Science Bees - Kids

Your cells are tiny factories.

And inside those factories are even tinier machines.

One of the most important is the ribosome.

What does a ribosome do?

It makes proteins.

Ribosomes read information carried by a molecule called messenger RNA, or mRNA, and use that information to put amino acids together in the correct order.

Think of it like following a recipe.

The mRNA provides instructions.

The ribosome reads those instructions.

Then the ribosome connects amino acids together to make a protein.

Ribosomes are found in all cells.

And a ribosome has two major pieces:

A small subunit…

and a large subunit.

Together, they work as a protein-making machine.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am found in cells.

I read mRNA instructions.

I put amino acids together to make proteins.

What am I?

...

A ribosome!

Imagine you're trying to get somewhere.

You could take a long, difficult path…

or you could discover a shortcut!

In chemistry, a catalyst is a little bit like a shortcut.

A catalyst helps a chemical reaction happen faster by providing another pathway for the reaction.

And here's the really important part:

The catalyst is not consumed by the overall reaction.

That means it can often be used again.

Think of it like a helper who makes a job easier without becoming part of the finished product.

Catalysts are extremely important in chemistry.

And they're not just found in laboratories.

Enzymes in your body are biological catalysts.

They help many chemical reactions happen quickly enough for life.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I can speed up a chemical reaction.

I provide another pathway for the reaction.

I am not consumed by the overall reaction.

What am I?

...

A catalyst!

Imagine Earth has a giant invisible shield.

This shield helps protect living things from harmful radiation coming from the Sun.

That shield is the ozone layer.

The ozone layer is a region of Earth's stratosphere where ozone is more concentrated than in most of the atmosphere.

Ozone is made of three oxygen atoms.

Its chemical formula is:

O₃

The ozone layer absorbs much of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation, or UV radiation.

That's extremely important because too much harmful UV radiation can damage living things.

But there's another important fact.

Certain chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, have damaged the ozone layer.

Scientists discovered this problem and countries around the world took action to reduce these chemicals.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am found in the stratosphere.

I contain ozone, O₃.

I absorb much of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation.

What am I?

...

The ozone layer!

Let's leave our Solar System behind.

Goodbye, Earth!

Goodbye, Sun!

We're traveling across enormous distances in space.

And eventually, we reach a huge galaxy called…

Andromeda!

The Andromeda Galaxy is also called M31.

It is a barred spiral galaxy and the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way.

It's incredibly far away—about 2.5 million light-years from Earth.

That means the light we see from Andromeda today began its journey toward us millions of years ago.

Andromeda is enormous.

Scientists estimate that it contains around a trillion stars.

And here's a great fact:

Andromeda is part of the same group of galaxies as the Milky Way.

This group is called the Local Group.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am a barred spiral galaxy.

I'm also called M31.

I'm the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way.

What am I?

...

The Andromeda Galaxy!

Here's a question:

Which is harder to push—

an empty shopping cart…

or a shopping cart filled with heavy books?

The full cart!

And that brings us to today's science word:

Mass.

Mass is a property of an object related to its inertia—its resistance to changes in motion.

An object with more mass generally takes more force to accelerate.

The standard scientific unit of mass is the kilogram, or kg.

Now here's a very important distinction:

Mass is not the same thing as weight.

Mass describes an object's inertia and is a property of the object.

Weight is the force of gravity acting on that mass.

If you traveled from Earth to the Moon, your mass would stay the same, but your weight would change because the Moon has weaker gravity.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am measured in kilograms.

I am related to an object's inertia.

I am not the same as weight.

What am I?

...

Mass!

What if we could make a chart to help predict what traits offspring might inherit?

Scientists and students can do something like that using a Punnett square.

A Punnett square is a diagram used to predict possible genetic combinations in offspring.

Imagine two parents each have two versions of a gene.

We can write those versions along the top and side of a square.

Then we combine them inside the boxes.

