Books in Dover Children's Science Books series

What's so special about the ocean? Everything! The birthplace of all life on Earth, it is the largest of the world's ecosystems, covering almost three-quarters of our planet. It produces most of the fresh water we drink and half the oxygen that we breathe. In fact, the very land we are standing on came from the ocean floor and will one day return there. In this carefully researched, fun-to-color book, you'll learn how the ocean does many wondrous things. Find out how it determines both the climate and the weather. Encounter the tiny animals and plants floating on the surface as well as the monstrous creatures lurking in the dark abyss. And most importantly, discover why a healthy ocean is essential and what you can do to help protect it.

Convert old CDs into shiny fishes and turtles, make a mobile from yarn and a disposable pie pan, and transform empty egg cartons into caterpillars! Dozens of simple projects offer hours of inventive fun with ordinary household items. Geared toward children ages 3 to 8, these projects feature easy-to-reproduce patterns and detailed, well-illustrated instructions. Each project includes a list of materials, most of which are as common as scissors and glue. Playful activities such as transforming a paper plate into a funny frog and making a butterfly from a cardboard tube help develop creative skills and encourage kids to explore the imaginative possibilities of everyday objects.

No, it's not a message from outer space! Just read it backwards, starting from the bottom line, to discover what this specially coded message says. (The extra letter "X" at the beginning was thrown in just to make the message a bit more mysterious.)Codes have been used for centuries. Now, with the help of this entertaining book, you, too, will be able to decipher dozens of secret messages. Veteran cryptographer Bud Johnson not only describes the different techniques used in secret writing but also explains — clearly and simply — how to make and break six different kinds of codes: simple letter grouping, reverse trail, shift code, key word code, date shift code, and twisted path code. You'll even learn techniques for creating your own confidential messages!Cartoons by illustrator Larry Daste accompany the 51 practice messages, along with easy-to-follow instructions explaining each type of code and how to use it. There's also a glossary defining common terms used by cryptographers, a sheet of reproducible graph paper for writing out messages, and a page of ready-made alphabets for shift and key word codes. And if all those funny drawings and helpful guidelines aren't enough to help you decode our secret messages, don't worry. Solutions are included at the end of the book.

The 73 scientific experiments described in this book can easily be done by children on their own, without the supervision of a parent or teacher. Explicit directions are given for each step, and the only equipment required can be found around the house. By working with such simple materials as steel wool, cotton, candles, eye-dropper, compass, cork, rubber tubing, coins and magnets, the young experimenter will become acquainted with dozens of the basic principles of physics, chemistry, mechanics, engineering, and many other fields.Following the step-by-step instructions, a child can learn to make an air-screw, mariner's compass, simple siphon, pinhole camera, thermometer, invisible ink, simple electric motor, periscope, boomerang, 3-D viewer, and many other interesting things. The exercises and demonstrations also show how to burn steel, find a center of gravity, make a vacuum with a radish, electrify a bubble, reflect sound, make water denser, compress air under water, carry a column of water, make a liquid sandwich, watch a pulse at work, etc. Each article gives some background information along with an explanation of why the experiment works the way it does.Over 100 photographs show children performing the experiments, and numerous line drawings depict the materials used, the set-up of equipment, and the desired result.

Winner of a Silver 2013 Moonbeam Children's Book Award! Take a close look at 25 of the world's most famous paintings in this artful puzzle book. Two identical-looking full-page versions of a masterpiece appear side by side, but a careful search will reveal several subtle — and sometimes amusing — differences. Fun facts introduce Holbein's dignified The Ambassadors, Cassatt's Children Playing on the Beach, and other painters and their works. Includes solutions.

Twenty-five pairs of color reproductions of iconic covers from The Saturday Evening Post invite everyone to spot the differences. Pictures on the left display unaltered original art; the ones on the right feature 11 to 15 subtle changes. Suitable for all ages, the images include covers by Norman Rockwell, John Falter, Stevan Dohanos, Richard "Dick" Sargent, and many other artists. Solutions included.

Winner of the Bronze 2016 Moonbeam Award for Education, Science, and History!Everybody talks about the weather ― and now kids can have interesting things to say about it, too! What causes thunderstorms and hurricanes? How do cold and warm fronts develop, and what's the weather like on other planets? Answers to these and other questions appear in 46 full-page illustrations and captions. The ideal introduction to meteorology, this coloring book explains blizzards, tornadoes, rainbows, mudslides, and other natural phenomena.

Full-color illustrations and easy-to-follow directions explain basic techniques as well as every step of the crafting process for 29 clay projects — a sloth, flamingo, narwhal, llama, panda, zebra, unicorn, koala, elephant, and other cute critters. Each project includes a list of materials consisting of colored clay and ordinary household items. The step-by-step instructions feature numerals corresponding to color photos that provide helpful examples. Crafters of all ages will adore these fun-filled projects, which make charming keepsakes and unique gifts.

With this charmingly illustrated book — and a little help from a parent or other grownup — kids can conduct fun-filled science experiments using recycled household items. They'll learn about sound waves by transforming ordinary cardboard tubing into music-making didgeridoos and kazoos. Other eye-opening activities involve building a battery with pennies and tinfoil, playing a fishing game that illustrates the principles of magnetic force, and using food coloring and fizzy antacid tablets to make a lava lamp. Additional projects include discovering the differences between crickets and grasshoppers, mixing up a batch of invisible ink, and learning how to clone plants. Easy-to-follow instructions explain how to make a butterfly feeder, a birdbath, eggshell planters, a windsock, a string telephone, and other items. Each activity features a simple explanation of its underlying scientific principles.

Using puzzles, kids will face dozens of intriguing challenges as they answer interesting questions about the first Olympic games, the longest river in the world, Italy's most famous Renaissance man, and other subjects related to world history, geography, and popular culture. From alphabet and number codes to grids and picture puzzles, this book offers plenty of fun for kids, ages 8 to 11. Includes complete solutions.

Welcome to the amazing world of dinosaurs! Children ages 8 and up can discover where these prehistoric creatures lived, the food they ate, and what they may have looked like. Along the way, they'll encounter bone-crushing teeth, slashing claws, and spiked tails while learning fascinating facts about dinosaur eggs and fossils, moving continents, climate changes, exploding volcanoes, and even an asteroid crashing into Earth.