A Young Scientist's Guide to Faulty Freaks of Nature by James Doyle

Are you intrigued by the effects of smog or methane clouds, the “Harry Potter” dinosaur, the Australian blue bird that screeches chainsaw noises, ocean “snot,” or the pink tentacles in the Korean dish where they swallow wriggling tentacles? Then strap on your hat for adventure and learn how planet Earth has been modified by the crazy chemistry of birdbrained biology and foolhardy physics of humans.

The Young Scientist’s Guide to Faulty Freaks of Nature is your guide to some of the strangest science ever seen, and in it you’ll discover that some of the things scientists told you were “wrong” were actually right! Fictional hobbits? They are real! You’ll even meet an all-new creature called a “spider-goat.” So if you have a thirst for the weird, the wonderful, and the downright wacky, then this is the science book for you.

Includes 20 experiments for the sink, bathtub, and backyard!

142 pages

The Frog Scientist by Pamela S. Turner

This non-fiction book from the Scientists in the Field series begins with a trip to collect frogs with scientist Tyrone Hayes. The second chapter deals with Hayes' background, and the remainder of the book addresses his work of questioning why amphibian populations around the world are declining. It discusses in particular the chemical atrazine, an agricultural pesticide, and an experiment to determine its impact on the reproductive organs of the leopard frog. The book goes through the specifics of how the experiment is conducted in order to rule out other causes of the reproductive changes. It ends with the scientist unclear as to whether atrazine is solely responsible for the changes... and the possible reasons for the unclear results of his experiment.