What is a biome? How does rain form? Is a turtle a reptile or an amphibian? Can corn fuel a car? These questions and more can be answered using the U*X*L Encyclopedia of Science. This alphabetically organized ten-volume set opens up the entire world of science in clear, nontechnical language. Its comprehensive coverage of science topics taught in middle school science curricula and outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards makes it the perfect science reference solution for middle schools with limited budgets looking for a one stop resource. Entries from the previous edition of this title are also noted in appendix B of the English Language Arts Common Core Standards as being good examples of content that can be used to help teach the skills needed to read and digest non-fiction informational text. This resource is comprised of 800 entries that focus on a single topic, and range from 250 to 2,500 words. Many of these entries also feature helpful sidebar boxes that define key terms in that entry, as well as full-color images, charts and tables. There is also a secondary Table of Contents that organizes the articles under the scientific field that they fall under in order to aid instructors in easily identify useful content to aid in their teaching. This design and scope of coverage helped the previous edition of this title win Booklist s 20 Best Bets for Student Researchers in 2002. With the advent of the Next Generation Science Standards and the other changes in curricular focus of middle school science, it was time to update and expand the coverage of the U*X*L Encyclopedia of Science to better meet the needs of students and teachers. With this in mind, we have reviewed all of the entries from the previous edition, and updated them as necessary. We have also added 200 new entries to broaden the scope of this title to include more biographical entries on groundbreaking scientists and science topics currently in the news (i.e. genetically modified organisms). "