Did you know that cars can run on french-fry grease or that human poop can be used to provide power to classrooms? Kids in Mexico help light up their houses by playing soccer, and in the Philippines, pop-bottle skylights are improving the quality of life for thousands of families. Brilliant! is about what happens when you harness the power of imagination and innovation: the world changes for the better! Full of examples of unusual (and often peculiar)...

Pedal It! celebrates the humble bicycle-from the very first boneshakers to the sleek racing bikes of today, from handlebars to spokes to gear sprockets-and shows you why and how bikes can make the world a better place. Not only can bikes be used to power computers and generators, they can also reduce pollution, promote wellness and get a package across a crowded city-fast! Informative but not didactic, Pedal It! encourages young readers to be part...

Examines the wide variety of houses that people from around the world use to take shelter, looking especially at subterranean, mobile, modular, earthen, and innovative dwellings.

Whether they live alone or together, in a hive or in a hole in the ground, bees do some of the most important work on the planet: pollinating plants. What's the Buzz? celebrates the magic of bees-from swarming to dancing to making honey-and encourages readers to do their part to keep the hives alive. All over the world, bee colonies are dwindling, but everyone can do something to help save the bees, from buying local honey to growing a bee-friendly...

Until a few hundred years ago, people were embarrassed to buy bread in a store. Families took pride in making almost everything they owned. These days, many people take pride in buying as much as possible! New clothes, a speedier bicycle, the latest phone. If we've got money, someone can sell us a product that will supposedly make our lives better. But each year, humanity uses resources equivalent to nearly one and a half Earths, and we're still not...

"Explores where the food we eat comes from and what the future of farming look like"--

Publisher Annotation: We're all connected to the ocean, and the ocean to us. The ocean provides half the oxygen we breathe; it feeds us, creates our weather and provides us with water. But we haven't been as kind to the ocean in return. The problems are many: pollution, overfishing, rising seas and acid waters. What can be done? Don't despair; take action. Dive In! explores our intimate connection with the ocean and provides every reader with an achievable...

Publisher Annotation: Part of the nonfiction Footprints series for middle readers, illustrated with many color photographs. Readers will learn how to take an active part in creating the kind of cities they'd like to live in.

Chemical World: Science in Our Daily Lives explores some of the materials-all of which are made of basic chemical elements-that humans use or come into contact with in their day-to-day lives. Some of these chemicals are naturally occurring-clay, mercury, lead. Others have been synthesized by chemists during the past 150 years and used in a bewildering array of products ranging from roof shingles to toothpaste. Many chemical inventions, as well as...

"Did you know that lamps can be powered by glowing bacteria instead of electricity? That gloves designed like gecko feet let people climb straight up glass walls? Or that kids are finding ways to make compostable plastic out of banana peels? Biomimicry, the scientific term for when we learn from and copy nature, is a revolutionary way to look to nature for answers to environmental problems such as climate change. In Design Like Nature young readers...