Science Bees - Kids

Let's travel to the outer reaches of our Solar System!

Past the planets...

Past the familiar regions of the Solar System...

Way, way out there is a region scientists call the Oort Cloud.

The Oort Cloud is a huge, distant region thought to contain billions of icy objects.

And it's incredibly far away.

Scientists think the Oort Cloud may extend from around 2,000 astronomical units from the Sun all the way out to around 200,000 astronomical units.

An astronomical unit, or AU, is the average distance between Earth and the Sun.

So we're talking about an enormous distance!

Here's another important fact:

Scientists think the Oort Cloud is the source of many long-period comets.

A comet that comes into the inner Solar System may have started its journey from this extremely distant region.

And here's something important:

Scientists have not directly observed the Oort Cloud as a cloud.

Its existence is a scientific model based on observations of comets and how they travel.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am a distant region surrounding the Solar System.

I am thought to contain billions of icy objects.

I may be the source of many long-period comets.

What am I?

...

The Oort Cloud!

Imagine finding a dark, thick liquid underground.

It can be turned into gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, and many other useful materials.

What is it?

Petroleum!

Petroleum is also called crude oil.

It is a naturally occurring mixture made mostly of chemicals called hydrocarbons.

But where did it come from?

Petroleum formed over millions of years from the remains of ancient living organisms, especially tiny organisms such as plankton and algae.

The organic material became buried, and over very long periods of time, heat and pressure helped transform it.

Petroleum is called a fossil fuel because it formed from ancient organic material.

Once petroleum is taken from underground, it can be sent to a refinery.

There, it can be separated and processed into many different products.

Gasoline?

Petroleum.

Jet fuel?

Petroleum can be used to make it.

Some plastics?

Petroleum can be used to make the chemicals needed for them.

So petroleum isn't just something that goes into a car!

It is also a starting material for many products.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I am a fossil fuel.

I am also called crude oil.

I formed over millions of years from ancient organic material.

What am I?

...

Petroleum!

Today we're going back in time to meet a scientist who made a discovery that changed our understanding of atoms.

His name was Henri Becquerel.

Now here's the mystery:

How can something give off invisible energy—even when it's sitting in the dark?

Becquerel was studying a material containing uranium.

He thought that sunlight might cause the material to give off special rays.

So he placed uranium material near photographic plates.

But then something surprising happened.

Some of his experiments were left in a dark drawer because the weather wasn't sunny.

When Becquerel developed the photographic plates, he discovered that they had still been affected!

The uranium was giving off penetrating radiation without needing sunlight.

This became one of the important discoveries in the study of radioactivity.

Later, scientists including Marie Curie and Pierre Curie continued studying radioactivity.

Becquerel shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with Marie and Pierre Curie for their work related to radioactivity.

And here's a cool Science Bee connection:

The unit used to measure radioactivity is called the becquerel, abbreviated Bq, and it was named after Henri Becquerel.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I was a French scientist.

I discovered spontaneous radioactivity while studying uranium.

A unit of radioactivity is named after me.

Who am I?

...

Henri Becquerel!

Here's an easy question:

What happens when you push a soccer ball?

It moves!

What happens when you pull open a drawer?

It moves!

Both of these are examples of force.

A force is basically a push or a pull.

Forces can change an object's motion.

They can make something speed up, slow down, stop, or change direction.

Forces can even change the shape of an object.

Think about squeezing a rubber ball.

You're using force, and the ball changes shape.

The unit scientists use to measure force is called the newton, abbreviated N.

So remember:

Force = push or pull.

Every day, your body is busy.

Your cells grow, divide, and replace old or damaged cells.

Normally, your body has systems that help control this process.

But sometimes cells develop changes that cause them to grow and divide in abnormal ways.

This can lead to cancer.

Cancer isn't just one disease. It's a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth.

Some cancers can form masses called tumors.

Some cancer cells can also spread from one part of the body to another. This spreading is called metastasis.

There are many different types of cancer because different kinds of cells in the body can become cancerous.

