Books in Build It Yourself series

Offering a deep peek into the world right outside your door, this life science book for middle readers gets kids excited about the natural world with fantastic hands-on science experiments! Where can you study biology? Everywhere! Do you need special equipment? No! Biology is the study of life, and life is all around you. You can find life thriving in the city and in the country, teeming in ecosystems around the planet―in deserts, oceans, and even the Arctic. Backyard Biology: Discover the Life Cycles and Adaptations Outside Your Door with Hands-On Science Activities introduces readers ages 9 to 12 to the amazing world of life science right outside their doors, no matter where they live. Plentiful text-to-self and text-to-world connections provide foundational learning. This title has been revised and updated to reflect 2020 educational standards and incorporate new scientific discoveries! • Backyard Biology: Discover the Life Cycles and Adaptations Outside Your Door with Hands-On Science Activities invites readers ages 9 through 12 to investigate living things in their own environments, including yards, parks, nature areas, and playgrounds. • Backyard Biology turns readers into Nature Detectives with activities and projects that encourage children to build on a foundation of textual discovery and apply their knowledge to real-world problems and solutions. • Activities include constructing a plankton net to collect pond samples and growing microorganisms in a Winogradsky column. • Projects use materials already in most homes, reimagining and repurposing everyday items, as well as mining the recycling bin! • Essential questions, short sidebars, and links to online primary resources help readers learn about the natural world around them and connect that natural world to the very survival of the human species. About the Build It Science set and Nomad Press Backyard Biology is part of a set of four Build It Science books that explore accessible science. The other titles in this set are Fairground Physics, Climate Change, and Kitchen Chemistry. Nomad Press books in the Build It series integrate content with participation. 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. All books are leveled for Guided Reading level and Lexile and align with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. All titles are available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats.

In Bioengineering: Discover How Nature Inspires Human Designs, young readers explore designs and innovations that come from nature. Leonardo da Vinci studied birds’ wings to draw his design of a man-made flying machine and engineers still look to birds when attempting to make planes more aerodynamic. And a burr on your shirt from walking through a field sticks like Velcro, doesn’t it? The plant and animal world provides engineers and scientists with a host of ideas to apply to the human world to make it a better place to live.Bioengineering explores different fields, including communication, transportation, and construction, and follows the process of engineering from the raw material of the natural world to the products we use in the human world every day. Activities such as building cantilevers and inventing a new fabric that mimics pinecone behavior require kids to think critically about their own needs and find creative ideas to fulfill those needs using designs from nature. Essential questions and links to digital and primary resources make this book an engaging and illuminating experience.

What is artificial intelligence? How is artificial intelligence going to change our lives? “Alexa, play my favorite song! Alexa, shut the garage door!” Imagine a world in which you simply call out a request while sitting in your living room and have a small computer comply. Suddenly, the driving beat of your favorite song fills the air while in the distance you hear the grind of the garage door coming down. This scenario is no longer science fiction! Our world is becoming increasingly inhabited by machines that can talk to us, listen to us, perform as asked, and even solve problems with no direction from humans. A machine with artificial intelligence is one that can perceive its environment and change its computing and behavior to reflect that environment, while using tools at hand to solve problems or reach goals. In Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Machines and Smart Robots with Science Activities for Kids, one of four titles in the Technology for Today set, readers ages 10 to 15 learn the early definitions of AI and discover how these definitions, and the tests that are applied to determine whether a machine has AI or not, have changed as machines have grown increasingly competent in unexpected ways. Through a combination of science activities and student-paced learning, readers discover the AI machines of today and their uses in various fields, such as entertainment, the military, and health care. Includes 25 STEAM activities that encourage the development of important skills, including comparing and contrasting, looking for detailed evidence, making deductions, and applying critical analysis to a wide variety of media. What about the future? How will AI affect the way we understand and integrate with technology and with each other? How can AI improve our lives? Is there anything dangerous about AI? What are the ethical issues surrounding the use of AI? Essential questions such as these promote critical examination of issues from all sides, while primary sources and science-minded engineering activities, such as experimenting with the programs Sound Net and iNaturalist and making a model of a neural network, let readers have a blast learning about the age of thinking machines we're in right now. In the Technology for Today set, readers ages 10 to 15 explore the digital and tech landscapes of today and tomorrow through hands-on STEAM activities and compelling stories of how things work, who makes them work, and why. Titles in this set include Industrial Design: Why Smartphones Aren’t Round and Other Mysteries with Science Activities for Kids; Big Data: Information in the Digital World with Science Activities for Kids; Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids; and Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Machines and Smart Robots with Science Activities for Kids. 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.

