EVERGLADES
"Welcome to a one-of-a-kind wetland wonderland. Flying low over southern Florida, you can see a wide area of flat land stretching across most of the peninsula. If it is summer, a sheet of water filled with grassy plants covers this land. In winter, there is more dry land, with large ponds and islands of trees. This is a bird's-eye view of the Everglades. Some call it a marsh. Others say it. . . "

WETLANDS
"Picture the arctic tundra - a vast frigid expanse of mosses, lichens, and stunted tress in the northernmost land area of the world. Now picture Florida's steamy Everglades, tropical home to alligators, manatees, and 15-foot-high sawgrass. Two very different places, right? Yet they are both wetlands, places where water level is at or near the surface of the land. Wetlands make up about six percent. . . "

LAKES
"Earth's water is on the move. It races down rivers, churns in oceans, and whirls through the air. Occasionally, though, a tiny portion settles down briefly and rests in large and small basins called lakes. Lakes are bodies of water surrounded by land. They are found all over the world and are sometimes called "seas." The Sea of Galilee, in Israel, the Caspian Sea, between Russia and Central Asia, . . . "

WATER
“All animals and plants need water to survive. The human body is more than three-fourths water. Life-forms use water to transport nutrients around the body and to carry off waste. Water also helps break down food and keep organisms cool, among other vital jobs.”

ECOLOGY
"That's the first step in ecology-- looking around. Your house, for instance, is an ideal place to start. It's perfect for a big mammal like you. Yet, it's also home to spiders, insects, and maybe the occasional mouse. Just outside are birds, squirrels, frogs, grasses, trees, flowering plants, rocks, dirt, and even more insects. When you look around at living things and their environment, you are. . . "

ISLANDS
"An island is a body of land surrounded by water. Some islands are found in rivers, lakes, and ponds. But most islands are in the ocean. Some islands, like Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, are nations. Others are made up of two nations."

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

• The Arctic Ocean (Oceans). By Anne Ylvisaker, Bridgestone Books, 2002.
• The Atlantic Ocean (True Books). By David Petersen, Children's Press (CT), 2001.
• What Makes an Ocean Wave? By Melvin Berger, Turtleback Books, 2001.
• Ocean (Eyewitness Books). By Miranda, DK Publishing Inc, 2004.

ADULT BOOKS

• Journey Under the Sea. By Linda Pitkin, Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Oceans and Rivers (Stickerpedia). By Jinny Johnson, Silver Dolphin, 2004.
• What Are Oceans. By Bobbie Kalman, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2003.

WEBSITES

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: www.noaa.gov