Books in Your World Explained series

Architecture, democracy, the Olympics—the modern world owes a lot to the ancient Greeks! In Explore Greek Myths! With 25 Great Projects, readers embark on a fascinating journey to explore the myths that infused ancient Greek culture, civilization, and innovation. Readers will learn how these myths, popular more than 3,000 years ago, have provided fundamental support to today's art, architecture, mathematics, science, philosophy, literature, and government.Readers will read about the adventures of many Greek gods, such as Zeus, who could throw lightning bolts and Athena, who personally protected the city of Athens. Readers will also meet great heroes, including the mighty Heracles, Perseus, who freed a princess chained to a rock, and Odysseus, who battled with a one-eyed giant called a Cyclopes. These characters and creatures serve to both entertain and offer lessons in morality, while also explaining the natural phenomenon that the ancient Greeks had no scientific explanation for.The lively text, surprising fun facts, jokes, and colorful illustrations encourage children to explore Greek mythology and make connections to our modern culture and language. Hands-on activities include making a topographical map of ancient Greece and designing Greek columns, while links to online primary sources encourage readers to explore the topic independently.

Given the pace of how we harness and utilize electricity, as well as the importance of developing new sources of energy, electricity is a timely subject for kids to explore. In Explore Electricity! With 25 Great Projects, kids ages 6-9 will learn the basics of electricity: currents, circuits, power, magnetism and electromagnetism, motors and generators. They’ll become more attuned to how much they rely on electricity in their daily lives. They’ll also understand that while electricity is a wonderful resource, and one we’ve used to our advantage ever since it was discovered, the future of how we make and use electricity is still changing and there are things they can do today to impact these changes.This title invites kids to experiment on their own with 25 simple projects that will “spark” their learning and enthusiasm, including making their own clothespin switch, lemon battery, compass, electromagnet, and flashlight, as well as generating their own “lightning.” These hands-on activities combined with informational text will excite kids about STEM? the interrelated fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

From zippers to the Pyramids, rolling pins to catapults, we are surrounded by simple machines. This book will amaze kids with the ingenuity they already possess and inspire them to look differently at the objects they use everyday.Explore Simple Machines! With 25 Great Projects introduces kids to the concept of “mechanical advantage,” and harnesses kid-power by inviting them to build machines of their own design. It opens their eyes to the diversity of machines in their lives, and sparks the imagination with challenge, humor, and achievable projects.Explore Simple Machines! dedicates a chapter to each of the six simple machines that were identified centuries ago: levers, inclined planes, pulleys, screws, wedges, and wheels & axles. Kids will develop analytical skills as they figure out where force is applied and what kind of work it generates.

What kind of life can you find in lakes and ponds? Imagine the smooth, glasslike surface of a pond, the water mirroring a bright moon or a crystal blue sky. The water appears perfectly calm and still. What’s going on underneath the surface? Lakes and Ponds! With 25 Science Projects for Kids invites kids ages 7 though 10 to investigate the bodies of water that might look calm from the shore but which are teeming with life and activity! Through fun facts and engaging content, readers explore the plants and animals living in lakes and ponds, from fish darting about to dragonfly nymphs gestating in the shallows to algae and aquatic plants converting sunlight into energy through photosynthesis. Discover fun facts about the duckweed, water lilies, and cattails growing in and around the waters of lakes and ponds. It’s a busy place! In Lakes and Ponds!, readers dive in to discover how lakes and ponds are formed, how they are different, and what kinds of animals and plants live there. Through investigative STEAM activities for elementary school ages, such as building a model of a floating city similar to Tonlé Sap, kids explore how humans have interacted with lakes and ponds throughout history and how we use this natural resource today. Discover how climate change and pollution affect the ecology of lakes and ponds and learn what you can do to help keep these biodiverse environments clean and healthy! From the Great Lakes, the Great Salt Lake, Walden Pond, Loch Ness, and the pond down the street from school, readers discover the life teeming in and around lakes and ponds. And did you know that large bodies of water have their own life cycles? Sometimes these can last for days, sometimes for thousands of years! STEAM projects for kids that promote the use of the scientific method, including using ice and dirt to understand how glaciation gave shape to lake and pond basins and using moss found near lakes and ponds to make unique art projects, offer a unique, interactive learning experience, while links to online primary sources offer ample opportunity for further, student-led exploration. Fun facts, engaging illustrations, timeline, glossary, and resources keep kids wanting to learn more about these bodies of water. Explore Lakes and Ponds! is part of a set of four Explore Waterways books from Nomad Press. In the Explore Waterways set, readers ages 7 to 10 learn about the waterways of our world, including the what, where, how, and who about the origination, content, and aquatic life that water contains. Through science-minded STEAM projects and experiments that encourage readers to think of waterways as part of a larger ecosystem, kids develop critical and creative thinking skills about the role waterways play in our world. Titles in the Explore Waterways set include Marshes and Swamps! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Lakes and Ponds! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Oceans and Seas! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; and Rivers and Streams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids.Nomad Press books in the Explore Your World series for children ages 7–10 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.