What was it like to be an American pioneer during the 1800s? Great Pioneer Projects You Can Build Yourself introduces readers ages 9 and up to the settling of the great American frontier with over 25 hands-on building projects and activities. Young learners build replica sod houses, log cabins, and covered wagons and create their own printing presses and maps. Great Pioneer Projects You Can Build Yourself provides detailed step-by-step instructions, diagrams, and templates for creating each project. Historical facts and anecdotes, biographies, and fascinating trivia support the fun projects and teach readers about the American pioneers’ relentless push westward. Together they give kids a first-hand look at daily life on the trail and on the frontier. Great Pioneer Projects You Can Build Yourself brings the American Pioneer experience to life.

How do we heat our homes, light our rooms, and power our cars? With energy! In 2014, the United States relied on fossil fuels for about 67 percent of its power. But as the fossil fuel supply dwindles and climate change becomes an increasingly urgent issue, individuals, businesses, and governments are expanding their sources of renewable energy, including solar, wind, biofuel, hydro, and geothermal.In Renewable Energy: Discover the Fuel of the Future, readers ages 9 to 12 learn about these renewable energy sources and discover how sunshine can be used to power light bulbs and how the earth's natural heat can be used to warm our houses. Young readers weigh the pros and cons of different energy sources and make their own informed opinions about which resources are the best choices for different uses.Renewable energy industries provide a booming field for future scientists and engineers. This book shows kids these future jobs and gets them excited about contributing to a world run on clean energy. Hands-on projects, essential questions, links to online primary sources, and science-minded prompts to think more about energy, the environment, and the repercussions of our choices make this book a key addition to classrooms and libraries.

Look around you―biodiversity is everywhere! From the tallest tree to the smallest microbe, Earth is home to more than 1.5 million known species of plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and microorganisms. And scientists estimate there could be millions, if not billions, more that have not yet been identified. Biodiversity: Explore the Diversity of Life on Earth with Science Activities for Kids introduces middle schoolers to the evolution of life on Earth, beginning with the first single-celled organisms that emerged 3.8 billion years ago to the complex, multi-celled organisms that exist today and make up the tree of life. Biodiversity is found everywhere on the planet―on land, in the water, and even in extreme environments such as ice and volcanoes. Biodiversity can also be discovered by looking through a microscope at tiny worlds of organisms that can’t be seen with the human eye. There are whole microbiomes beneath our feet, in puddles, and even in our belly buttons! All of this biodiversity on Earth helps keep the planet in balance. Biodiversity is also important to humans because it provides food, shelter, clothing, medicines, and more. However, the rates of biodiversity loss are increasing because of human activities. Climate change, pollution, habitat destruction, over-exploitation―these are all critical threats to biodiversity. There are, however, ways to slow or stop this loss through conservation and sustainable development. Biodiversity includes hands-on STEM activities and critical thinking exercises to encourage readers to consider the threat to biodiversity 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 incredible biodiversity on Earth. Biodiversity 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 Biomes. 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.

