What's the BIG Idea?: Amazing Science Questions for the Curious Kid
CONTENTS What’s a Big Idea Big Idea Motion Is Not What It Appears to Be Why Does a Rolling Ball Stop Rolling How Do We Know the Earth Is Moving When It Looks Like the Sky Is Moving If the Earth Is Spinning Why Don’t We Feel It Move Which Falls Faster a Bowling Ball or a Marble Why Can’t You Stand an Egg on Its End Why Doesn’t the Moon Fall to Earth We Say That an Apple Falls Down to Earth Why Doesn’t the Earth Fall Up to the Apple Which Takes Longer a Big High Swing or a Small Low Swing What Is a Swinging Object Good For Big Idea Energy Is Part of Everything What Does It Take to Move a Piano How Is a Wound-up Spring Like the Top of a Waterfall Do Hot Things Weigh More Than Cold Things Does Water That Boils Faster Cook Faster How Does a Pot Holder Work Why Is the Sky Blue Why Not Green or Yellow Who Ever Heard of Light You Can’t See What Does Energy Weigh Why Doesn’t the Sun Burn Out Big Idea Matter Is Made of Simpler Stuff Which Weighs More a Pound of Feathers or a Pound of Gold How Can You Make Gold vii 1 2 8 14 18 24 28 34 38 42 47 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 78 82 87 88 94
Why Does an Ice Cube Float How Much Does Air Weigh Why Don’t You Feel Air Pressure How Is Warm Air Different from Cold Air Why Isn’t the Earth Egg-Shaped or a Cube How Does Wood Burn Why Can’t You Unscramble an Egg Big Idea Motion Energy and Matter Make Life Possible What Makes a Living Thing a Living Thing What Is the Smallest Living Thing Why Are Plants Green Why Is Blood Red How Are All Living Things Alike What Makes a Pea Plant a Pea Plant a Fruit Fly a Fruit Fly and a Person a Person Why Can’t I Live Forever How Long Can We Live Scientific Terms Index For Further Reading About the Author 98 104 110 114 118 124 130 135 136 142 150 156 162 168 174 182 187 191 195 197
WHAT’S A BIG IDEA A big idea is one that has no simple or easy answer There are four big ideas in this book motion energy matter and life The motion of nonliving objects rolling balls falling stones the moon and stars seems so ordinary and familiar that most people take it for granted Matter on the other hand comes in so many different forms solids liquids gases metals nonmetals living material that it is hard to imagine what any of these forms have in common Energy is an idea that is in the news just about every day yet most people couldn’t tell you what the big idea of energy is And life what life is seems mind-boggling and infinitely complicated How do you bend your brain around it Science tackles big ideas How The same way you eat an elephant one bite at a time Science goes after big ideas by asking simpler questions that can be answered by doing something If you ask a scientist How do you know a scientist doesn’t say I just know or Everyone knows or I read it someplace A scientist says This is what I did If you do what I did you’ll know what I know In other words scientists answer their questions by doing experiments that anyone can check And each question is like one tiny bite of the elephant Every answer leads to more questions to be answered by more experiments and on and on Scientific knowledge builds bit by bit with contributions by many people Every once in a while there is a big breakthrough and we get the big idea All of this takes time Science itself is a big idea Before there was science people believed what they saw heard tasted felt and smelled They believed their senses and they believed their experiences Yet it turned out that some of their big ideas were just plain wrong They believed for example that the Earth was the center of the universe that the moon and stars were perfect and the Earth was imperfect and that everything was made of four elements earth air fire and water Modern science began about four hundred years ago when an
viii What’s the Big Idea Italian mathematician Galileo Galilei began by asking some seemingly dumb questions about motion such as Why does a rolling ball stop rolling He came up with some surprising answers that challenged what most people assumed to be true You’ll get a chance to discover his thinking in this book It will blow your mind Scientists learn by asking questions Often they have to figure out a clever way to get an answer Sometimes they have to live a long time without knowing the answer Most kids ask questions in order to get answers fast Do you stop asking questions when you get an answer This book is designed to make you stop and think about each question before reading the answer That’s why there is a whole page just for the question Then you’ll find out what scientists have learned that answers the question You’ll be able to do simple things to see the answer for yourself and not just take my word for it You can build your own scientific knowledge by reading one question at a time and thinking about it before rushing on to the next question By the time you’ve finished this book you’ll have a pretty good idea of what science is about It will help you understand what you learn in school If you’re a curious kid you may want to think about becoming a scientist One very famous scientist is Isidor Isaac Rabi 1898 1988 Rabi discovered the big idea that makes it possible to look inside the human body in MRI scans in a hospital which helps diagnose many diseases and injuries He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944 He owes his success in science to his mother Every day when he came home from school she would ask him What good question did you ask today I hope that this book gets you started asking some good questions yourself Before there was science people could only imagine doing impossible things Magicians waved a wand and Presto something happened that defied what everyone knew to be real Today you wave a wand to turn on a screen that shows a moving picture of an event on the other side of the world You take the TV remote for granted Soon you’ll be able to operate the TV just by waving your hand at the screen People who lived only a hundred years ago would have been amazed Technology the use of scientific knowledge proves the power of science And it all starts by asking questions one bite at a time which turns out to be not so dumb after all
