ERRATA
While we check and double-check all of our publications before they are published, we regret that some errors may still remain. As soon as we become aware of any notable issue, we post the correction on this page.
To access corrections, select the title of your book from the menu below. If you don’t see an error you’ve spotted listed here, please e-mail the book title, page number, and issue you’ve encountered to [email protected]. We’re grateful to have errors pointed out to us!
Note that because we reprint our publications frequently and take that opportunity to revise as needed, you may find that corrections shown on this page have already been incorporated into the version of the publication you are using.
History Quest: Early Times
Introduction
Page 3 – But about 66 million years ago, something happened that made all the dinosaurs die out except for some smaller species that evolved into birds.
Page 3 – Scientists believe that a giant asteroid crashed into Earth, sending up so much ash and dust into the sky that it blocked a lot of the sun’s light and heat for many months!
Chapter 1: Paleolithic Times
Page 6 – It wasn’t easy to survive in the late Paleolithic era. In many places the weather was very, very cold all year round, not just in the winter.
Page 6, second whole paragraph – Paleolithic people didn’t have a lot of choices in what they ate. They ate what they could find—including plants, nuts, berries, and meat. But they didn’t get their food from farm animals or from crops because there were no shepherds or farmers at this time. They had to hunt the animals and gather the plants.
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Life Level One
Unit 13: Worms
Page 141 – Worm Lab #3: Earthworm Composting: The recipe for earthworm composting in a jar could be toxic. We suspect it is the newspaper (and maybe the oatmeal that some people are using) that is sadly causing some people’s worms to meet their demise prematurely. A safer recipe is simply alternating layers of soil and sand. Try to use the soil in which you found your earthworms. You can add vegetable scraps for more food if you plan to keep your worms for more than a week. [Thank you to Gege for rescuing the earthworms.]
Physics Level One
Unit 3: Newton’s Laws
Page 95 – Possible Answers: #13: momentum, a lot, velocity
Astronomy Level Two
Chapter 4: Differentiating Stars
Page 88 – In the eBook version (print unaffected) the top two lines are cut off. The paragraph should read: Luminosity measures the total energy radiated every second from the surface of the star. Luminosity is affected by a star’s size and temperature. Big, hot stars are more luminous than small, cool stars. The luminosity of a star is determined by the amplitude of electromagnetic waves leaving it. Scientists use the amplitude (height) of electromagnetic waves to determine the luminosity of stars. High energy stars emit high amplitude waves. Low energy stars emit low amplitude waves.
Page 91 – In the H-R Diagram: There should be more red and yellow giants around the 5,000 K mark for surface temperature. Also note: A white dwarf has an initial temperature of approximately 100,000 K, but it quickly cools to about 20,000 K in only about 100 million years (“quickly” being a relative term). A white dwarf will eventually cool (in 4-6 billion years) to 5,000 K. The H-R Diagram in the text reflects a white dwarf’s average temperature over its life cycle (25,000-8,000 K).
Chapter 5: Formation of the Solar System
Page 114 – In the sun diagram: The average temperature of the sun is 5778 K, not 5578 K. [Thank you to Hasmin M.]
Chapter 6: Planetary Motion
Page 149 – Albert Einstein existed from 1879 to 1955, not 1643 to 1727 (which better describes Isaac Newton’s existence).
Chapter 8: The Gassy Ones
Page 195 – Multiple Choice: 2. Steam becoming liquid water (not ice). [Thank you to Hasmin M.]
Page 190 – The model for “Distance from Sun” provided is based on a much smaller scale than the object size scale in order that the model may fit within the boundaries of your room. The text does not indicate that the size and distance scales are different. For those wishing to create a model that uses the same scale for distance from the sun as object size, click here for a corrected page 190. [Thank you to Matt M. and his wife and daughter for pointing this out and for providing the larger scale numbers.]
Chapter 10: Happy Birthday, Earth
Page 241 – The last line should read: It was not until about two billion years ago, when most of the dissolved iron in the oceans was gone, that oxygen gas began increasing in a concentration in the atmosphere. [Thank you to Linda’s astute daughter for drawing our attention to this important detail.]
Astronomy Level Two Teacher Guide
Chapter 1: Introduction to Astronomy
Page 17 – In Famous Science Series: Suggested Answer 4. The math: For Nov 2011 = 3 days + 16 hours + 58 minutes. Because of daylight savings time being in effect in August we subtract 1 hour for a total of 252 days, 14 hours, and 30 minutes. [Thank you to Matt M. for catching our mathematical error.]
Chapter 4: Differentiating Stars
Page 41 – Short Answer: 3. *White dwarf: surface temperature = 25,000–8,000 K / Red giant: surface temperature = 6,000–2,500 K (average is 5000 K). * Note: A white dwarf has an initial temperature of approximately 100,000 K, but it quickly cools to about 20,000 K in only about 100 million years (“quickly” being a relative term). A white dwarf will eventually cool (in 4-6 billion years) to 5,000 K. The H-R Diagram in the student text reflects the star’s average temperature over its life cycle. [Thank you to Hasmin M. for identifying the issues with the H-R Diagram.]
Chapter 5: Formation of the Solar System
Pages 47-49 – In the printed edition (eBook unaffected) pages 47-49 were mistakenly replaced with pages 47-49 of the student text. Click here to download the correct pages 47-49.
Page 51 – Step 5 and Step 6 in the formation of the solar system are reversed. Step 5: Nuclear fusion begins, and the protosun becomes a star. Step 6: The sun’s radiation blew away dust and gas, leaving what is in the solar system today.
Chapter 8: The Gassy Ones
Page 75 – Multiple Choice: 2. Which of these is an example of water condensing? Steam becoming liquid water [Thank you to Hasmin M.]
Chapter 9: Mapping
Page 85 – “Label the Map” image displays the wrong placement of several labels and markers. Click here to download a corrected page 85. [Thank you to Hasmin M.]
Biology Level Two Teacher Guide
Chapter 19: Immune & Lymphatic Systems
Page 139 – In Famous Science Series: One of the suggested websites (the fur trapper dot com) has added disparaging and inaccurate information concerning Native American genocide. We no longer recommend that website. Instead we suggest this one, a good basic overview of smallpox discovery and eradication: www.history.com/.amp/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-smallpox [Thank you to Sarah W. for bringing this to our attention.]