Catch a kid looking down, and chances are they're focused on a screen, deciding on strategy, building cities, setting traps for monsters, sharing resources, and nurturing critical relationships.Over 90 percent of kids ages 2-17 play video games. In Video Games: Design and Code Your Own Adventure, young readers learn why games are so compelling and what ancient games such as mancala have in common with modern games like Minecraft. Kids will even create their very own video games using software including MIT's Scratch!Using a familiar, high-interest subject, Video Games introduces foundation subjects such as geometry, physics, probability, and psychology in a practical framework. Building Tetris pieces out of Rice Krispie Treats and designing board games are some of the hands-on projects that engage readers' building skills, while writing actual game code opens digital doors readers may not have known existed.

What are the forces behind ballistics? Why do rocks and rockets soar through the air in an arch? The game is on the line. Suddenly, you hear the crack of a bat and the roar of crowd. Where will the ball land? How far will it travel? Is it a home run? You might think that hitting a home run or nailing a three-pointer is just luck, but there are many forces at work that determine if you’ve made a game-winning shot or the final out. If you’ve ever kicked a ball, thrown a rock, or even played Angry Birds, you’ve experimented with the forces behind ballistics. In Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids,one of four titles in the Technology for Today set, kids ages 10 to 15 learn why projectiles follow the paths they do and what factors influence those paths. Readers who are fascinated with potato cannons, slingshots, and rocketry will love taking that next step and applying what they learn about the laws of physics to the science of figuring out where to aim. Math is the language you use to understand the science of ballistics. In this book, readers will learn about the forces that act on the projectiles and how to calculate those forces to make educated predictions about where their homemade rockets and other projectiles will land. 25 Safe, hands-on STEAM activities using materials that are easy to acquire are a terrific way to foster real-life learning about ballistics. Kids will perform Galileo's famous test for gravity, create clinometers to measure height and distance, and build a machine that can throw curve balls. Essential questions that promote critical examination of the science, primary sources, online videos, and science-minded engineering activities let readers have a blast learning about the physics of ballistics! In the Technology for Today set, readers ages 10 to 15 explore the digital and tech landscapes of today and tomorrow through hands-on STEAM activities and compelling stories of how things work, who makes them work, and why. Titles in this set include Industrial Design: Why Smartphones Aren’t Round and Other Mysteries with Science Activities for Kids; Big Data: Information in the Digital World with Science Activities for Kids; Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids; and Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Machines and Smart Robots with Science Activities for Kids. 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.

Where did the American democratic tradition begin? From ancient civilizations in Greece and Rome to the Enlightenment in Europe, democratic ideas throughout time have influenced the development of democracy in the United States.In The U.S. Constitution: Discover How Democracy Works, children ages 9 through 12 learn about the foundation of democracy and how the documents crafted hundreds of years ago still have an impact on our country today. They explore the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, among others. These documents provide a framework with which we make the laws and processes that help keep democracy a vital paradigm.Through hands-on projects, which include analyzing how the promises made in the Preamble of the Constitution were put into practice and investigating how to balance the freedom of speech in the digital age, students investigate how American democracy operates. With colorful illustrations, interesting sidebars, and links to online primary sources, this book asks readers to consider the effect of technology on democracy and make predictions about future documents that will be important to the preservation of democracy around the world.

Bring chemistry to your kitchen with a book that offers hands-on science activities that can be done with ingredients from your pantry and the refrigerator! What’s going on when you cook in the kitchen? Science! In Kitchen Chemistry: Cool Crystals, Rockin’ Reactions, and Magical Mixtures with Hands-On Science Activities, readers ages 9 to 12 discover that the cooking, mixing, and measuring you do in the kitchen all has its roots deep in science―chemistry to be exact! Starting with an exploration of atoms and molecules and how they make up the world, Kitchen Chemistry goes on to discuss mixtures, reactions, states of matter, solutions, and more! By using familiar scenarios such as boiling water, baking cookies, and creating slime, kids make text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections that deepen their understanding of the world around us and the connection to chemistry to be found in every area of life. This title has been revised and updated to reflect 2020 educational standards and incorporate new scientific discoveries! • Kitchen Chemistry brings science to life in ways kids find easy to replicate and fascinating to accomplish. • Hands-on projects and experiments, such as making an Alka-Seltzer rocket, building a foamy volcano, and creating crystals, reinforce learning and enhance critical and creative thinking skills. • Essential questions, cool trivia, and links to online primary sources all add up to an inspired time in the kitchen learning chemistry! About the Build It Science set and Nomad Press Kitchen Chemistry is part of a set of four Build It Science books that explore accessible science. The other titles in this set are Climate Change, Backyard Biology, and Fairground Physics. Nomad Press books in the Build It series integrate content with participation. 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. All books are leveled for Guided Reading level and Lexile and align with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. All titles are available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats.

