Backyard Biology

Offering a deep peek into the world right outside your door, this life science book for middle readers gets kids excited about the natural world with fantastic hands-on science experiments!

Where can you study biology? Everywhere! Do you need special equipment? No!

Biology is the study of life, and life is all around you. You can find life thriving in the city and in the country, teeming in ecosystems around the planet—in deserts, oceans, and even the Arctic. Backyard Biology: Discover the Life Cycles and Adaptations Outside Your Door with Hands-On Science Activities introduces readers ages 9 to 12 to the amazing world of life science right outside their doors, no matter where they live. Plentiful text-to-self and text-to-world connections provide foundational learning. This title has been revised and updated to reflect 2020 educational standards and incorporate new scientific discoveries!

• Backyard Biology: Discover the Life Cycles and Adaptations Outside Your Door with Hands-On Science Activities invites readers ages 9 through 12 to investigate living things in their own environments, including yards, parks, nature areas, and playgrounds.
• Backyard Biology turns readers into Nature Detectives with activities and projects that encourage children to build on a foundation of textual discovery and apply their knowledge to real-world problems and solutions.
• Activities include constructing a plankton net to collect pond samples and growing microorganisms in a Winogradsky column.
• Projects use materials already in most homes, reimagining and repurposing everyday items, as well as mining the recycling bin!
• Essential questions, short sidebars, and links to online primary resources help readers learn about the natural world around them and connect that natural world to the very survival of the human species.

About the Build It Science set and Nomad Press

Backyard Biology is part of a set of four Build It Science books that explore accessible science. The other titles in this set are Fairground Physics, Climate Change, and Kitchen Chemistry.

Nomad Press books in the Build It series integrate content with participation. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. Nomad’s unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.

All books are leveled for Guided Reading level and Lexile and align with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.

All titles are available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats.

Donna Latham is a playwright and author of Garbage: Follow the Path of Your Trash with Science Activities for Kids (Nomad Press 2019), Biomes: Discover the Earth’s Ecosystems with Science Activities for Kids (Nomad Press 2019), as well as a previous edition of Backyard Biology (Nomad Press 2013). She is a long-time member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Society of Midland Authors. She lives in Batavia, Illinois.

Michelle Simpson is a Professional Canadian illustrator. She graduated from Sheridan College with a BAA in illustration and now works as a freelance illustrator. Michelle has written and illustrated Monsters In My House and Night Festival. She has also worked as a concept artist for children's television shows Ollie: The Boy Who Became What He Ate: Season 2, and Tee and Mo. Most of her inspiration comes from nature and folklore.