Parched Planet Interactive Science Book

Parched Planet is a state of the art, upper elementary book based on the desert biome, and part our Crack The Books™ series of interactive science books. Developed in collaboration with the New Mexico University’s Jornada Experimental Desert Research Program and a team of educators and specialists, Parched Planet is a core curriculum based book that includes both interactive enhancements and universal design accessibility features. Designed for all students, from children with special needs to students who are academically gifted, our Crack the Books science books give educators a powerful new teaching tool to help students of all academic skill levels meet state standards for reading comprehension.

Parched Planet is a state of the art, upper elementary book based on the desert biome, and part our Crack The Books™ series of interactive science books. Developed in collaboration with the New Mexico University’s Jornada Experimental Desert Research Program and a team of educators and specialists, Parched Planet is a core curriculum based book that includes both interactive enhancements and universal design accessibility features. Designed for all students, from children with special needs to students who are academically gifted, our Crack the Books science books give educators a powerful new teaching tool to help students of all academic skill levels meet state standards for reading comprehension.

Parched Planet covers a variety of topics, including descriptions of all Earth’s major deserts, range and climate of deserts, plant and animal wildlife, adaptations, desertification, and desert threats. Students will learn about all major desert types including rain shadow, trade wind, coastal, and polar deserts.

Our Crack The Books™ science books are the first books that can be adjusted for reading level. Students can experience all of the content presented to their classmates, while reading at a level that is appropriate to their ability. Targeting 3rd to 6th grade science and social studies core curriculum concepts, our books allow for reading level adjustment from 1st grade to 8th grade, making it possible for all students in a classroom to access the same curriculum content regardless of their reading ability.

Designed to foster comprehension and student engagement, Parched Planet is written in a conversational and lightly whimsical tone. It features hundreds of supportive audio and visual elements including beautiful high definition photographs, integrated video footage, fun facts, custom animations and images, and interactive charts, tables and globes. There are comprehension supports built into the text, with pop up definitions for associated new vocabulary. Users can make adjustments for print size and customize voice over options within the app to accommodate students with print disabilities or other limitations. All of these multi-sensory features and adaptations lead to a richer understanding of the curriculum, and enable regular ed, special ed and gifted students alike to experience the subject matter as it connects to the real world.

Parched Planet includes built in comprehension questions for each of the 5 reading levels, as well as summative tests and other interactive assessments to help teachers efficiently monitor students’ mastery of the concepts and their developing reading comprehension skills. These assessments will help educators track progress and select an appropriate reading level for each student. Since these assessments are graded within the app, educators will enjoy a significant time savings, as much of this critical assessment data is automatically collected for them.

The combination of multiple reading levels and multiple testing levels gives teachers and schools unprecedented flexibility to use Parched Planet across multiple grades as well as in classrooms with a broad spectrum of readers.

Parched Planet and our entire Crack The Books™ series of science books offer educators the first truly universally designed textbook for all elementary students, whether they are struggling readers, typically developing or academically gifted.