For a Science Bee, remember these three ideas:

1 Abnormal cell growth.

2 Different types of cancer exist.

3 Some cancers can spread to other parts of the body.

🧠 Challenge!

I involve abnormal cells growing and dividing.

There are many different types of me.

Some types can spread to other parts of the body.

What am I?

Cancer.

Here's a question:

Does Earth travel around the Sun in a perfect circle?

The answer is…

No!

Earth's path around the Sun is shaped more like a slightly stretched circle.

That shape is called an ellipse.

An ellipse is a closed, oval-shaped curve. You can think of it as a circle that has been gently stretched.

And here's an important Science Bee fact:

The planets travel around the Sun in elliptical orbits.

But here's something really interesting.

The Sun isn't exactly in the center of Earth's orbit.

Instead, the Sun is located at one of the two special points called foci of the ellipse.

remember this:

1 An ellipse is an oval-shaped curve.

2 Planets have elliptical orbits around the Sun.

3 The Sun is at one focus of a planet's elliptical orbit.

Imagine you're sending your friend a message.

But you don't want anyone else to understand it.

What could you do?

You could invent a secret code!

During World War II, a machine called the Enigma machine was used to encrypt messages.

"Encrypt" means changing information into a form that is difficult for someone else to understand without the proper method for decoding it.

The Enigma machine used mechanical parts called rotors to scramble letters.

The same letter could be turned into different letters depending on how the machine was set up.

Germany used Enigma machines to protect many military communications.

Allied codebreakers worked to figure out how the messages were being encrypted.

Their work eventually helped them read many Enigma messages.

Today's question:

Have you ever used a ramp, a pulley, or a screwdriver?

If you have, you've probably used a simple machine!

A simple machine is a device that helps us change the way a force works.

There are six classical simple machines.

Let's count them:

Lever.

Wheel and axle.

Pulley.

Inclined plane.

Wedge.

And…

Screw.

Let's look at an inclined plane.

That's basically a ramp.

Imagine trying to lift a heavy box straight up onto a truck. That's difficult!

But if you use a ramp, you can push the box up a longer distance using less force.

That's one of the important ideas behind simple machines.

They don't magically create energy.

Instead, they can help us use force in a more useful way.

A seesaw is an example of a lever.

A doorknob is an example of a wheel and axle.

A ramp is an inclined plane.

A knife is an example of a wedge.

And a screw is—you guessed it—a screw!

Look up at the night sky.

You might see stars.

But did you know that space also contains enormous clouds of gas and dust?

These clouds are called nebulae.

One nebula is called a nebula.

A nebula can be absolutely enormous—much larger than our entire solar system!

Nebulae contain materials such as gas and cosmic dust.

And here's one of the coolest things about nebulae:

Some are places where new stars are born.

Imagine a giant cloud floating through space. Gravity can cause parts of the cloud to come together. As material gathers, it can eventually become hot and dense enough for a star to form.

So a nebula can be like a stellar nursery—a place where stars are born.

But not every nebula is a star nursery. Some are created when stars die or throw material into space.

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!

I'm a giant cloud of gas and dust in space.

Some of my regions can form new stars.

What am I?

…

A nebula!

Today's episode starts with a question:

What does a rabbit have in common with a hawk?

Well… they are both part of a food chain!

And that brings us to today's science term:

Trophic levels.

A trophic level tells us an organism's position in a food chain or food web.

Let's imagine a simple food chain:

Grass → Rabbit → Hawk

The grass is a producer because it makes its own food using sunlight.

The rabbit eats the grass, so it's a consumer.

The hawk eats the rabbit, so it is a higher-level consumer.

Each step in this chain is called a trophic level.

Here's a Science Bee fact you should remember:

Producers are usually at the first trophic level.

Animals that eat plants are generally at the next level.

Animals that eat other animals can be at even higher levels.

And at the top of some food chains is an apex predator—an animal that usually has no natural predator above it.

So when you hear "trophic level," think:

Where are you in the food chain?

I describe an organism's position in a food chain.

What am I talking about?

…

Trophic level!

Great job!

🧠 Science Bee Challenge!