Searchlight Books

What do staircases, dump truck beds, and ramps have in common? All of them are inclined p...

What do hammers, wheelbarrows, and brooms have in common? All of them are levers! Levers ...

What do flagpoles and some window blinds have in common? They use pulleys to perform work...

What do jar tops and water-bottle lids have in common? Both of them are screws! Screws ar...

What do a doorstop, a butter knife, and the front of a boat have in common? All of them a...

What do bicycles, doorknobs, and screwdrivers have in common? All of them use wheels and ...

Electricity powers lights, computers, and television sets. But have you seen how electric...

The sun, furnaces, and ovens all make heat. But have you ever watched matter expand when ...

The sun, lightbulbs, and flickering fires all bring light to our world. But have you ever...

You know that magnets hold pictures on a refrigerator. But have you ever found a magnet's...

Solids, liquids, and gases are the three states of matter. But have you ever made matter ...

People, animals, machines, and wind all make sounds. But have you ever seen how sound wav...

What are checks and balances? They are limits that keep different parts of government fro...

What is the legislative branch? It's the part of government that makes our country's laws...

What are the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the U.S. Constitution? ...

What does it mean to be elected to political office? It means you get to decide how to ma...

What is the judicial branch? It's the part of government that's in charge of our courts. ...

What is the executive branch? It's the part of government that's led by our president. Bu...

The circulatory system is made up of the heart, the blood, and strong tubes called blood ...

The digestive system is made up of the tongue, the esophagus, the stomach, the intestines...

The muscular system is made up of three different kinds of muscles: skeletal muscles, smo...

The nervous system is made up of the brain, the nerves, and the spinal cord. But what doe...

The respiratory system is made up of the nose, the throat, the lungs, and other parts. Bu...

The skeletal system is made up of about two hundred and six bones. But what exactly is a ...

What space objects can have millions of times more mass than our Sun, but they remain inv...

Have objects from space ever hit Earth? Yes! Every day small meteoroids crash into the at...

Could there be other planets in the universe similar to those in our solar system? Yes! S...

How can robots help us explore space? A probe called New Horizons is zooming through the ...

How long does it take to get into outer space? About nine minutes! Powerful vehicles carr...

What’s longer than a football field, weighs more than 450 cars, yet flies miles abo...

Earth is changing every day. Erosion makes giant mountains smaller and rivers wider, but ...

Fossils give us a window to the past. Water, sediments, and pressure work together over t...

Minerals are fascinating resources that have a variety of uses. A diamond is a mineral th...

Rocks can be made of many different minerals. By looking at rocks closely, we can tell wh...

Soil can be found almost everywhere on Earth. Sand is a soft soil that is found in desert...

The outside layer of our planet is an active place. Earth's crust is always growing and c...

People spend money on food, fashion, and fun. But how can you spend money wisely? How do ...

Most people earn income by working at jobs. However, jobs are not the only way to make mo...

Making your money grow over time is easier than you might think. Investing is a great ski...

It is easy to spend money when you have a credit card or a loan. But it is also easy to s...

Insects, fish, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and mammals make up the six main animal group...

Flowering plants, cone-bearing plants, ferns, and mosses make up the four main plant grou...

Most people are familiar with spring, summer, fall, and winter. But did you know that som...

Carbon is everywhere. It is constantly moving between the air, water, rocks, and living t...

Igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks make up the three main types of r...

Water is essential to life on our planet. Water is constantly moving between Earth's surf...

Did you know that most of the energy we use comes from coal, oil, and natural gas? How do...

Did you know people can dig underground and use Earth's heat to make energy? This geother...

Did you know people can turn the energy in rushing water into electricity? This hydropowe...

Did you know that tiny atoms that make up all matter hold huge amounts of energy? This en...