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    Science Is Awesome!: 101 Incredible Things Every Kid Should Know
    Science Is Awesome!: 101 Incredible Things Every Kid Should Know
    Science Is Awesome!: 101 Incredible Things Every Kid Should Know
    Ebook385 pages1 hour

    Science Is Awesome!: 101 Incredible Things Every Kid Should Know

    By Lisa Regan

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Did you know astronauts never snore? Or that bees can't see red?

    This book proves once and for all that there is nothing dusty or dull about science! Science Is Awesome is packed full of 101 eye-opening and extraordinary science facts that kids will love to discover and share. Each fact hooks readers into a discussion of some of the most fascinating areas of science.

    A great gift for children aged 8+.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcturus Publishing
    Release dateOct 25, 2019
    ISBN9781838579272
    Science Is Awesome!: 101 Incredible Things Every Kid Should Know

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      Book preview

      Science Is Awesome! - Lisa Regan

      That’s right: one of every four living creatures is a beetle. There are at least 300,000 known types, more than any other animal, and they live in every habitat except the ocean.

      Sorting them out

      There are a vast number of different creatures living on this planet, with new ones being discovered all the time. Scientists arrange and describe them according to their similarities and differences. Beetles are grouped with other insects, which all have six legs and three body parts. Bees, ants, butterflies, and flies are all in the insect group.

      THE SMALLEST BEETLE CAN ONLY BE SEEN USING A MICROSCOPE

      Marmosets, tamarins, baboons, and mandrills are all monkeys.

      Different kingdoms

      Not all living things are animals. The other kingdoms include plantae (all green plants, from moss to daisies to giant sequoia trees) and fungi (mushrooms and toadstools). Bacteria and amoebas are in their own different kingdoms.

      The name game

      Centuries ago, botanists (who study plants) and zoologists (who study animals) voyaged around the world, making new discoveries all the time. They needed a way to organize and name all their findings. In the 1750s, Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus devised a new system, which was so good it is still used today. His taxonomic system arranges things into sensible groups, and gives them two-part names so that all scientists know they are talking about the same creatures.

      Keep it in the family

      All animals belong to the same large group, known as a kingdom. This is divided into smaller groups, gradually separating the animals into classes such as insect, bird, reptile, or mammal. Classes are then divided into orders and families, so that similar creatures such as monkeys are grouped with each other. Monkeys are mammals of the order primates, which is the same order that people belong to.

      FUNGI LOOK LIKE PLANTS, BUT HAVE MORE IN COMMON WITH THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

      Like frogs and butterflies, jellyfish go through different stages before they become adults. Some species can revert back to their baby form, so they never really die.

      Again and again

      A jellyfish starts life as an egg, which attaches itself to the ocean floor. It turns into a polyp with tentacles, like a microscopic sea anemone. This polyp feeds and grows until it is ready to turn into several adults and move around. Each one is a clone (identical copy) of the others. Some jellyfish live for a few months; others live for many years. When the immortal jellyfish (scientific name Turritopsis dohrnii) gets old or injured, it can change from its adult form back to the polyp stage, repeating the cycle over and over again. If it doesn’t get eaten, it can theoretically live forever!

      JELLYFISH ARE ABOUT 95 % WATER; THAT’S WHY THEY TURN INTO A BLOB WHEN THEY’RE OUT OF WATER

      Sea anemones have venom-filled tentacles to catch prey.

      Other invertebrates

      Around 97% of the world’s creatures don’t have a backbone. Many of them have a hard shell on the outside (an exoskeleton) to protect their body parts. They are incredibly successful at surviving in all sorts of habitats, from deep oceans to dry deserts. Spiders, scorpions, starfish, sea slugs, worms, insects, and crabs are all invertebrates.

      Crazy creatures

      A grown-up jellyfish is called a medusa, and that’s what you see when you visit the coast. Jellyfish have no brain, no heart, no bones, and no blood. They can barely swim, but float using ocean currents. However, they do have stinging tentacles to trap their food.

