Each volume is an active learning tool that contains:
-- Clearly defined key terms
-- Full-color photographs and drawings throughout each section that enhance the comparisons between nature and technology and illustrate the principles discussed in the text
-- Amazing facts and stimulating questions that encourage young people to move outside of the text and explore these principles at work in the world around them
-- Easy-to-execute experiments that offer a hands-on way for students to verify the principles discussed.

This volume introduces readers to a wide range of materials and the various ways they are put to use by humans and other living organisms.