Award-winning authors Shar Levine and Leslie Johnstone have cooked up a science success in the kitchen and made a splash in the bathroom, all by showing kids how to transform their homes into exciting science labs. Next stop: the backyard, where earthworms, snails, flowers, and other plants and animals provide the perfect environment for budding ecologists to begin their study of nature. Whether they’re testing a garden slug’s slime to see how sticky it is, finding and germinating fern spores, or getting down and dirty in the earth to see soil critters, children will love this array of fun outdoor science activities.