Have you ever stopped to think about all the stuff you encounter every day? There’s the stuff you breathe, the stuff you eat, the stuff you wear, the stuff you read, the stuff you walk on, the stuff you ride in, the stuff your body is made of… plus water, trees, sunlight, soap, electricity, vaccines, smartphones, and so much more! In The Greatest Stuff on Earth, Steve Tomecek and John Devolle show us how this stuff works, including the miracle of transforming energy into matter and matter into energy. Stars do it…and also internal combustion engines…and living things, including grass and bacteria and worms and cheetahs and even us humans. With contagiously enthusiastic and chatty explanatory text, fast facts, and clever, stylish and sometimes funny photos, illustrations, and diagrams, this fantastically browsable book offers hundreds of entry points for knowledge-hungry kids. Steve holds a degree in Geology and has 30 years’ experience educating children (and their teachers) about science in a super fun, friendly way – as a writer, a radio and television presenter, and a live performer. He’s the perfect person to introduce kids to the inner workings of the material world.

A thermometer, a water-cycle model, a wave machine, a greenhouse--these are just a few things students can make out of a simple soda bottle. This book features learning-rich, hands-on activities that teach about the weather, motion, changes in matter, ecosystems, and more. A fun and easy way to meet the National Science Education Standards! For use with Grades 4-8.

Earth is big! (compared to a frog) Earth is small! (when it's hiding in a galaxy) And that's not all. Earth is wet and dry, hot and cold, round and jagged, fast and slow. You get the idea. It depends how you look at it! Get to know our planet in a whole new way by comparing it to a huge variety of other incredible things - from tiny particles to giant star clusters. Did you know soap bubbles are some of the roundest objects in the universe? Or that we humans are totally outnumbered by chickens? Or that the driest desert on Earth isn't scorching but freezing? Tour some of the most extreme places on the planet and beyond it, take a look at life forms from bacteria to elephants to redwood trees and explore what makes our planet the perfect home for us. You'll never see Earth the same way again!

The Jump Into Science book Dirt takes on the topic of soil, one of the most important resources on Earth. A star-nosed mole is the book's character guide, and he shows off all the different kinds of dirt in his garden, helps us to understand how dirt formed and what's in it, and points out many of the incredible creatures who live in the dirt. Young readers will learn fascinating scientific information about the different soil layers, or horizons, and find out how the soil that plants grow in differs from the soil that building foundations sit in. They'll also learn fun stuff: Did you know a single earthworm can eat several tons of soil a year? Dirt takes on more significance than just something to be cleaned up when you realize that it's a critical part of the web of life. Without it, plants could not grow, and animals - and people - could not live. Soil is important, and it needs protecting. Dirt also discusses some of the issues surrounding soil conservation and protection and talks about protecting forests and grasslands as a way to help. A do-it-yourself experiment at the end of the book walks kids through a great activity - how to build your own soil ecosystem in a plastic soda bottle. Give it some time, and you'll see grass begin to sprout and critters crawling around in your miniterrarium. The bright cheerful art, and the delightful mole will charm readers as they learn all the secrets of the precious substance down underground - dirt.

Targeted to rock-crazy kids, this bold book is more energetic, more visually exciting, and more fun than anything else on the market--and with more information, too Youngsters become geology experts as they browse eye-popping photos and absorb layers of information made extra fun through a humor-infused presentation.
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.