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|  | | Aliens From Earth
When animals or plants invade a new habitat, they can upset the delicate balance of the ecosystem.
Aliens are everywhere! And they are not creatures from another planet, but real living things right here on Earth.
These outsiders spread out underwater, smothering sea plants. They multiply and invade wooded areas, destroying the native flora and fauna. They travel by air, water, boat--even on the shoes and clothes of humans!
i>Aliens From Earth/i> is an intriguing introduction to the serious and ongoing environmental problems caused by invasive plant and animal species. Describing various examples--from the accidental release of gypsy moths into the United States to the | |  | | Anthropologist: Scientist of the People
A profile of anthropologist Magdalena Hurtado who studies hunter-gatherers in Paraguay, South America.
Magdalena Hurtado, an anthropologist who has been studying the Ache, hunter-gatherers living in Paraguay, says that our generation may be the last to witness our fellow humans living in a way that was typical for most of human evolutionary history. The Ache, like most other hunter-gatherers, are endangered by contact with outsiders.br />
An anthropologist is a scientist who studies people. Dr. Hurtado has spent many years in the field, living with the Ache, learning their language, observing their traditions, and recording their history. Many of the ways that human beings f | |  | | Hey, Daddy!
Although the single mother is the norm in the animal kingdom, fathers in some species share parenting duties.
In the animal kingdom, fathers who care for their young are rare. Some animal babies, like insects or fish, are able to survive on their own as soon as they are born and don't need a parent to look after them. But others need help from one or both parents for a while. In many animal species, the mother cares for the babies by herself, but some fathers play very important roles in raising their offspring.
Baby marmosets couldn't survive without their daddy's care. Emperor penguin fathers can keep an egg warm when temperatures drop to 80 degrees below zero. Daddy baboon | |  | | How To Have Sex If You're Not Human
Animals mate in some unusual ways. Plants, too, reproduce by seducing pollinators to do their sexual bidding.
Passing on the genes to future generations is the name of the game in biology. Animals—plants, too—“do it” in wild, bizarre ways. With both a vagina and a penis, hermaphroditic snails form orgiastic daisy chains. In the ultimate form of togetherness, walking sticks (insects, not skinny people) stay locked in copulo up to 79 days! Some reef fishes change sex—male to female or vice versa, depending on whether their social structure is headed by a dominant male or a dominant female. Pygmy chimpanzees called bonobos use sex to greet each other: male-male, f | |  | | Hungry Plants
All about carnivorous plants.
Do plants really eat insects? Yes, they do. Snap! The leaves of a Venus flytrap slam shut around a fat bumblebee. There's no way for the bee to get out. The flytrap has just caught its dinner! Why do some plants eat meat? Why do they bait, snap, trick, and trap any bug they can? Come in for a closer look at the world of hungry plants.
Illustrated by Paul Mirocha.br />
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Grade Level: K-4br />
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SRA/McGraw Hill - 2008 Corrective Reading Program br />
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A Children's Book of the Month Club selection 2004br />
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Recommended by the National Scien | |  | | Please Don't Wake The Animals
A book about sleeping habits in different animals
In simple, yet scientifically accurate language, this book answers basic questions about when animals sleep, where they sleep, and how long they sleep. Curious readers will learn why dolphins sleep with half their brain, how birds can sleep while flying, and what insect survives by sleeping through the cold winter nights frozen solid!
| |  | | Sexual Strategies: How Females Choose Their Mates
Female mate choice plays a powerful role in evolution. From fruit flies to humans, the way females choose mates influences how males look and how they behave.
i>Sexual Strategies/i> explores the complexities of the mating game from fruit flies to humans and explains why females are in charge. By determining which males mate and father offspring, females play a directive role in evolution. Fascinating examples reveal the biology underlying courtship, deception, love, and sexual conflict. |
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