This book is designed to guide students grades 4-6 in exploring new worlds of adventure in the life sciences. Students read short features on creatures as near as their own backyards, are invited to expand their interest with classroom and field activities, and are shown how to use drawing and writing skills to record their experiences in a naturalist's notebook. Teachers are provided with material on each topic of discussion and are introduced to references that will help satisfy their own curiosity. The first chapter refers to some studies in split-brain research that show how our brains are organized for problem solving and demonstrates how drawing skills can be used to tap creative resources. The remaining chapters provide opportunities for students and teachers to explore four large areas of natural history: size, scale, and the world of the very small; predator-prey relationships among animals; animal communication; and the ecology of living communities, including their human members. The last two chapters in particular emphasize the interactions and interconnections in living systems and the effects of human activities on the health of our planet. (JRH)