Nature is tricky, and the animals in this book prove it. Camouflage is a remarkable adaptation that manifests itself through coloring, shape, and movement. This entertaining and informative text explains the different forms of camouflage that animals employ to survive in their environments. Arctic hares, octopuses, penguins, praying mantises, polar bears, and zebras are some of the high-interest animals in disguise in this volume packed with essential science concepts and bright photographs.

Pronghorn, kangaroos, rhinos, and ostriches all have something in common: speed! They’re not only fast, but they’re fast enough to outrun their predators. This crucial adaptation has enabled them to survive in their various habitats amongst ferocious animals that seek to consume them. Readers will love reading about the swift beasts in this book and how they thwart their enemies. Key science concepts, such as adaptations and habitats, are interwoven into the text. Action photographs in the wild, a graphic organizer, and fact boxes are highlights of this engagingly designed volume.

Stenches, slime, excrement, and vomit are all gross—and very effective—animal defenses. A dog that has been sprayed by a skunk will rarely want to approach the furry animal again. The seabird called the fulmar spews a stinky vomit powerful enough to cause a bird to drown! These are just two of the creatures in the spotlight of this entertaining volume. Readers will learn just how powerful defensive adaptations can be against even the deadliest predators. Essential science vocabulary, demonstrative photographs, and surprising fact boxes augment this book’s motivating and educational content.

Many animal species have developed a deadly adaptation to thwart their predators: poison! Some infamous spiders and snakes are feared, and rightly so, for their toxic defenses. However, many other animals are just as deadly. In this fascinating volume, readers will find out the difference between poison and venom. They’ll learn about several creatures and the toxins they use to survive in the wild, such as the pufferfish, the poison dart frog, the cone snail, and the blue-ringed octopus. Beautiful color photographs, a graphic organizer, and fact boxes with stunning information augment this exciting volume.

Some species of porcupines have 30,000 quills. Sea horses have bony plates to make them less appetizing, and a sea urchin’s spines may be 1 foot (30 cm) long and venomous. These animals are definitely equipped to survive in their native habitats, much to the disappointment of their predators! In this lively volume, young zoologists will learn about various types of body coverings that help creatures, such as the echidna and the pangolin, stay alive. Photographs of animals in action and a graphic organizer further reinforce the importance of adaptations in the wild.

Plenty of predators use their monstrous jaws and piercing claws to attack their prey, but many creatures wield these adaptations as defensive mechanisms, too. Readers may be surprised that an animal as cute as the red panda can fiercely protect itself from a snow leopard and that there’s a kind of frog that can jab its version of a bony claw through its skin. Every animal needs to have some kind of weapon if they want to survive in a wild world. Illustrative photographs, fun fact boxes, and a concluding graphic organizer support and enhance this high-interest volume.

Nature is tricky, and the animals in this book prove it. Camouflage is a remarkable adaptation that manifests itself through coloring, shape, and movement. This entertaining and informative text explains the different forms of camouflage that animals employ to survive in their environments. Arctic hares, octopuses, penguins, praying mantises, polar bears, and zebras are some of the high-interest animals in disguise in this volume packed with essential science concepts and bright photographs.

Explore the everyday miracle of the microscopic world With spectacular macro photography and microscope images, this ebook reveals a hidden, living world full of intricate structures beyond the naked eye. Included are the tiniest insects and spiders; but looking deeper, you will discover truly microscopic creatures--even bacteria and viruses. Earth is home to more microbes, and more different types of microbes, than any other living organism. Bacteria on Earth outweigh humans by 1,100 to 1; and without them, all world ecosystems would collapse. This ebook reveals this vital, unseen realm, but it includes large life-forms too, in extreme close-up, so that you can wonder at the beauty of a pollen grain, a butterfly egg, the spore of a fungus, and the nerve cell of a human. The spectacular imagery in Micro Life exploits cutting-edge technology, such as focus-stacked macro photographs, as well as micrographs (microscope images) including scanning electron micrographs. Illustrations nearby explain the science--from the workings of an insect's eye to how a plant "breathes" through its leaves. The biology builds into a reference on how life works--and how all organisms, however small, solve the basic problems of movement, reproduction, energy, communication, and defense. Micro Life is a beautiful and surprising look at the natural world.

The Cat looks at animals that are not easy to see! The Cat in the Hat introduces young readers to the concept of camouflage—a type of adaptation that helps animals survive. Children will learn how some animals change color to blend in with their surroundings, how some disguise themselves by matching the shape or texture of their environment, and how others use their coloring to make it hard for predators to see the outlines of their bodies. Examples include well-known animals like zebras, crocodiles, polar bears, and penguins, as well as lesser-known ones like tailor ants, decorator crabs, stick insects, and more! Ideal for supporting the Common Core State Standards, and a natural for fans of the hit PBS Kids show The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, this is a great way to introduce beginning readers to science and nonfiction!

'Undercover lays bare the deceit, betrayal and cold-blooded violation practised again and again by undercover police officers - troubling, timely and brilliantly executed.' Henry Porter The gripping stories of a group of police spies - written by the award-winning investigative journalists who exposed the Mark Kennedy scandal - and the uncovering of forty years of state espionage. This was an undercover operation so secret that some of our most senior police officers had no idea it existed. The job of the clandestine unit was to monitor British 'subversives' - environmental activists, anti-racist groups, animal rights campaigners. Police stole the identities of dead people to create fake passports, driving licences and bank accounts. They then went deep undercover for years, inventing whole new lives so that they could live incognito among the people they were spying on. They used sex, intimate relationships and drugs to build their credibility. They betrayed friends, deceived lovers, even fathered children. And their operations continue today. Undercover reveals the truth about secret police operations - the emotional turmoil, the psychological challenges and the human cost of a lifetime of deception - and asks whether such tactics can ever be justified.