Other editions of book Life As We Know It: Putting the Buzz Back into Biology!

What makes Earth so special? Find out why our little planet is the perfect place for life to flourish in Life As We Know It.Life As We Know It goes back four billion years to a time when the earth was barely inhabitable, exploring the amazing story of how everything came to be despite the nearly impossible, hostile conditions that existed.Discover the six building blocks for all living things, unzip the DNA ladder, learn about the six different kingdom classifications, and more. Find out how 8.7 million species of plants and animals came from one single cell, and see how codependent Earth's delicate ecosystem is, with every organism and every living thing essential to sustain life.Broken up into manageable chapters from the smallest cells to the huge "Are we really alone in the Universe?" question, this refreshed paperback edition of Life As We Know It explains complex scientific ideas with highly visual pages that have clear text for middle-grade students. Spanning the beginning of the universe to modern day, Life As We Know It celebrates everything we know—and even what we don't know—about life.

As far as we know, Earth is the only inhabited planet in the Universe. So what makes Earth such an ideal place for life to survive? And how did it all get started? Life as We Know It goes back to the beginnings of life on our planet, explaining to middle grade readers how it emerged under hostile conditions from a chemical soup as a simple self-contained unit: the cell. Key biological themes, such as how cells work, produce energy, and reproduce are explained in simple terms. This knowledge is then used to explain how more complex organisms live. The book also looks at the wide variety of plant and animal life on Earth and how it evolved, and introduces the features and characteristics of members of the six kingdoms of life. Young readers will learn how life forms have adapted to occupy particular niches and what can happen if something upsets this balance. Lavishly illustrated with images from DK's extensive natural history photo library, this encyclopedia is a visual feast as well as a thorough treatment of biology. Through DK's unique visual style, scientific ideas that might appear intimidating in a textbook are made lucid at a glance.