The horned lizard has one of the most astonishing ways of defending itself in the wild. It can shoot blood out of its eyes at its enemies! And that's not the only trick that this remarkable reptile performs. Readers will love learning about lizard adaptations in this entertaining look at one of nature's coolest, and weirdest, animals. Important science content is linked with fun, informative photographs and brightly written, achievable text.
Horned lizards shoot a stinging blood out of their eyes. Octopuses disguise themselves with a black inky cloud. Snails leave behind a trail of slime. Creatures in the natural world do some pretty disgusting things! They're not trying to be gross. Rather, these adaptations help them survive in the tough conditions of the wild. This accessible, fun series will delight readers while introducing them to essential science curriculum concepts. * High-interest topics engage reluctant readers * Dynamic photographs feature animals in their native habitats and aid in reading comprehension * Provides opportunities for examining informational text elements, an important facet of the Common Core English/Language Arts Standards * Encourages scientific understanding of animals and their habitats
Imagine The Sopranos, with snakes! The Lizard King is a fascinating account of a father and son family business suspected of smuggling reptiles, and the federal agent who tried to take them down. When Bryan Christy began to investigate the world of reptile smuggling, he had no idea what he would be in for. In the course of his research, he was bitten between the eyes by a blood python, chased by a mother alligator, and sprayed by a bird-eating tarantula. But perhaps more dangerous was coming face to face with Michael J. Van Nostrand, owner of Strictly Reptiles, a thriving family business in Hollywood, Florida. Van Nostrand imports as many as 300,000 iguanas each year (over half the total of America's most popular imported reptile), as well as hundreds of thousands of snakes, lizards, frogs, spiders, and scorpions. Van Nostrand was suspected of being a reptile smuggler by Special Agent Chip Bepler of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who devoted years of his life in an obsessive quest to expose The Lizard King's cold-blooded crimes. How this cat-and-mouse game ended is engrossing and surprising.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN LIBERATING HUMAN SLAVES IS AGAINST THE LAW? In this prequel to the highly regarded science-fiction novel, The Survivors, Colonel Kendrick Landry and Major Will Adams return as the crew of the starcraft Aurora travels to Alpha Centauri B-III and learns that the descendants of the crew of The Green Horizon, Earths first interstellar starcraft, are living in centuries-old enslavement to a lizard-like race. The lizards manage the humans with the help of renegade effete and decadent human council members that the author describes as wearing flowing robes reminiscent of ancient Roman emperors. The First Intergalactic Alliance does not permit liberation of the human slaves because the planet is not a member of the Alliance and subject to Alliance law. Alliance law, however, would sanction the Auroras defenseincluding even offensive action against the lizard government, permitting its overthrow by human resistance fighters on the planetbut only if the lizard government has first attacked the Aurora. Without knowledge or consent of Colonel Landry, Major Adams devises a scheme to provoke such an attack by the lizard command. The lizards attack the Aurora, in orbit around the planet, with devastating force. Now, the crew of the Aurora will be fortunate to ensure their own survival, let alone assist in the liberation of the lizards human slaves! The events of Lizards Lair occur one solar year earlier than the central story of The Survivors and sets out in full narrative detail the plot of a story briefly summarized early in The Survivors. For those readers who might not take immediate notice, this dandy novel is not just about alien lizards! It is a modern satire on governmentoverreaching and institutionalized slavery, and is a highly relevant moral parable of our time. FROM A JULY 2008 PRESS RELEASE TO THE SACRAMENTO BEE: Lizards Lair is written in the paradigm form of a science-fiction novella--defined to have a word count of between 17,500 and 40,000 by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for Science Fiction. This novella is an original dandy thriller and proves that indeed good things can come in small packages. A worthy complement to Derek Laurens already getting noticed premier science-fiction novel, The Survivors.
While working in Chinle Arizona on the Navajo Indian Reservation, I was approached by members of the tribe to write about a sacred lizard and to create a comprehensive curriculum that contains Language, Science and Biology, with important Navajo Culture. This is a culturally sensitive curriculum about the Short Horned Lizard of Arizona that is considered to be a sacred animal know to the tribe for centuries. Ancient peoples of Arizona, such as the Anasazi, Hohokam, and Mogollon revered this lizard for its astonishing abilities as well as the Tarahumara people of Mexico who call it the Virgin's Little Bull. Not only interesting, this curriculum is full of cultural information as well as role playing for the children, biology, science, language arts in English with added Navajo language for cultural importance. Contains printable worksheets. 62 pages. Bulk discounts available.
