Read fluently with the Smithsonian! For fluent readers that have mastered levels 1, 2, and 3, Smithsonian Readers: Endless Explorations Level 4 provides fascinating facts and challenging content that promotes reading success and enjoyment. Developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution and esteemed childhood literacy expert Dr. Adria Klein, Smithsonian Readers: Endless Explorations Level 4 contains six 32-page topics for children on their way to becoming expert readers: Predators, Space Exploration, Natural Disasters, World Wonders, Ocean Habitats, and Flight. Bound into the book are 36 perforated fact cards created for fluent readers looking for extra learning opportunities. Level 4: Fluent Readers -Variety of factual texts that contain unfamiliar themes and challenging technical content -Includes glossary and pronunciation guides to -Contains longer and more complex sentence patterns -Most of the vocabulary should be familiar to second-graders -Longer stretches of text and extended descriptions without the support of pictures -Extended sentences with various structures

Discover a love of reading with the Smithsonian! Smithsonian Readers: Seriously Amazing Level 2 provides accessible and engaging content designed to encourage further progress in children’s reading abilities. Developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution and esteemed childhood literacy expert Dr. Adria Klein, Seriously Amazing Level 2 encourages development in readers with unfamiliar vocabulary terms, new phonic structures, and more variation in sentence patterns. Seriously Amazing Level 2 contains six 32-page topics, chosen for their appeal to developing readers: Nighttime Animals, Sea Life, Dinosaurs, Solar System, Baby Animals, and the Human Body. Thirty-six perforated fact cards extend the learning and reading practice. Level 2: Developing Readers -Simple factual texts with mostly familiar themes and content -Concepts in text are supported by images -Includes glossary to reinforce reading comprehension -Repetition of basic sentence structure with variation of placement of subjects, verbs, and adjectives -Mostly easy vocabulary familiar to kindergarteners and first graders -Introduction to new phonic structures -Integration of contractions, possessives, compound sentences, and some three-syllable words

Build, create, invent, and discover 28 awesome experiments and activities with Maker Lab. Created in association with the Smithsonian Institution and supporting STEAM education initiatives, Maker Lab has 28 kid-safe projects and crafts that will get young inventors' wheels turning and make science pure fun. Explaining science through photographs and facts that carefully detail the "why" and "how" of each experiment using real-world examples to provide context, each activity is appropriate for kids ages 8-12 years old and ranked easy, medium, or hard, with an estimated time frame for completion. Requiring only household materials, young makers can build an exploding volcano, make bath fizzies, construct a solar system, make an eggshell geode, and more. With a foreword by Jack Andraka, a teen award-winning inventor, Maker Lab will help kids find their inner inventor to impress friends, family, and teachers and create winning projects for science fairs and school projects.

Uncover the key moments that shaped American history in this extensive history encyclopedia for children. Get the background on the Battle of Yorktown and discover what started the American Revolution. Learn the legends of the Wild West. Relive the atmosphere of the "Roaring Twenties." Covering everything from the cultures of the first Native Americans right up to the events of the present day, American History: A Visual Encyclopedia is the ultimate reference tool for exploring the history of one of the most remarkable nations in the world. Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, American History: A Visual Encyclopedia gives detailed historical information and brings it to life with more than 750 photographs and paintings, plus extensive maps, charts, and state-specific information. Each double-page spread focuses on one aspect of the nation's history, be it the Civil War or civil rights, the Great Depression or the Moon landing. Complete texts of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are included in the book for easy reference for classroom work or reports. Perfect as both an irreplaceable homework help and a fascinating read, American History: A Visual Encyclopedia showcases the incredible journey the United States of America has made to become a major 21st century power.

This epic journey of scientific discovery starts in ancient times and travels through centuries of invention before fast forwarding into the future. In this ultimate home reference, you'll see simple machines and modern-day marvels, following incredible illustrated timelines that plot the entire history of science and highlight the most momentous discoveries. A jaw-dropping collection of more than 1,500 photographs, illustrations, maps, and graphics charts the evolution of science year by year, century by century. You'll meet influential inventors and famous faces from the past, including Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie, and Stephen Hawking. You'll visit places of scientific importance, such as prehistoric cave art, Stonehenge, Hiroshima and the first atomic bomb, the Moon landings, and the Higgs boson particle. These huge events are made simple thanks to eye-catching images, helpful timelines, and accessible, informative text. Landmark people and periods are combined in this one stunning family reference, showcasing the ideas, experiments, and technologies that have shaped our daily lives and transformed the world we live in today. Budding scientists, get ready for a time travelling trip like no other.

The classic case for why government must support science—with a new essay by physicist and former congressman Rush Holt on what democracy needs from science today Science, the Endless Frontier is recognized as the landmark argument for the essential role of science in society and government’s responsibility to support scientific endeavors. First issued when Vannevar Bush was the director of the US Office of Scientific Research and Development during the Second World War, this classic remains vital in making the case that scientific progress is necessary to a nation’s health, security, and prosperity. Bush’s vision set the course for US science policy for more than half a century, building the world’s most productive scientific enterprise. Today, amid a changing funding landscape and challenges to science’s very credibility, Science, the Endless Frontier resonates as a powerful reminder that scientific progress and public well-being alike depend on the successful symbiosis between science and government. This timely new edition presents this iconic text alongside a new companion essay from scientist and former congressman Rush Holt, who offers a brief introduction and consideration of what society needs most from science now. Reflecting on the report’s legacy and relevance along with its limitations, Holt contends that the public’s ability to cope with today’s issues—such as public health, the changing climate and environment, and challenging technologies in modern society—requires a more capacious understanding of what science can contribute. Holt considers how scientists should think of their obligation to society and what the public should demand from science, and he calls for a renewed understanding of science’s value for democracy and society at large. A touchstone for concerned citizens, scientists, and policymakers, Science, the Endless Frontier endures as a passionate articulation of the power and potential of science.