Brrr…does it feel cold? Get out your gloves and get ready to experience the Ice Age! In Explore the Ice Age! with 25 Projects, readers ages 7-10 discover what an ice age consists of, why we have them, and what effect an ice age has on living organisms and ecosystems, paying particular attention to the most recent Ice Age, which is the only one humans were around to witness. About 12,000 years ago, glaciers up to 2 miles tall covered up to one-third of Earth’s land! Explore how these moving mountains of ice changed almost everything on Earth, including shorelines, weather, plants, animals and human activities, migration, and more. Learn the science and techniques of archeological and paleontological digs to understand how we know so much about a time that happened before recorded history. Science-minded activities lead readers to discover what a world covered in ice means for the earth’s crust, its atmosphere, and what happens when the planet begins to warm and the ice melts. Projects include creating mini glaciers to move mountains and create beaches and recreating the lifestyles of Paleolithic people to discover what they ate, how they hunted, how they made tools and clothes and their history in art. Don’t wait for the next ice age to get started! Cartoon illustrations, fun facts, and a compelling narrative make Explore the Ice Age! an essential part of any STEM library.

Atoms and molecules are the basic building blocks of matter. Matter is every physical thing around us in the universe, including our own bodies! In Explore Atoms and Molecules! With 25 Great Projects, readers ages 7 to 10 investigate the structure of atoms and learn how atoms fit together to form molecules and materials.If everything is made out of atoms and molecules, why do people look different from dogs and doorknobs? In Explore Atoms and Molecules, readers discover that the characteristics of a material are determined by the way the atoms and molecules connect, and study how chemical reactions change these connections to create everything we know. This book discusses the elements on the periodic table and why they are grouped into families, encouraging the exploration of meaningful classification systems. States of matter and mixtures and compounds round out the exploration of atoms and molecules!This book supports the maker movement with lots of hands-on activities that illuminate the concepts of chemistry. Readers build 3-D models of molecules and create a periodic table guessing game. Fascinating sidebars offer opportunities for readers to connect the text with real-world science, and cartoon illustrations provide a fun foundation for learning.

What kinds of plants and animals live in marshes and swamps? The places where land and water meet are some of the most fascinating spots on earth, where a rich diversity of plants and animals make their homes. In Marshes and Swamps! With 25 Science Projects for Kids, readers ages 7 to 10 explore wetlands through hands-on STEM projects that deepen their understanding of these special places. Wetlands serve many important functions, in addition to hosting a wide variety of plant and animal species. Marshes and swamps filter pollutants, prevent erosion, and serve as barriers for flooding. These are incredibly important jobs that help protect the environment, especially as the world begins to experience more extreme effects of climate change. Wetlands are living laboratories for scientists and students who want to know more about erosion, water quality, aquatic animals, and vegetation. With Marshes and Swamps!, kid scientists learn to observe and collect data in swamps and marshes. Through investigative STEM activities designed for elementary school ages, such as experimenting with erosion, making a model wetland, and designing a filtration device, kids explore the impact of this natural resource on both the natural world and the human world. Discover how climate change and pollution affect the ecology of marshes and swamps and learn what you can do to help keep these biodiverse environments clean and healthy! STEM projects for kids that promote the use of the scientific method provide an interactive learning experience, while links to primary sources offer ample opportunity for further, student-led exploration. Fun facts, engaging illustrations, timeline, glossary, and resources keep kids wanting to learn more about these bodies of water. Marshes and Swamps! is part of a set of four Explore Waterways books from Nomad Press. In the Explore Waterways set, readers ages 7 to 10 learn about the waterways of our world, including the what, where, how, and who about the origination, content, and aquatic life that water contains. Through science-minded STEAM projects and experiments that encourage readers to think of waterways as part of a larger ecosystem, kids develop critical and creative thinking skills about the role waterways play in our world. Titles in the Explore Waterways set include Marshes and Swamps! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Lakes and Ponds! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Oceans and Seas! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; and Rivers and Streams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids.Nomad Press books in the Explore Your World series for children ages 7–10 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.

