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Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences
The year is 1973 and changes are afoot in Great Yarmouth and
Brokencliff-on-Sea as the New Year comes in with bang! Return to a
simpler time when family holidays at the seaside were still fun and
electronic devices had never been heard of. The only sound that was
heard was the gentle lapping of the waves, the gulls circling
above, and the trot of the horse's hooves along the promenade and
music from the funfairs.
Water is all around us. It moves through the water cycle. It brings
water to all parts of the planet. Every living thing needs water to
survive. Introduce students to the water cycle with this science
reader that features easy-to-read text. Nonfiction text features
include a glossary, index, and detailed images to facilitate close
reading and help students connect back to the text. Aligned to
state and national standards, the book also includes a fun and
engaging science experiment to develop critical thinking and help
students practice what they have learned.
West Somerset is an area of great geological diversity, straddling
the Tees-Exe Line between highland and lowland Britain. The story
of the last 400 million years of Earth history can be gleaned from
its rocks: the opening and closing of oceans, the collision of
continents and a journey across the Equator. The area may also
provide the key to settle the controversy about the origin of
South-West England, whose ancient geology is so different from the
rest of the country. This unique and diverse geology is also the
reason why it is one of the most beautiful and varied stretches of
landscape in England. With nearly 170 illustrations, including
maps, charts, diagrams and colour photographs, this book describes
and explains the evidence for the geological history of the area,
from the Palaeozoic, through the Mesozoic to the Pleistocene and
Holocene. Regional guides, which discuss the factors that led to
the landscape we see today and offer places of interest to visit,
cover: the Northern Brendon Hills and Minehead; the Southern
Brendon Hills; Wellington and the Blackdown Hills; Wiveliscombe and
the Vale of Stogumber; the Quantock Hills; West Somerset coast and
the Cannington and Bridgwater Lowlands.
In 1997 sixty-two containers fell off the cargo ship Tokio Express
after it was hit by a rogue wave off the coast of Cornwall,
including one container filled with nearly five million pieces of
Lego, much of it sea themed. In the months that followed,
beachcombers started to find Lego washed up on beaches across the
south west coast. Among the pieces they discovered were octopuses,
sea grass, spear guns, life rafts, scuba tanks, cutlasses, flippers
and dragons. The pieces are still washing up today.
A major new look at how Africa's geological history, climate, geography and biology resulted in the wonderful diversity of life found there. It is also the story of how it was the crucible for the evolution most extraordinary species on Earth - Homo sapiens.
Africa has properties that ensure that most of human evolution could have occurred nowhere else. A greater diversity of mammal, bird and many other forms of life has forced more and more species to squeeze into narrower and narrower niches. Human complexity has evolved directly in response to this, the most complex of continents.
On offer here is an intensely personal portrait of a continent bolstered by Jonathan Kingdon's own animal senses, the same excited set of senses he was born in Africa with. Senses that look, listen, scent and grasp at the mother-continent. Not just his personal motherland but the birthplace of all humanity.
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