Stories about science for kids
Teaching science through stories | STEM
Children’s stories provide a great context for learning science. Explore our resource packages based around popular children’s books and discover the science hidden in a book. Resources include book summaries, hints and tips for teaching the science and further stories on a similar theme.
They are organised into three age groups:
5-7 7-9 9-11
5 -7 years
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Handa's surprise
Handa's Surprise would make a great starting point about the needs of living things linked to diet and the specific needs of humans.
NEEDS OF LIVINGS THINGS, DIETS AND ANIMALS
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Jack and the Beanstalk
The story of Jack and the Beanstalk makes a great starting point for teaching the topic of plants to younger primary aged children.
PLANTS
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LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
As Little Red Riding Hood is set in a wood, it makes a lovely starting point for finding out about habitats.
HABITATS AND FOOD CHAINS
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ONCE THERE WERE GIANTS
Support children to understand that all animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults.
ANIMALS INCLUDING HUMANS AND LIFECYCLES
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ONE YEAR WITH KIPPER
One Year with Kipper provides a nice link into work on Seasonal Change as children work to observe changes across the four seasons.
seasons and weather
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RSPB: MY FIRST BOOK OF GARDEN BIRDS
My First Book of Garden Birds helps to meet the objective to identify and name a variety of common birds.
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TADPOLE'S PROMISE
Tadpole's Promise is a great story to use when exploring life cycles and helping children to describe the difference in the life cycle of a mammal, an amphibian, an insect and a bird.
LIFECYCLES
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THE GRUFFALO
The Gruffalo can support children to learn more about habitats and to identify and name a variety of plants and animals in different habitats, including micro-habitats.
IDENTIFYING AND NAMING ANIMALS
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THE THREE LITTLE PIGS
Help children to think about identifying different materials and considering what properties they have and how this suits them for different purposes.
MATERIALS AND THEIR USES
7 - 9 years
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Charlie and the chocolate factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl provides a good context to learn about states of matter.
STATES OF MATTER
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Horrid Henry Rocks
Horrid Henry Rocks is a great book to start teaching about sound and exploring how sounds are made.
SOUND
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The Firework-Maker's Daughter
The Firework Maker’s Daughter by Philip Pullman is a good starting point for teaching about light.
LIGHT
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the iron man
The Iron Man is the perfect story to explain how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some material and not others.
FORCES And magnetism
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The little mole who knew it was none of his business
This funny tale creates a great setting through which children can explore simple functions of the basic parts of the digestive system in humans.
DIGESTION -
the pebble in my pocket
Pebble In My Pocket tells the dynamic story of rock formation; showing the reader the processes that the pebble goes through from its beginnings in a fiery volcano 480 million years ago.
ROCKS AND SOILS
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the story of frog belly rat bone
The story of Frog Belly Rat Bone provides a good setting for investigating plants and their benefits to our environment.
PLANTS
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the vanishing rainforest
The Vanishing Rainforest by Richard Platt is a good book for looking at the human impact on the environment, in particular deforestation.
HUMAN IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
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wolves
Wolves is a brilliant setting for constructing and interpreting a variety of food chains, as well as identifying producers, predators and prey.
FOODCHAINS
9-11 years
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BEETLE BOY
Beetle Boy provides a nice way to link to work on classification of invertebrates.
CLASSIFICATION
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CHARLOTTE'S WEB
This is the perfect story to compare the lifecycles of different animals and plants.
LIFECYCLES
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PIG HEART BOY
Pig Heart Boy provides a good setting for learning about the heart and circulation.
CIRCULATION
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George's Secret Key To The Universe
George's Secret Key to the Universe is a fun read and contains lots of factual sections for help with teaching about the solar system.
SOLAR SYSTEMS
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Goodnight Mr Tom
This wartime story is ideal for exploring the uses of electricity and how circuits work.
ELECTRICITY
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itch
Itch is an action-backed story in which is great for finding out more about changes of state.
CHANGES OF STATE
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Kensuke's Kingdom
Kensuke’s Kingdom is full of opportunities to explore properties of materials, you can even use the context of survival scenarios linked to the book.
PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS
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ONE SMART FISH
One Smart Fish by Christopher Wormell provides a meaningful context for learning about adaptations and evolution.
EVOLUTION AND INHERITANCE
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The Tin Snail
The Tin Snail by Cameron McAllister provides a context for learning about forces and mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears.
FORCES AND ENGINEERING
Best science books for kids in 2022
Our team have chosen the best science books for kids to read this year. Head outside for some family foraging with the help of Alys Fowler and Heidi Griffiths' new book or get gruesome facts to fascinate your gore-obsessed teens from Erika Engelhaupt's weird science adventures.
For more great content, come join us over for lunchtime genius. You’ll get free samples of new and popular books, plus reading recommendations and all the latest science news sent directly to your inbox. Just sign up to the Science Focus Newsletter.