Rocketry: Investigate the Science and Technology of Rockets and Ballistics introduces students to the fascinating world of rocketry and ballistics. Readers discover the history of rocket development, from the earliest fire arrows in China to modern-day space shuttles, as well as the main concepts of rocketry, including how rockets are launched, move through the atmosphere, and return to earth safely. Exploring the science behind rocket flight, kids learn how the forces of thrust, gravity, lift, and drag interact to determine a rocket’s path, then imagine new uses and technologies in rocketry that are being developed today and for the future.Combining hands-on activities with physics, chemistry, and mathematics, Rocketry brings fun to learning about the world of rocket science. Entertaining illustrations and fascinating sidebars illuminate the topic, while Words to Know highlighted and defined within the text reinforce new vocabulary.Projects include building a pneumatic blast rocket and launcher, testing a rocket recovery system, and designing a rocket model of the future. Additional materials include a glossary, and a list of current reference works, websites, and Internet resources.This title meets Common Core State Standards for literacy in science and technology; Guided Reading Levels and Lexile measurements indicate grade level and text complexity.

What is artificial intelligence? How is artificial intelligence going to change our lives? “Alexa, play my favorite song! Alexa, shut the garage door!” Imagine a world in which you simply call out a request while sitting in your living room and have a small computer comply. Suddenly, the driving beat of your favorite song fills the air while in the distance you hear the grind of the garage door coming down. This scenario is no longer science fiction! Our world is becoming increasingly inhabited by machines that can talk to us, listen to us, perform as asked, and even solve problems with no direction from humans. A machine with artificial intelligence is one that can perceive its environment and change its computing and behavior to reflect that environment, while using tools at hand to solve problems or reach goals. In Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Machines and Smart Robots with Science Activities for Kids, one of four titles in the Technology for Today set, readers ages 10 to 15 learn the early definitions of AI and discover how these definitions, and the tests that are applied to determine whether a machine has AI or not, have changed as machines have grown increasingly competent in unexpected ways. Through a combination of science activities and student-paced learning, readers discover the AI machines of today and their uses in various fields, such as entertainment, the military, and health care. Includes 25 STEAM activities that encourage the development of important skills, including comparing and contrasting, looking for detailed evidence, making deductions, and applying critical analysis to a wide variety of media. What about the future? How will AI affect the way we understand and integrate with technology and with each other? How can AI improve our lives? Is there anything dangerous about AI? What are the ethical issues surrounding the use of AI? Essential questions such as these promote critical examination of issues from all sides, while primary sources and science-minded engineering activities, such as experimenting with the programs Sound Net and iNaturalist and making a model of a neural network, let readers have a blast learning about the age of thinking machines we're in right now. In the Technology for Today set, readers ages 10 to 115 explore the digital and tech landscapes of today and tomorrow through hands-on STEAM activities and compelling stories of how things work, who makes them work, and why. Titles in this set include Industrial Design: Why Smartphones Aren’t Round and Other Mysteries with Science Activities for Kids; Big Data: Information in the Digital World with Science Activities for Kids; Projectile Science: The Physics Behind Kicking a Field Goal and Launching a Rocket with Science Activities for Kids; and Artificial Intelligence: Thinking Machines and Smart Robots with Science Activities for Kids. 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.