From the creators of the Caldecott Honor Book Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems . . .

Ubiquitous (yoo-bik-wi-tuhs): Something that is (or seems to be) everywhere at the same time.

Why is the beetle, born 265 million years ago, still with us today?  (Because its wings mutated and hardened).  How did the gecko survive 160 million years?  (by becoming nocturnal and developing sticky toe pads.)  How did the shark and the crow and the tiny ant survive millions and millions of years?  When 99 percent of all life forms on earth have become extinct, why do some survive?  And survive not just in one place, but in many places:  in deserts, in ice, in lakes and puddles, inside houses and forest and farmland?  Just how do they become ubiquitous?