Science Is Awesome
Science begins with noticing something and wondering why. Explore surprising discoveries about space, Earth, living things, matter, energy, forces, and the questions scientists are still trying to answer.
Stay Curious
Discovery 1 • You Are Made of Star Stuff
Many elements in your body—including carbon, oxygen, and calcium—were formed through processes involving stars long before Earth existed. The atoms in you have an incredible history. Look at your hand and imagine how old some of its ingredients really are.
Discovery 2 • Space Is Almost Unimaginably Big
Space is so enormous that scientists often measure distances in light-years—the distance light travels in one year. Even light, moving incredibly fast, takes years to cross the distances between many stars. What does that tell you about the size of space?
Discovery 3 • Forces Are Acting on You Right Now
Gravity is pulling you toward Earth, the floor or chair is pushing back on you, and friction helps keep you from sliding around. Forces can act even when nothing seems to be moving. What forces can you identify around you right now?
Discovery 4 • Water Is Always Traveling
Earth’s water moves between the atmosphere, land, rivers, lakes, oceans, ice, and living things. The water you drink today may have been part of clouds, oceans, plants, or animals long ago. Where might one drop of water travel next?
Discovery 5 • Scientists Do Not Know Everything
Science is not a finished book of answers. Scientists are still investigating dark matter, the deep ocean, the brain, life beyond Earth, and countless other mysteries. A great scientific question can be just as important as an answer. What would you love to know?
Discovery 6 • Your Body Is a Community
Trillions of microorganisms live in and on the human body. Many are part of the microbiome and interact with us in important ways. You are one organism, but you also provide a home for an enormous microscopic community.
Discovery 7 • Matter Can Change Without Disappearing
Ice can melt into liquid water and water can evaporate into gas, but the matter has not simply vanished. Changes of state rearrange how particles move and spread out. Where have you seen water change state today?
Discovery 8 • Earth Is Always Changing
Wind, water, ice, earthquakes, volcanoes, and moving tectonic plates continually reshape Earth. Some changes happen in seconds; others take millions of years. What clues in a landscape might reveal how it changed?
Discovery 9 • Plants Are Incredible Chemical Factories
Using light energy, water, and carbon dioxide, plants make sugars through photosynthesis and release oxygen. That means a green leaf is doing chemistry while it sits quietly in the sunlight. Find a leaf and imagine what is happening inside it.
Discovery 10 • Evidence Can Change What We Think
Scientists build explanations from evidence, test ideas, and revise those explanations when better evidence appears. Changing an idea because of strong new evidence is part of good science. What kind of evidence would make you change your mind about something?