The boxes show possible combinations.

Here's an important word:

Allele.

An allele is a version of a gene.

A Punnett square helps us look at which allele combinations are possible.

But here's an important warning:

A Punnett square gives us probabilities, not guarantees.

If a Punnett square says there's a 25% chance of a certain genotype, that doesn't mean exactly one out of every four children must have it.

It means that, under the assumptions of the cross, that outcome has a 25% probability.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am a square-shaped genetics diagram.

I show possible combinations of alleles.

I can help predict the probability of certain genotypes.

What am I?

...

A Punnett square!

Let's shrink down.

Really, really small.

Smaller than a grain of sand.

Smaller than a cell.

Let's go inside an atom!

At the center of an atom is a region called the nucleus.

And inside the nucleus are particles called protons and neutrons.

Today's star is the proton.

A proton has a positive electric charge.

Here's a fantastic trick:

Proton = positive.

Both words start with P.

Protons are found in the nucleus of atoms.

And the number of protons tells us what element the atom is.

For example:

Hydrogen has one proton.

Helium has two.

Carbon has six.

Oxygen has eight.

So if you know the number of protons, you can identify the element!

Scientists call the number of protons the atomic number.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am found in the nucleus.

I have a positive charge.

My number determines which element an atom is.

What am I?

...

A proton!

Let's travel back about 150 million years!

Imagine a prehistoric world filled with dinosaurs.

And flying through the sky are strange animals with wings made of skin.

One of them was Pterodactylus.

Pterodactylus was a type of extinct flying reptile called a pterosaur.

And here's an important fact:

Pterosaurs were not dinosaurs.

They were a different group of reptiles that lived during the age of dinosaurs.

Pterodactylus lived during the Late Jurassic Period.

Its fossils have been found especially in what is now Bavaria, Germany.

How did it fly?

Its wings were made from a membrane of skin and muscle that stretched along its very long fourth finger and down toward its hind limbs.

Pterodactylus was a carnivore and probably ate a variety of smaller animals.

And one more vocabulary tip:

People often use the word “pterodactyl” for flying reptiles in general.

But Pterodactylus is the name of a particular genus.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I was a flying reptile.

I lived during the Late Jurassic.

My wings were supported by a long fourth finger.

What am I?

...

Pterodactylus!

Today's science word is a little unusual.

It's called a prion.

And here's the strange thing:

A prion is not a bacterium.

It isn't a virus.

It doesn't contain DNA or RNA.

A prion is a misfolded protein.

Think of a protein like a tiny machine.

For the machine to work properly, it needs to have the correct shape.

But sometimes a protein can fold into the wrong shape.

A prion is a misfolded protein that can cause normal versions of the same protein to misfold too.

This can create a chain reaction of incorrectly folded proteins.

Prions are associated with rare diseases that affect the nervous system, including diseases in humans and animals.

Here's the really important fact:

Prions are proteins, not organisms like bacteria or viruses.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am an incorrectly folded protein.

I don't contain DNA or RNA.

I can cause other proteins to misfold.

What am I?

...

A prion!

Have you ever seen a piece of black, shiny glass?

Now imagine that this glass was made by a volcano!

That's obsidian.

Obsidian is a natural volcanic glass.

It forms when certain kinds of lava cool very quickly.

Usually, when molten rock cools, crystals have time to form.

But obsidian cools so quickly that the atoms don't have enough time to arrange themselves into normal crystals.

The result?

Glass!

Obsidian is often black or very dark, although it can come in other colors too.

Here's an important fact:

Obsidian is not technically a true mineral because it doesn't have a crystalline structure. Scientists may describe it as a mineraloid.

People have also used obsidian for thousands of years to make sharp tools and blades.

Why?

Because when obsidian breaks, it can create extremely sharp edges.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am made when lava cools quickly.

I am a natural volcanic glass.

I usually have a dark color.

What am I?

...

Obsidian!