Fantastic Plants

The huge corpse flower rarely blooms, sometimes once every ten years. When it does, it gives off a strong scent-the stink of a rotting corpse! The gross smell has a purpose, as readers of this fascinating volume will learn. It has everything to do with a main subject of the elementary science curriculum: pollination. Other science topics covered include plant life cycles, structures, and adaptations. Fact boxes add even more expert information, while full-color photographs offer an up-close look at a unique, high-interest plant.

Triggering a Venus flytrap to snap its trap takes just two light touches from an insect's wing or a spider's legs. Unlike many plants, the Venus flytrap doesn't just get nutrition from photosynthesis and soil. Readers learn all about how the Venus flytrap draws in bugs to eat, as well as how the plant digests. The main content includes science curriculum information such as plant structures, habitat facts, and other unique elements of this plant's life cycle. Fun fact boxes and full-color photographs show this intriguing plant-and its victims-in a fascinating light.

One of the oldest trees on our planet is almost 5,000 years old-a bristlecone pine named Methuselah. This fascinating book draws readers from the ancient world to the present through the incredible life cycle of this remarkable tree. Its main features, habitat, and more are described in intriguing detail, including adaptations that allow it to survive such a long time. Full-color photographs and fact boxes augment the interesting science content with fun facts and beautiful images of the majestic bristlecone pine.

Plants make all their own food-right? Not pitcher plants! Most pitcher plants draw in insects with their sweet-smelling nectar and slowly digest them. There are some kinds of pitcher plants that like to snack on mice and rats too. The bizarre eating habits of the pitcher plant are sure to fascinate and delight readers as they learn about this plant's digestive system, its habitat, and more. Full-color photographs, fact boxes, and simple explanations of pollination and fertilization allow readers to understand and appreciate this unique member of the plant world.

Forests can be found all over the world-including underwater! Giant kelp forests grow in coastal areas where the water is so clear that sunlight can reach the sea floor. Kelp can grow more than a foot in a day if the conditions are right, meaning kelp forests spring up quickly. Full-color photographs and accessible language take readers under the sea to discover an extraordinary habitat. Information about photosynthesis and algae structures supplement readers' knowledge from science class. Fun fact boxes give budding marine biologists even more interesting information about kelp and its critical role in the ocean biome.

Deserts aren't home to many plants. Those that live in such dry, hot environments need special adaptations to survive and thrive. Many species of cacti do just that! Readers of this beautifully designed book explore the ways cacti conserve water in their habitat, the features that make them similar to and different from other plants, and the reasons they're such vital parts of their ecosystems. Full-color photographs, interesting fact boxes, and a graphic organizer give budding botanists the most essential information, content that supports the elementary life-science curriculum.