Bailey, Jill

Discusses the origins, appearance, habitat, food, family life, and enemies of rats and mice.

Demonstrates the different swimming styles of sharks, eels, sea horses, and other aquatic animals and explains how their bodies are adapted to their ways of swimming.

Describes the life cycle of the butterfly, from the hatching of the caterpillar, through its struggle to survive, to its metamorphosis into a butterfly and the laying of its own eggs.

Describes different kinds of spiders, the types of webs they spin, and they various purposes these webs serve.

Hector observes a pair of blue-and-gold macaws in the wild and explains their mating habits to two visiting students. Similar fictional vignettes combined with factual information focus on the behavior and endangered situation of the macaw.

Introduces lampreys, sturgeons, eels, cod, grunion, stickleback, and other varieties of fish life.

Provides brief descriptions of birds that eat plants or seeds.

A brief overview of how different animals protect themselves through camouflage and mimicry of other animals.

Explores how animal and plant life adapts to the changing seasons.

Explores key topics in genetics and evolution, focusing on recent discoveries, especially in the area of reproductive technology, and looks at the ongoing debates about the ethics of genetic engineering.