Most Popular Books by Rebecca L. Johnson

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and sentence highlighting to engage reluctant readers! The octopus spies a nice, tasty mantis shrimp. It swims over for a closer look at the small creature. Thenu0097WHAM!u0097the mantis shrimp strikes a nasty blow with its hammer-like forelimb. The octopus shrinks back, defeated. That wasn''t such an easy meal after all . . . In nature, good defenses can mean the difference between surviving a predator''s attack and becoming its lunch. Some animals rely on sharp teeth and claws or camouflage. But that''s only the beginning. Meet creatures with some of the strangest defenses known to science. How strange? Hagfish that can instantaneously produce oodles of gooey, slippery slime; frogs that poke their own toe bones through their skin to create claws; young birds that shoot streams of stinking poop; and more.

"How do the plants and animals of the prairie depend on one another for survival? Discover a world of tall grasses and wildflowers that creatures from butterflies to badgers call home"--

"The tundra is a windy and cold landscape. But the closer you look, the more life you see. Mosses, grasses, and wildflowers grow in the thin soil. Animals from bees to bears depend on the life growing in this chilly habitat"--

Are zombies real? As far as we know, dead people do not come back to life and start walking around, looking for trouble. But there are things that can take over the bodies and brains of innocent creatures, turning them into senseless slaves. Meet nature''s zombie makers—including a fly-enslaving fungus, a suicide worm, and a cockroach-taming wasp—and their victims.

"Walk among the white spruce, red squirrels, and deer of the boreal forest. Discover this North American habitat and the plants and animals that call it home. Narrative text, striking images, and illustrations explore this critical biome"--

An immersive, high-interest approach to the highly curricular topic of biomes

Take a walk in the boreal forest. Sunlight filters through tall spruce and pine trees. It''s cool and damp, even late in the summer. As you walk silently across the carpet of needles, you can hear the chatter of squirrels and the hammering of a woodpecker in the trees above you. Two snowshoe hares speed past you. Could a lynx be near? Discover this North American habitat and the plants and animals that call it home. Narrative text, striking images, and illustrations explore this critical biome.

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and sentence highlighting for an engaging read aloud experience! Have you ever wondered what mysteries the ocean holds? Prepare to explore the ocean from sunlit shallows to the deepest, darkest depths. Along the way, you''ll meet many incredible creatures that are brand new to science. Dive to a coral reef and spot a new species of pygmy octopus. Travel deeper and discover fragile, nearly transparent jellies as they drift past. Then head down into a world of eternal night. You''ll encounter animals that make their own light and zombie worms that feast on the bones of dead whales. Your adventure is based on the real journeys of scientists involved in the Census of Marine Life. From 2000 to 2010, more than two thousand researchers from eighty-two countries carried out the most extensive investigation of ocean life ever attempted. Author Rebecca L. Johnson takes readers to research sites around the globe, showing how ocean scientists do their work. Stunning photographs throughout bring readers face-to-face with some of the most mesmerizing creatures on Earth.

An illustrated compendium of information on plants and their diverse therapeutic properties and benefits brings together folklore, scientific research, and medical theory to describe hundreds of plants and their origins.--

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and text highlighting for an engaging read aloud experience! The digestive system is made up of the tongue, the esophagus, the stomach, the intestines, and other parts. But what does the digestive system do? And how do its parts work together to keep your body healthy? Explore the digestive system in this engaging and informative book.

Take a walk in the rain forest. It''s hot and humid and humming with life. Look up into the dense canopy of leaves above you. Tangled vines lead to the treetops, where parrots squawk and monkeys swing from branch to branch. A poison dart frog clings to a slippery leaf. A sloth creeps through the canopy. The dense rain forest overflows with life. Discover the plants and animals that depend on each other in this unique biome through narrative text, entrancing photos, and illustrations.

Take a walk in the tundra. In this cold, harsh biome at the top of the world, summer is short. Carpets of wildflowers and grasses bloom in the bright sunlight. An arctic fox pup catches sight of a lemming. The fox pup pounces . . . . The closer you look, the more life you see. Mosses, grasses, and wildflowers grow in the thin soil. Animals from bees to bears depend on the life growing in this chilly habitat Learn about this windy landscape though narrative text, crisp photos, and illustrations.

A resource organized by body system lists the key herbal remedies available, their uses, and cautionary advice, in a book that includes full-color photos, a glossary and several thematic indexes.

Describes the physical characteristics and habitat of carnivorous plants, including pitcher plants, venus fly traps, and cobra lilies.

In the 1880s, science witnessed a major shift: Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution. People dug up the first dinosaur fossils. And the field of paleontology—the study of ancient plants and animals—emerged. Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope became enthralled with these new ideas, discoveries, and developments. Both were determined to become world-famous paleontologists. When they met in 1863, they started off as friends. But within a few years, competition drove the men apart. Each fought bitterly to discover more fossils, name more species, and publish more papers than the other. In their haste to outdo each other, they both produced some shoddy work. The resulting confusion took many years to discover and correct, and their toxic relationship crippled the field of paleontology for decades afterward. However, the competition also produced a wealth of fossils. These laid a firm foundation for the field of paleontology and supported Darwin''s theory of evolution. Marsh''s and Cope''s discoveries generated keen public interest in prehistoric life and rich data for future generations of paleontologists. This book explores the great rivalry between Marsh and Cope, showing how it brought out the best and the worst in them—while bringing humankind a brand-new view of life on Earth.

Explains how volcanoes form, why earthquakes happen, and what goes on deep inside the earth to make the continents move.

