New Releases by Donna Latham

BIOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF LIFE
Life is everywhere, thriving in the city and in the country, teeming in ecosystems around the planet—in deserts, oceans, and even the Arctic. And life is right outside your door! Backyard Biology invites children ages 9 and up to investigate living things—especially in yards, parks, nature areas, and playgrounds. Trivia and fun facts bring animals, plants, and microorganisms to life, in all their wonder.

Readers become Nature Detectives with activities and projects that encourage children to make discoveries. Children will construct a plankton net to collect pond samples, and they'll grow microorganisms in a Winogradsky Column. They'll discover what mystery plants sprout from collected soil samples and build a rolypoly habitat. When children experiment with phototropism and geotropism, they'll discover the ways plants move. In Backyard Biology, children will scout out different habitats to observe and investigate—and do their part to protect them.

Bridges and tunnels are lifelines
People have tackled seemingly insurmountable obstacles, including vast canyons and mountain ranges, to design and construct these amazing passageways. Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering invites children ages 9 and up to explore the innovation and physical science behind structures our world depends on.

Trivia and fun facts illustrate engineering ingenuity and achievements. Activities and projects encourage children to learn about the engineering process and to embrace trial and error. Children will engage in a hands-on exploration of Newton's Third Law of Motion and of forces that push and pull on structures. They'll make an egg bungee jump and a soda pop can engine. They'll experiment with a triangular toothpick dome, liquefaction, and corrosion. In Bridges and Tunnels: Investigate Feats of Engineering, children will explore their own engineering and building skills as they create several bridge models.

Canals and Dams: Investigate Feats of Engineering invites children ages 9 and up to explore the innovation and physical science behind the amazing waterways and barriers our world depends on. Trivia and fun facts illustrate engineering ingenuity and achievements from ancient aqueducts to the Suez Canal and the Hoover Dam. Readers will discover that engineers and builders alike put their lives on the line to advance civilization, experiencing triumphs and tragedies in building big. Through dazzling success and heartbreaking failure, they developed increasingly sophisticated tools and building methods.

Activities and projects encourage children to explore the engineering process and to try, try again through trial and error. They'll engage in hands-on explorations of buoyancy, Newton's third law of motion, and forces that push and pull structures. They'll create a paper-cup zip line, build an arch, and simulate a tsunami, while experimenting with gravity, hydroponics, and velocity. In Canals and Dams: Investigate Feats of Engineering, children will gain an appreciation for the important field of engineering as they develop their own building skills.

Over centuries and across cultures people have defied gravity in a quest to build the tallest, grandest structures imaginable.

Skyscrapers: Investigate Feats of Engineering with 25 Projects invites children ages 9 and up to explore the innovation and physical science behind these towering structures. Trivia and fun facts illustrate engineering ingenuity and achievements from the ancient pyramids to the Empire State Building. Readers will develop an understanding of how our modern, sophisticated building techniques and materials evolved over time.

Activities and projects encourage children to explore the engineering design process. They will engage in hands-on explorations of wind, test Newton's laws of motion, and experiment with the strength of different shapes. In the process they will learn about gravity, inertia, oscillation, and static electricity. Using various materials and engaging in trial and error, readers will construct their own towers and skyscrapers. Skyscrapers meets common core state standards in language arts for reading informational text and literary nonfiction and is aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. Guided Reading Levels and Lexile measurements indicate grade level and text complexity.