      Spineless stingers

      Jellyfish are part of the animal kingdom, and belong to the group called Cnidaria. This includes other stinging sea creatures such as anemones, sea pens, and corals. They are closely related to comb jellies, which don’t have stinging tentacles. All of them are invertebrates: animals without a spine (backbone).

      CRABS CAN WALK IN ANY DIRECTION, BUT RUN SIDEWAYS IF THEY NEED TO MOVE QUICKLY

      Amammal like you has one heart, but that’s not enough for the octopus. It has a heart to move blood around its body, and two extra hearts to pump blood to its gills (see page 10).

      A squash and a squeeze

      An octopus also has more limbs than most animals. Its eight arms have suckers on them to help it move and grasp things, for sensing, and for catching its food. Octopuses have virtually no hard body parts, so can squeeze through tiny gaps. The only firm part is a beak, in the middle of the body, used for crushing and eating shellfish.

      OCTOPUS PUPILS ROTATE TO STAY HORIZONTAL NO MATTER WHICH WAY UP THE OCTOPUS TURNS

      Octopuses are extremely good at blending in with their surroundings.

      On the defensive

      A threatened octopus has several ways to defend itself. Its skin changes shade, both for camouflage and to show that it is angry. It can squirt out a cloud of ink to confuse its predator while it makes its escape. It can also cast off part of an arm, which carries on wiggling to tempt the predator. The octopus can grow back a new bit to replace the lost section. This is called regeneration.

      Growing again

      Several creatures can lose a body part and grow a new one. Some starfish can divide in two, with each half becoming a new starfish. One type of starfish can regenerate its whole body from a single arm! Many lizards, including geckos and skinks, can simply drop their tail if they get caught, and later grow a new one.

      The heart of the matter

      The heart is a muscle that pumps blood around the body. The blood carries vital nutrients, and removes unwanted products like carbon dioxide. Blood flows through separate sections of the heart, depending on whether or not it is carrying oxygen. A human heart has four sections, or chambers, but not all creatures work like this. A worm has five hearts to squeeze blood around its body. An insect’s heart is like a tube along its back.

      A SKINK CAN GROW A NEW TAIL IN THREE TO FOUR MONTHS, BUT THE NEW TAIL HAS NO BONES IN IT

      Not all fish live in the water all of the time. Some species, such as the mudskipper and leaping blenny, can move onto land for hours at a time.

      A freaky fish

      Most fish breathe underwater. They have flaps called gills at each side of their neck. A fish takes in water through its mouth and pushes it out through the gills, where oxygen is gathered and sent around its body. The mudskipper, however, can eat and breed on land. It carries pockets of water so it can breathe, just as a person uses scuba tanks to survive underwater. It even uses its pectoral (side) fins like legs, so it can walk instead of swim.

      A MUDSKIPPER CAN MOVE EACH OF ITS EYES IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION

      Dolphins have a hole on top of their head for breathing.

      Take a deep breath

      All animals need to breathe oxygen. The body uses this oxygen to help turn food into fuel, for energy. Mammals take in air through their mouth and nose, and it travels into the lungs where the oxygen is transferred into the blood stream. Even aquatic mammals, such as dolphins and seals, need to come to the water’s surface to breathe.

      Another approach

      Insects don’t breathe through gills, or their mouth. They don’t even have lungs. Instead, they have rows of tiny holes called spiracles along their body. These are connected to air tubes that carry oxygen to where it is needed.

      How many gills?

      Fish can be roughly divided into two types: bony (like cod, perch, and piranha) or cartilaginous (sharks and rays). Bony fish, as you would expect, have a skeleton made of bone. They have just one gill slit on each side. The skeleton of a shark or ray is made of cartilage, the same as the gristly lower part of your nose. These fish have several gills; most sharks have five slits on each side.

      Animals cope with the cold in all sorts of ways. Wood frogs allow their body to freeze, so much that they become hard and crunchy! Then they simply thaw out in the spring.

      Squirrels bury food so they don’t starve in winter. They can remember the hiding places of 10,000 nuts.

      Facing the freeze

      Some animals migrate to warmer places for the winter, while others hibernate. But this special frog stays

      in its natural habitat, settles down to weather the storm, and simply lets

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