Books in Core Concepts series

The Story About Ping covers the concepts Family and Problem Solving. This classic children’s book was first published in 1933 and is still as delightful and relevant as ever. Ping’s owner takes him and his siblings to the river for dinner. When it’s time to go, Ping is the last duck in the water and, as such, will receive a spanking. To avoid punishment, he hides—only to be captured the next morning by a young boy for his family’s dinner. Finally Ping is set free, and when he sees his master’s boat, the last thing he fears is a spanking—he’s just thankful to be home!

Go for a spin up a hill—when the story of a bike ride becomes an inspirational journey.Albert Einstein once said, "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." Ride along up and down the hills and valleys of this bike ride. Featuring lyrical text and vivid artwork, Spin shows that any mountain can be climbed. By pushing forward and pedaling around and around, anyone can spin onwards.

Hummingbirds are some of the most beautiful, tiniest birds in nature. They are the only creatures that can fly forward, backward, sideways—even upside down! Their hearts beat anywhere from 500 to 1200 times every minute; their wings flap as many as 52 times per second; and they breathe up to 600 times per minute. This fact-and-photo-filled nonfiction 8x8 will leave readers astounded by the smallest bird in America!

Ticking clocks, claps of thunder, the human voice—sound is anything that can be heard. Hearing sound is one thing, but understanding just how it works and what its properties are is quite another. Answering these questions and others concerning supersonic speed and breaking the sound barrier, how the human voice and ear work, and the age-old question of whether a tree falling in the forest unobserved makes any noise, this volume provides an accessible yet detailed and amply illustrated guide to the science of sound. Also included are several fun projects, which allow readers to explore in a hands-on way the nature, quality, and behavior of sound.

In Counting by Fives, readers will learn how to count in sequence with repetitive text and imagery of familiar items. This 24-page title features colorful visual aids, simple text, comprehension and extension activities, and more to effectively engage beginning readers and reinforce the basics of counting. The Concepts: Shapes and Numbers series takes the learning of basic concepts to the next level. By connecting colors, counting, and shapes to what children know will result in greater understanding. Colors looks at the colors found in different seasons, Counting introduces children to the different ways they can count their favorite things, and shapes allows them to be creative and see what they can build.

This is a stunningly comprehensive roadmap to the human body, and a vividly compelling account of the long history of the study of anatomy and the many breakthroughs that inform our current notions of the human body, health, and disease. Equally intriguing are the cutting-edge research, treatments, and procedures that continue to advance our understanding of the body, its possibilities, and its limitations including: the systems of the body, digestion and excretion, blood and circulation, breathing, muscles and bones, the nervous system, the senses and health and the immune system. Full-color photographs, illustrations, and diagrams, archival images, and intriguing fact-filled sidebars, make this a resource that is perfectly suited to both the biology classroom and the high-interest section of the library. In addition, this is a superb text to use when integrating the Common Core curriculum standards for the reading of scientific texts. It satisfies all the relevant reading standards pertaining to key ideas and details, craft and structure, integration of knowledge and ideas, range of reading, and level of text complexity.

A fun-filled introduction to matter, the elements of the periodic table, atoms, electrons, reactions and bonding, and radioactivity, this volume provides young adults with chemistry examples that reflect their real-world interconnections in science. Key terms, easy experiments, and clear illustrations help to guide students through chemical applications. A chapter about Niels Bohr and his model for the atom honors his contribution to the understanding of atomic structure and to nuclear fission. Tools and techniques, such as a scanning tunneling microscope, Rutherford's gold foil experiment, and a mass spectrometer, highlight this instructive text that is aligned to the Common Core Standards.

Exposing children to a diverse range of literary and informational texts, the Core Concepts program helps develop important literacy and cognitive skills necessary to meet many of the Common Core State Standards. Did you know that every year hundreds of thousands of monarch butterflies migrate 2,500 miles to Mexico for the winter? It takes four generations of butterflies to make the trip, and only the fourth generation lives longer than three weeks. Follow a beautiful butterfly as she makes her journey down to Mexico!Fly, Butterfly covers the concepts Animals and Seasons.

Though we take light for granted, the world's greatest scientists have long puzzled over its nature, properties, and behavior. Its incredible speed, mysterious frequency, relationship to color, form of travel, and uncanny ability to reflect, refract, diffract, and be absorbed altogether make light the ever-elusive quarry of science's greatest hunters of knowledge and understanding. This is the enthralling account of their investigations and discoveries, their conclusive insights and ongoing questions, enhanced by full-color photographs and explanatory visual aids. If you thought you knew everything there is to know about light, think again and read on.