Investigate the fascinating civilization of ancient Greece through 25 hands-on projects and activities for young readers ages 6-9. Kids learn about ancient Greek homes, food, playtime, clothing, conquests, arts and entertainment, gods, and more. Activities range from fashioning a model oil lamp from clay to building a courtyard column and constructing a flipbook sailing ship. By combining a hands-on element with riddles, jokes, fun facts, and comic cartoons, kids Explore Ancient Greece! and develop an understanding of how this ancient civilization still influences our modern world.

What’s it like outside? And what are you going to do about it? Every morning, before heading to school or out to play, kids want to know what the weather is going to be like that day. Is it a day for building a snowman, constructing a sandcastle, or planting a garden? Will they be stuck inside because of rain at recess? Or stuck at home because of snow? And what about tomorrow? Explore Weather and Climate! will help kids understand the “how” and “why” behind the “what.” They'll learn how wind, sun, and water combine to form the weather we experience every day. They'll find out why the weather gets extreme. Explore Weather and Climate! offers engaging text reinforced with 25 hands on projects that include creating a storm in a bottle, touching the clouds, and eating an edible climate map, resulting in an unforgettable understanding of these forces of nature.

Why are rivers and streams important to life on Earth? Did you know that without rivers, human life might not have developed as it did? We might be a very difference species if it wasn’t for rivers, as would the other plants and animals who depends on rivers and streams for food, transportation, water, and power! In Rivers and Streams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids, readers ages 7 to 10 dive in and discover how rivers change the shape of the land while plants, animals, and humans change the shape of rivers. Through fun facts, engaging content, and essential questions, kids learn about the vital role that rivers and streams have played in human history and explore the ways rivers and streams might affect our future. Science experiments that promote critical thinking and creative problem solving encourage kids to make their own discoveries about the waterways they might pass every day. Talking about earth science means talking about climate change. How are rivers affected by our changing climate, and what can we do to help rivers and streams stay healthy in their changing environment? Rivers and Streams! encourages kids to think creatively as they search for actionable solutions to the problems faced by today’s waterways. Student-led STEAM projects that promote the use of the scientific method, such as investigating a local watershed, looking for life in water samples, modeling how insects walk on water, and making a water wheel, let kids get their hands wet and their minds working as they make real-life connections to the text. Fun facts, engaging illustrations, links to primary sources, timeline, glossary, and resources make this a terrific introduction to one of earth’s most important resources―rivers and streams! Rivers and Streams! is part of a set of four Explore Waterways books from Nomad Press. In the Explore Waterways set, readers ages 7 to 10 learn about the waterways of our world, including the what, where, how, and who about the origination, content, and aquatic life that water contains. Through science-minded STEAM projects and experiments that encourage readers to think of waterways as part of a larger ecosystem, kids develop critical and creative thinking skills about the role waterways play in our world. Titles in the Explore Waterways set include Marshes and Swamps! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Lakes and Ponds! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Oceans and Seas! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; and Rivers and Streams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids.Nomad Press books in the Explore Your World series for children ages 7–10 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.

Why is the ocean important for humans and for the Earth? Did you know that the ocean covers 70 percent of the surface of the earth? And scientists have only explored a very small part of it! In Oceans and Seas! With 25 Science Projects for Kids readers ages 7 though 10 dive into the underwater world of some of the most amazing landscapes on Earth. On this amazing underwater adventure, kids experience the ocean’s tropical reefs and spot crabs, sea sponges, and thousands of kinds of fish darting in its crags and folds. They’ll meet a giant squid with eyes the size of dinner plates and an umbrella-like bioluminescent jellyfish. Through fun facts, engaging illustrations, links to primary sources, timeline, glossary, and resources, readers will be challenged to think about how ocean creatures and plants survive and depend on each other from the sunlit surface to the seafloor, where sunlight does not exist. Student-led STEAM activities, such as building a submarine and creating an ocean in a bottle, use the framework of the scientific method to reinforce learning and enhance critical and creative thinking skills as kids learn about efforts to conserve these incredible creatures and their habitats. Oceans and Seas! is part of a set of four Explore Waterways books from Nomad Press. In the Explore Waterways set, readers ages 7 to 10 learn about the waterways of our world, including the what, where, how, and who about the origination, content, and aquatic life that water contains. Through science-minded STEAM projects and experiments that encourage readers to think of waterways as part of a larger ecosystem, kids develop critical and creative thinking skills about the role waterways play in our world. Titles in the Explore Waterways set include Marshes and Swamps! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Lakes and Ponds! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; Oceans and Seas! With 25 Science Projects for Kids; and Rivers and Streams! With 25 Science Projects for Kids.Nomad Press books in the Explore Your World series for children ages 7–10 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.