Explores the causes of current environmental problems, particularly global warming, and discusses new trends, technology, and new solutions.

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and text highlighting for an engaging read aloud experience! The muscular system is made up of three different kinds of muscles: skeletal muscles, smooth muscle, and heart muscle. But what does each kind of muscle do? And where in the body are they located? Explore the muscular system in this engaging and informative book.

In the animal kingdom, survival is the name of the game—and not everything is as it seems. A number of animals rely on particularly clever tricks to fool predators or prey. A baby bird mimics a poisonous caterpillar. A moth escapes bats by making sounds that interfere with the bats'' echolocation. A tiny rain forest spider builds a big spider "puppet" out of bits of dead leaves, insect parts, and other items. Find out more about some of nature''s most bizarre and bloodthirsty con artists and meet the scientists who are working to figure out just how they pull off their amazing tricks.

An illustrated compendium of information on plants and their diverse therapeutic properties and benefits brings together folklore, scientific research, and medical theory to describe hundreds of plants and their origins.--

An immersive, high-interest approach to the highly curricular topic of biomes

Take a walk in the desert. It''s hot and dry―and full of life. An elf owl peers out at you from its home, a hole in a saguaro cactus. Nearby, a desert tortoise stretches its neck to nibble on a wildflower. From the thick green stems of cacti to fluffy jackrabbits, the desert is teeming with life. Narrative text and you-are-there photos put the reader in the middle of this misunderstood biome and critical habitat. The interdependence of plant and animal species comes alive in these immersive looks at North American biomes. Descriptive text engages the senses as it takes readers through each habitat. Scientifically accurate illustrations and striking photos add to the you-are-there approach.

A biography of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the daring, charismatic Antarctic explorer who fell short of his goal of crossing Antarctica, but accomplished a far greater feat by bringing every member of his crew back alive.

Takes readers on a walk in a swamp, showing examples of how the animals and plants of wetlands are connected and dependent on each other and the wetland''s watery environment.

If a black dog and a white dog have puppies, what color will the puppies be? Genetic scientists have been trying to answer this question for hundreds of years. Genetics is the science of heredity—how traits are passed from parents to offspring. One of the first breakthroughs came from Gregor Mendel, a nineteenth-century monk who spent eight years breeding thousands of pea plants. Pea plants might seem pretty different from dogs, but on a microscopic level, they have a surprising amount in common. Genetic pioneers of the twentieth century unlocked the secrets of DNA, the molecule that holds heredity information for all life-forms. Thjis book tells the story of how scientists cracked the code of life and revolutionized molecular biology.

Takes readers on a journey into a river, showing examples of how the animals and plants are connected and dependent on each other and the river''s freshwater environment.

National Geographic''s guide to 36 "super" herbs such as aloe, echinacea, ginkgo, and peppermint includes a wealth of essential information on the history, culture, folklore, and science of traditional and contemporary herbal medicine in all major culture areas of the world. Emphasizing current research and therapeutic uses, the volume provides an A-Z listing of 36 of the more than 80,000 known medicinal plants around the world. Information about each plant includes traditional and current medicinal uses, common and Latin names, description, habitat, cultivation and preparation, research, and caution alerts. Additional essays on the healing plants of Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Central and South America, China, Europe, India, North America, the Middle East, and Oceania provide insightful glimpses into the fascinating range and diversity of local health practices while also revealing the multifaceted roles that herbalists, healers, and herbal-medicine practitioners play in the lives of their patients.

Do you realize there are about 100 trillion cells in your body? That''s a lot of cells to manage! It''s a good thing they are organized into systems that all work together. This book takes you on a journey inside your body to see many types of cells skin cells, blood cells, muscle cells, and more magnified hundreds or thousands of times larger than their actual size. You''ll find out how groups of cells work together to keep your body running. Are you ready for this microquest?

Describes how the body fights off germs, from secretions including tears and saliva to the cells that make up the immune system.

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and sentence highlighting to engage reluctant readers! Did you know that some animals have natural ninja-like talents? In this book, you''ll learn all about them, including geckos, sea urchins, bombardier beetles, and more. For example, geckos can grip almost any surfaceu0097including walls and ceilingsu0097with their amazing toes. And when collector urchins are attacked, they release tiny, sharp objects that bear a striking resemblance to throwing stars. You will also meet the scientists who are studying these animals'' amazing abilities.

What is matter made of? Scientists have been trying to answer this question for thousands of years. The concept of the atom—the tiniest fragment of a substance that still retains the characteristics of that substance—goes back to the Greek philosopher Leucippus, who lived in about 450 b.c. In the mid-1600s, Robert Boyle provided experimental evidence that atoms did, indeed, exist. And in 1897, British physicist Joseph John Thomson discovered the first subatomic particle: the electron. Yet even the tiny components of the atom—protons, electrons, and neutrons—are not the smallest things in the universe. Subatomic particles are made up of still tinier objects called quarks and leptons. This book tells the story of how scientists unlocked the secrets of the atom and revolutionized the way we look at the world around us.

Takes readers on a walk at a sheltered bay, showing examples of how the animals and plants of estuaries are connected and dependent on each other and the estuary''s mix of fresh and salt water.

Learn what satellites do for us.

Takes readers on a journey into a lake, showing examples of how the animals and plants are connected and dependent on each other and on the lake''s freshwater environment.

Takes readers on a journey into the ocean, showing examples of how the animals and plants of the ocean are connected and dependent on each other and the ocean''s saltwater environment.

Through close-up photographs of cells and cell parts, this book explains what special talents your cells--and the cells of other animals--have.

Follow a number of scientific investigations looking for the causes of climate change.