Crabtree Publishing Company www.crabtreebooks.com Kelley MacAulay and Bobbie Kalman Crabtree Publishing Company www.crabtreebooks.com Created by Bobbie Kalman Dedicated by Nancy Johnson For my Mom and my Grandma, the two most impressive and influential women in my life. Editor-in-Chief Production coordinator Bobbie Kalman Heather Fitzpatrick Photo research Writing team Crystal Sikkens Kelley MacAulay Special thanks to Bobbie Kalman Jack Pickett and Karen Van Atte Substantive editor Illustrations Kathryn Smithyman Barbara Bedell: pages 17, 32 (top) Katherine Berti: pages 26-27, 32 (middle) Editors Margaret Amy Salter: pages 12, 15, 24, 32 (bottom) Molly Aloian Photographs Michael Hodge iStockphoto.com: Rob Freeman: title page; Laura Oconnor: Rebecca Sjonger page 17 (bottom left); Allen Thornton: page 11 Design Visuals Unlimited: Dr. William J. Weber: page 29 Katherine Berti Other images by Adobe Image Library, Corbis, Corel, Creatas, Margaret Amy Salter (cover) Digital Vision, Dreamstime, Eyewire, Photodisc, Shutterstock Samantha Crabtree (series logo) and Thinkstock Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition MacAulay, Kelley as follows: A grassland habitat / Kelley MacAulay & Bobbie Kalman. MacAulay, Kelley. (Introducing habitats) A grassland habitat / Kelley MacAulay & Bobbie Kalman. Includes index. p. cm. -- (Introducing habitats) ISBN-13: 978-0-7787-2959-4 (bound) ISBN-13: 978-0-7787-2959-4 (rlb) ISBN-13: 978-0-7787-2987-7 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0-7787-2959-1 (rlb) ISBN-10: 0-7787-2959-1 (bound) ISBN-13: 978-0-7787-2987-7 (pb) ISBN-10: 0-7787-2987-7 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0-7787-2987-7 (pb) 1. Grassland ecology--Juvenile literature. I. Kalman, Bobbie, date. 1. Grassland ecology--Juvenile literature. I. Kalman, Bobbie. II. Title. II. Title. III. Series. QH541.5.P7M328 2006 QH541.5.P7M32 2006 j577.4 C2006-904097-4 577.4--dc22 2006018784 Crabtree Publishing Company www.crabtreebooks.com 1-800-387-7650 Copyright © 2012 CRABTREE PUBLISHING COMPANY. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Crabtree Publishing Company. Due to rights restrictions and copyright protection, contents in this ebook may vary from the published original. In Canada: We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities. Published in Canada Published in the United States Published in the United Kingdom Published in Australia Crabtree Publishing Crabtree Publishing Crabtree Publishing Crabtree Publishing 616 Welland Ave. PMB 59051 Maritime House 3 Charles Street St. Catharines, ON 350 Fifth Ave., 59th Floor Basin Road North, Hove Coburg North L2M 5V6 New York, NY 10118 BN41 1WR VIC 3058 CCoonntteennttss What is a habitat? 4 Everything they need 6 Grassland habitats 8 Prairie weather 10 Prairie plants 12 Plants make food 14 Prairie animals 16 Prairie water 18 Pothole animals 20 Finding food 22 Getting energy 24 Underground homes 26 Safer at night 28 Hard to see 30 Words to Know and Index 32 WWhhaatt iiss aa hhaabbiittaatt?? A habitat is a place in nature. Plants live in habitats. Animals live in habitats, too. Some animals make homes in habitats. 4 Living and non-living things There are living things in habitats. Plants and animals are living things. There are also non-living things in habitats. Rocks, water, and dirt are non-living things. living thing non-living thing 5 EEvveerryytthhiinngg tthheeyy nneeeedd Plants and animals need air, water, and food to stay alive. They have everything they need in their habitats. This ground squirrel found food to eat in its habitat. 6 A habitat home Some animals have homes. Their homes are in their habitats. This badger’s home is under the ground. The badger sleeps in its home. 7 GGrraassssllaanndd hhaabbiittaattss Grasslands are habitats. They are open, flat areas of land. Many plants grow in grasslands. Most of the plants are grasses. There are very few trees in grasslands. 8