Scientists start out as curious kids a lot like you They find something that really interests them It might be worms It might be rocks It might be a fascination with black holes in outer space Whatever sparks a connection Young scientists start asking lots of questions Why How What if Curiosity keeps them exploring Every fascinating discovery lights a spark an idea an interest a connection Before they know it they are hooked Science is awesome Then they find out they can grow up and be a scientist What You mean that Find your future in science 4
companies will actually pay you to do science as your job Yes scientists can do what they love and make a living too How cool is that This book and other titles in the Find Your Future series is especially for kids who really like science It’s also for kids who collect rocks or bugs love nature hikes and ask lots of questions about everything Either way read on to find out some amazing things scientists do Find a science career that interests you and Surf the Net Type the words that are bold in the Surf the Net sections of this book into your favorite Internet search engine like Google Bing or Yahoo to find more information about the subject Be sure to have permission and SUPERVISION from a trusted adult like a teacher or parent when going online Explore Some More In this book you’ll find ideas you can use to explore cool resources in websites in the news and in fun online games Here’s your chance to goof around and learn some more Ask Big Questions Curiosity opens the door to learning and fun Ponder the questions posed here Each question comes with an activity you can do Use them to share your answers through posters games presentations or even a good discussion where you consider both sides of an idea Go online to download free activity sheets at www cherrylakepublishing com activities 5
Astrophysicist Surf the Net Get acquainted with some of history’s most famous stargazers What did Galileo Galilei Sir Isaac Newton Albert Einstein and Edwin Hubble discover Want to know how many stars there are Count every grain of sand on Earth It’s just a guess but that’s how many stars some people say are out there in our galaxy Powerful telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope operated by NASA have revealed more than 170 billion galaxies That means there could actually be 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets out there That’s one septillion in case you are counting All are waiting to be 6
discovered explored and searched for signs of life Astronomy is the study of the universe its stars planets galaxies dark matter and energy Everything out there is of interest to astronomers down here Physics is the science that looks at matter energy motion and force Put astronomy and physics together and you get astrophysics and the makings of an out-of-this-world career Astrophysics is an ancient science Scientists have been gazing at stars naming them and watching for changes for centuries Even so there is still much to be learned Astrophysicists at colleges government agencies and really cool space observatories continue to keep an eye on the skies using tools that early stargazers never imagined These researchers continue to make amazing discoveries In recent years scientists downgraded Pluto’s status from a planet to a dwarf planet They found a black hole in the center of our Milky Way Ask Big Questions Imagine a friendly visitor from outer space has landed in your backyard It wants to know more about Earth Once you figure out how to communicate with space aliens What can you tell them about the planet you call home Write a letter to the alien telling it what life is like here on Earth 7
