Backyard BIOLOGY

Book excerpt: 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.