How to Be a Scientist

146 Pages·2017·30.979 MB·English

by  Steve Mould

HOW TO BE A
Scientist
Written by
Steve Mould
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Contents
Written by Steve Mould 4 How the book works
Consultant Lisa Burke 6 Getting ready
Senior editor Sam Priddy 1 Natural world
Project art editor Joanne Clark
Project editor Allison Singer
10 Pine cone patterns
US editor Jenny Siklos
Design assistants Molly Lattin, 12 Take it apart
Bettina Myklebust Stovne 14 Sycamore helicopters
Additional design Emma Hobson,
16 Habitats
Katie Knutton, Hoa Luc
18 Bug chambers
Jacket coordinator Francesca Young
20 Charles Darwin
Jacket designer Amy Keast
Pre-production producer Dragana Puvacic 22 Egg roll
Producers Srijana Gurung, Isabell Schart 24 Mary Anning
Managing editor Laura Gilbert
26 Food chains
Managing art editor Diane Peyton Jones
28 Pond life
Art director Martin Wilson
Publisher Sarah Larter 30 Making mold
Publishing director Sophie Mitchell
2 Human body
First American Edition, 2017
Published in the United States by DK Publishing
345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014 34 Body parts
Copyright © 2017 Dorling Kindersley Limited 36 Taste test
DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC
38 Fool your fingers
17 18 19 20 21 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
002—298706—May/2017 40 Reaction challenge
42 Test your nerves
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved 44 Rhazes
above, no part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, 46 Funny faces
in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
48 What do you see?
photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner.
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited. 3 Chemistry
A catalog record for this book is available
from the Library of Congress. 52 What is a chemical?
ISBN: 978-1-4654-6121-6
54 Dmitri Medeleev
DK books are available at special discounts when purchased
56 Cleaning coins
in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising,
or educational use. For details, contact: 58 Is black ink really black?
DK Publishing Special Markets, 345 Hudson Street,
60 Make a rainbow
New York, New York 10014
[email protected] 62 Materials
Printed and bound in China 64 Plastic bag puzzle
66 Ice cube trick
A WORLD OF IDEAS:
SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW 68 Make a bubble bottle
70 Pineapple gelatin
www.dk.com
72 Marie Curie
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Contents
4 Earth
76 Weather
78 Make a tornado
80 Solar tower
82 The water cycle
84 Make a compass
86 Structure of the Earth
88 Grow crystals
90 Towel mountain
5 Physics
94 What is energy?
96 Hot-air balloon
98 Flip the picture
100 Stick explosion
104 Singing bike tire
106 Electricity
108 Isaac Newton
110 Paper planes
112 Feel the force
114 Float the boat
116 Secret shower
118 Albert Einstein
6 Space
122 The Solar System
124 Create your own sunrise
126 Phases of the Moon
128 Make a sundial
130 Galileo
132 Make impact craters
134 Watch a meteor shower
136 Did you know?
138 Glossary
140 Index
144 Acknowledgments
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Introduction
4
How Awesome
the
activities
These pages feature
science projects for you
works
to try yourself. The
book
results you get may not
be the same as those in
the book—but that’s ok!
If the results don’t match
In How to be a Scientist, you will learn up, try to work out what
you did differently, and
how to think and act like a scientist. The
then try it again.
book is full of fun activities that can be
done at home, as well as simple scientific
explanations and a look at some of the
The science behind each
most famous scientists of all time.
project is explained with
the help of diagrams.
36 Human body ! 37
Ask an adult for help
using a knife and Why can’t you taste properly?
cutting board.
1
Your sense of taste is pretty basic, believe it or not! Your
tongue can only sense simple flavors, such as whether
Cut a lemon, lime,
something is salty or sweet. Other specific flavors, such
orange, apple, and as apple or carrot, are sensed deep inside your nose.
carrot into pieces.

