a NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children, this book explains the life cycle from caterpillar to butterfly with easy-to-follow prose from Deborah Heiligman and warm, colorful illustrations from Bari Weissman.This is a Stage 1 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explains simple science concepts for preschoolers and kindergarteners. Let's-Read-And-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.Supports the Common Core Learning Standards and Next Generation Science Standards

Dinosaurs: The Ultimate Guide to How They Lived


Darren Naish - 2016
    Many were fantastic, bizarre creatures that still capture our imagination: the super-predator Tyrannosaurus, the plate-backed Stegosaurus, and the long-necked, long-tailed Diplodocus. Dinosaurs: The Ultimate Guide to How They Lived taps into our enduring interest in dinosaurs, shedding new light on different dinosaur groups. Leading paleontology experts Darren Naish and Paul Barrett trace the evolution, anatomy, biology, ecology, behavior, and lifestyle of a variety of dinosaurs. They also remind us that dinosaurs are far from extinct: they present evidence supporting the evolution of dinosaurs to birds that exist today as approximately ten thousand different species. Throughout their narrative Naish and Barrett reveal state-of-the-art new findings shaping our understanding of dinosaurs. Readers will discover, for example, how the use of CT-scanning enables scientists to look inside dinosaur skulls, thus gaining new insight into their brains and sense organs. Dinosaurs is a must-have for all those wanting to keep up to date about these dynamic, complicated creatures.

Earth Verse: Haiku from the Ground Up


Sally M. Walker - 2018
    Sibert Medal-winning author Sally M. Walker covers Earth's many marvels -- fossilized skeletons of plants and animals, terrific volcanic eruptions, the never-ending hydrologic cycle -- in sometimes straightforward, sometimes metaphoric three-line haikus. Expertly drawn art by William Grill, author-illustrator of Shackleton's Journey, provides a visual reference for each poem. In clear and creative back matter, Walker and Grill further use their skills to provide additional detailed explanations for the science behind each concept. A unique, artistic intersection of poetry and science, Earth Verse is sure to enthrall any and all readers interested in the world around them.

What If You Had Animal Teeth!?


Sandra Markle - 2012
    If you had a beaver's, you'd have orange teeth! And if you had a naked mole rat's set of teeth, you could move each one separately, like chopsticks! The animal kingdom has lots of cool teeth, but yours are pretty awesome, too!

Animals Do, Too!: How They Behave Just Like You


Etta Kaner - 2016
    “Honeybees do, too!” responds the next. Illustrating the simple text are joyful drawings that visually connect the children enjoying a dance party to the honeybees performing their own “dance” in the hive. A block of more in-depth text fleshes out what the honeybees are actually doing and why: their waggle dance tells other honeybees “where to find a tasty meal.” Using this same rhythmic question-and-answer style throughout, the book compares a series of children's favorite activities to similar things that animals do. From playing tag and leapfrog (gazelles and cattle egrets) to blowing bubbles and getting piggyback rides (gray tree frogs and marmosets), there are seven activities/animals in all. And though the behaviors might look the same, while the children are playing, the animals are performing essential tasks such as finding food or caring for their young. Award-winning author Etta Kaner has created a fun, engaging exploration of some ways animals behave just like people. By highlighting connections between human and animal behaviors, she encourages children to develop compassion for other creatures and to recognize their place within the natural world. This book would make an excellent resource for early life science lessons on the characteristics of living things, especially with the expanded information in the back matter about each of the animals found in the book. The question-and-answer pattern of the text together with Marilyn Faucher's inviting, detailed illustrations work as an entertaining, interactive read-aloud as well.

Tut's Mummy: Lost...And Found (Step-Into-Reading, Step 4)


Judy Donnelly - 1988
    Describes the burial of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen and the discovery of his long-lost tomb by archaeologists more than 3000 years later.

Starstruck: The Cosmic Journey of Neil Degrasse Tyson


Kathleen Krull - 2018
    He couldn't believe the crowded, glittering night sky at the planetarium was real--until a visit to the country years later revealed the impossible.That discovery was like rocket fuel for Neil's passion about space. His quest for knowledge took him from the roof of his apartment building to a science expedition in northwest Africa, to a summer astronomy camp beneath a desert sky, and finally back home to become the director of the Hayden Planetarium, where it all began. Before long, Neil became America's favorite guide to the cosmos.This story of how one boy's quest for knowledge about space leads him to become a star scientist is perfect for young readers who are fascinated by the universe, aspiring scientists, and the dreamer in all of us. It will ignite your own sense of wonder.

Rock and Gem


Ronald Bonewitz - 2005
    Featuring over 450 specially commissioned photographs and information-rich text, this book illustrates each stone's unique characteristics and explains its relationship to humankind through the ages.