Finding Stuff Out

Birds of prey or “raptors”, like falcons and hawks, use their sharp talons, beaks and incredible eyesight to catch and eat small animals, birds and insects. They might seem like bad guys, but like all predators they keep nature in balance. Without birds of prey, the animals and insects they eat might take over the world!

Some animals migrate because they have to find food or warmth. Some animals don’t migrate because they’ve evolved over time to adapt to where they live. And other animals just sleep the whole winter away!

Although we humans like to be clean, dirt is an important part of our lives. Not only do we grow fruits and vegetables in it, but we also make things like pottery and mud houses out of it.

When it comes to noses, size doesn't really make a difference in how good our sense of smell is. It's mostly the number of smell receptors in the nose and the unique combination of smelling genes that help us, and animals, smell odors.

Today we use all kinds of big machines like cranes, bulldozers and excavators to build things. But how did the ancient Egyptians build their massive pyramids without any of these machines? Nobody can say for sure, but experts think they used simple machines like wedges, levers and ramps. And the big modern machines we use today all have simple machines in them!

Once we know why they sniff each other’s butts or why they love to chase things, we can understand dogs a lot better. Just like they can understand us by the tone of our voice and how our shoes smell.

Fear helps protect us. A lot of the things we’re afraid of might be dangerous. Fear is like a warning signal to get us ready to fight or to run away. But when fear is holding us back, there are ways to conquer it.

There’s no limit to the kinds of experiments you can do in the kitchen with household items. And lots of kitchen experiments are even good to eat. From simple experiments to more complex ones, the kitchen is a lab and you're the scientist!

We burp, fart, cough, sneeze and our stomachs grumble. And these are just the involuntary noises that are the by-product of bodily functions. Other bodily noises we make are within our control, and can be pretty impressive too!

Force and friction have a lot to do with how fast an object or a person can move. When you increase force and adjust friction, you’ve got greater speed. And if you have quick reaction time, like table tennis players, you’re on your way to a fast victory.

Prosthetics are like small machines that help people with missing limbs walk, hold a ski pole or throw a ball. “Bionic” means using small machines to help us do things, sometimes as a replacement body part. So prosthetics do make us bionic. But they don’t give us superhuman bionic powers. Well, not yet anyway.

Thanks to farm animals we get things like milk, eggs and meat. But it's important for farmers to treat their animals respectfully so they don't suffer unnecessarily. If we take care of the animals, the animals will take care of us by giving us lots of the good stuff that helps us survive. A happy animal makes a good farm animal!