H
ol
d
y
o
u
r n
o
se
Unblocked nose When you eat, air in Blocked nose When you pinch your
your mouth circulates through your nose, nose, you stop the air circulating. This
A thin slice of lemon where about six million special cells can makes it hard to tell apart different
should be enough. sense a wide range of smells. flavors, such as apple and carrot.
Taste
Now try...
Try chewing different candy
with your nose pinched. It’ll be hard
test 2 to teglol wofh iycohu irs nwohsiec,h y. oWuh’lle gne yto au let
sudden rush of flavor!
Pinch your nose so no air
can get in, and close your
eyes. Ask a friend to touch
When you taste something, your a piece of fruit or vegetable
tongue is noticing chemicals in the to your tongue. Can you tell
what it is? Try again with
food. When you smell something, different pieces.
your nose is noticing chemicals in
the air. Find out how these two
senses work together in this activity.
At the end of each project
Photographs guide you are hints for new ways to
through all of the steps. test what you have learned.
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5
16 Natural world 17
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desert need to keep cool, not warm, so they it’s coldest.
store all their fat in one place: their humps.
A habitat is the place where a plant or The topics on these
Camel humps
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dry or damp, what food is available, and
who the predators are. Scientists study Undergrowth from habitats and body
different habitats and how animals Fuonrd eanrgimroawlst hli,v ain ggr eina tt hwea y
have adapted to live in them. Here to make sure they don’t parts to the Solar
are a few amazing examples. btoe clooomke l iskoem theeoinre h’sa bluitnacth. is Antarctic
This is called camouflage. Antarctic penguins live in a very cold System and energy.
place, so they huddle together for warmth.
Wildebeest Deep underwater Ta hweayt ealrsporo hoafv lea ysepre ocnia lt hfeea othuetsrisd teh aant dfo rm They will help you to
Giraffes have The anglerfish lives deep in the ocean where it’s a warm, fluffy layer on the inside.
long necks totally dark, so it’s hard to see and hunt for food.
thoig rheeascth l ethaev es. Tath teh set iecnkdlik hee rlopds iotn t oit sc ahtecahd f iwshit tho a e galto.wing blob Animals as habitats understand the science
A parasite is an animal that lives and feeds behind the activities
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parasite if it’s bad for the animal its living in the book.
on, and that’s not always the case. The
glowing bacteria living in the anglerfish’s
lure help the fish to catch its food.
Aardvark hiding
in a burrow
This dog is itchy
because fleas
African savanna live in its fur.
The African savanna is mostly covered in grass,
with trees and watering holes dotted around. It has
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54 Chemistry 55
Dmitri Dmitri Great
Mendeleev
scientists
Chemist • Born in 1834 • From Russia Big family
Mendeleev was the youngest The stories behind
You’ve already learned of at least 11 brothers and
that atoms are the building GIt odlode sGno’tld c oisr rao dmee, toarl wuseeadr ianw jeawy, eelarys.i l y, s1i7st! eArfst—ear nhdis m siabylibneg sa sg mreawn yu pa s groundbreaking
blocks of everything you H Each of the elements has a just like the other elements in its column. He awnitdh l ehfits hmoomthee, rD amlli ttrhi etr wavaeyle d
sMeeen adreolueenvd iyso fua.m Domuist ri Li Be oa“Bbnebe”r- e,s tvtwaianotdi-o,s no f.ro Ftroh Brr eeeerxy-allelmitutpmeler. , B C N O F Ne ainc rsoesasr cRhu ossf iaa gtoo oSdt. ePdeutecarstbiounr.g scientists are brought
because he made a list of Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar to life in these pages.
all the different types of
atoms, called elements. He K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr Learn about their
arranged them all in a grid Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Te I Xe
called the periodic table. greatest discoveries,
Cs Ba Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg At Rn
Fr Ra Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Cn Uuo and find out what
made them such
The periodic table
Woexrhdaeemnr p bMlyee ,w nhdeeeilgiluehmet,v hd peou estsa ntwh’te pl ieaktelet esmtriencnsk.ti nsF goin rt o ALac TChe PPar NUd PNmp SPmu AEmu CGmd CMpeerrnioyddesilcet etaavb ldle eb swigaitnhle lgda tphse in brilliant scientists
oetighhetr ealteommesn, atsn, dt hwehree’ns aynoout ghoe rf oerlewmaredn t igta. pH ew parse fdoicr taend etlheamt eenatc hth at in the first place.
that behaves the same way. He listed the hadn’t yet been discovered.
elements in rows so similar elements line Calcium Calcium helps to build strong Every time a new element
ucopl uambonvse. Tahnids bise tlohwe poenreio adnico tthabelre i.n blikoen eths ea notdh iesr f eoluenmde innt ms iinlk .i tIst’ sc oal usmhinn.y metal whea sw faosu pnrdo vine dth reig fhutt!ure,
Safety first Take particular care when:
! • you are using sharp objects,
All of the projects in this
such as scissors, knives, or pins
book should be done with
• you are using hot water
care. If you see this symbol
at the top of a page it • you are near ponds or lakes
means that you will need
• it is dark
an adult to help you with
the activity below. • you are lifting anything heavy
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Introduction
6
Getting Don’t forget
a pencil or pen
so you can
make notes!
ready
You can dive right into many of
the projects in this book using items
you have at home or by exploring
outside. There are also a few special
tools that you can use to help with
your scientific investigations.
If a project
calls for cutting
something, scissors
are essential.
Your tools
A magnifying glass Scientists use special equipment
makes it easier to to build experiments, to see
see small details.
things they can’t normally see,
and to measure correctly. Here
are some tools that scientists
use to help them as they work.
Use a ruler to
measure length.
It’s much more
accurate than
guessing.
A stopwatch is
a good tool for
measuring time.
You can also use
a watch or a clock.
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7
Binoculars will
help you to observe
something far away.
Thinking like a scientist
Equipment can be useful, but being a scientist
isn’t about having the right tools—it’s about
the way you think. This list of tips will help
you think like a scientist.
Scientists are curious. Always ask
1
questions about how the world works.
Scientists are creative. Use your
2
imagination to come up with explanations
for things. In science, a possible explanation
for something is called a hypothesis.
Scientists pay attention. Look for clues that
3
match your hypothesis—and for clues that
don’t match, too!
Scientists try to prove themselves wrong.
4
Once you’ve got a hypothesis, think of ways
you might show that it isn’t true. That’s the
best way to test if your idea is right.
Scientists share their ideas. Working with
5
others will help you to come up with new
ideas and find mistakes you wouldn’t have
found by yourself.
Scientists explore new ideas. Following
6
the instructions in this book will make the
projects work, but if you try them in a
different way, you may find something
totally new.
Scientists have a can-do attitude. Be ready
7
to take on any challenge, even the ones
that seem tricky. You can do it!
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T r e e s

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