What's the difference between a desert and a rain forest? A tundra and a coniferous forest? These are all examples of biomes, and they are all home to plants and animals that are uniquely adapted to live in those environments!
In Biomes: Discover the Earth's Ecosystems with Science Activities for Kids, middle school kids journey across the planet and visit the world's nine terrestrial and aquatic biomes to learn about the distinctive climates, geologies, resources, and organisms that can be found there. Kids will wander through forests, sizzle in deserts, shiver in the tundra, slog through marshy waters, and plunge beneath the seas to explore coral reefs. Along the way, readers will encounter the flora and fauna adapted for survival in each unique climate zone. They'll learn about gnarly krumholz trees, bioluminescent sea creatures, camouflage, carnivorous plants, and blubbery marine critters.
The health and wellbeing of the world's biomes are an essential part of the balance of the planet as a whole. Biomes and their inhabitants around the world are being threatened by climate change and human behavior. In Biomes, kids will learn how to take steps toward positive change and keep the environment healthy and functioning in a way that best supports sustainable life on Earth!
Biomes includes hands-on STEM activities and critical thinking exercises to encourage readers to consider threats to the environment and figure out ways to be part of the solution. Fun facts, links to online primary sources and other supplemental material, and essential questions take readers on an exploration of the biomes of Earth.
Biomes is part of a set of four Build It Environmental Science books that explore the history and science of the planet and all that live on it through hands-on STEM activities and real-life environmental connections. Other titles in this series are Planet Earth, Garbage, and Biodiversity.
Nomad Press books integrate content with participation. Common Core State Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM Education all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad's unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.
About the Author: Donna Latham is an award-winning author and playwright. She is the author of several books for Nomad Press, including Backyard Biology Investigate Habitats Outside Your Door With 25 Projects and Garbage: Follow the Path of Your Trash with Science Activities for Kids. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and the Society of Midland Authors. She lives in Batavia, Illinois. Tom Casteel is an illustrator and cartoonist that graduated from the Center for Cartoon Studies in 2011. He has illustrated more than two dozen books for Nomad Press. He lives in South Bend, Indiana, with his family.