If these books make you want to dust off the safety glasses and don your lab coat, try these easy indoor food experiments or find out how to help your children learn to code. OR how about our ultimate round-up of the best science books in 2022.
The best science books for kids to read in 2022
Unlocking the universe
Stephen Hawking and Lucy Hawking
If your child is looking to learn about a wide range of scientific topics, this book will be a great introduction. Unlocking the universe is a range of essays, facts and interesting images on ideas ranging from the moon, to vaccines and even travel through space and time.
Despite its heavy topics, the book deals with these ideas in a way that children can easily understand.
A really short history of nearly everything
Bill Bryson
A lot has happened in history, but if you have a child that wants to learn about... well, everything, this will be the book for them.
It covers the dawn of dinosaurs, modern-day mysteries and everything in-between. Despite its aim at children, it is a book that adults will get pleasure from too.
On the origin of species
Sabina Radeva
On the origin of species was Charles Darwin's famous novel depicting his theories on evolution.
His original text is maybe slightly too heavy for a child to get into, which is why graphic designer and molecular biologist Sabina Radeva have recast the story, using illustrations and a simplified text.
I Am a Book. I Am a Portal to the Universe
Miriam Quick and Stefanie Posavec
The winner of the 2021 Royal Society Young People’s Books Prize has been selected by children and has been announced as I Am a Book. I Am a Portal to the Universe by Miriam Quick and Stefanie Posavec.
Big numbers, great graphics, mind-blowing facts and a healthy dose of interactivity, this book is a lot of fun.
You’ll find answers to questions you never knew you needed, including, How long is an anteater's tongue? How tiny is the DNA in your cells? How fast is gold mined? How loud is the sun? And how many stars have been born and exploded in the time you've taken to read this sentence?
On winning the competition, scientist and lecturer Dr Andrew Jupp said: "I was looking for books that were particularly engaging or presented science in a new way. This book encouraged the reader to touch certain parts of the page to transfer bacteria, balance it on their head, and drop the book from a height – the interactivity of this book is what science is all about!"
More like this
Kid InnovatorsRobin Stevenson and Allison Steinfeld
Every parent thinks their kid is going to change the world, but what can we learn from the formative years of those who really did?
From Florence Nightingale and the Wright brothers to Bill Gates and Elon Musk, this imaginative, inspiring book tells the childhood stories of innovators of all kinds.
Each mini biography comes with colourful illustrations and interesting factoids about game-changers in science, entertainment, business and technology. Worried your child is a daydreamer? Don’t be. Alan Turing was exactly the same.
- Read more about science history
Alys Fowler and Heidi Griffiths
Lockdown gave us all a new appreciation of the outdoors and, for many parents, forced us to come up with inventive ways to keep young people engaged and entertained. This new fieldbook from Kew Gardens is packed with fun ideas for small green fingers.
From foraging edible flowers and roots to growing neon beetroots in the dark, there’s an emphasis on discovery and mud-splattered practicality with lots of things to make, grow and find – indoors and outdoors.
Fourteen WolvesCatherine Barr and Jenni Desmond
This is an evocative story about rewilding, designed to capture imaginations young and old, as well as give us all a refreshed appreciation of nature.
The book tells the story of the wolves of Yellowstone Park. They disappeared in the 1930s and their absence had far-reaching consequences for the local ecosystem, with the fortunes of many species tied up with that of the pack.
It took until 1995 for wolves to be reintroduced to Yellowstone, and this wonderfully illustrated book tells the amazing story of what happened next.
- Listen to our podcast about rewilding with Dr Andrea Perino
Dara McAnulty
One of the most warmly received books in any genre from recent years gets a paperback release this month.
Diary of a Young Naturalist chronicles the life of author Dara McAnulty, a nature-obsessed environmental campaigner who finds peace in observing, recording and understanding the wildlife and landscapes he encounters.
McAnulty is autistic and his book, often described as a blend of nature book and coming-of-age memoir, charts a tumultuous period of his life. His relationship with the environment is one of solace, and a reminder to us all of the healing power of the natural world.
Where the Wild Things GrowDavid Hamilton
Part how-to guide, part love letter to the ecosystems on our doorsteps, this book reveals the food hidden in plain sight that most of us have the chance to forage.
From wild mushrooms and berries to the weeds that grow in our gardens, David Hamilton draws on his own extensive experience to explain what’s out there and where to find it. Along the way, he also illuminates the science and history of wild foods and explains how to use them in recipes.
Erika Engelhaupt
Based on a blog from National Geographic, this collection of scientific snapshots explores the weird, the gross and the funny.
In other words, it’s great for young minds who want to impress their friends with something outrageous (but informative).
The book covers everything from bee stings to blood spatter at crime scenes – so it’s probably one for teens rather than tots – and never skimps on the juicy, biological or anatomical details. Often illuminating unreported areas of science, there’s plenty for parents here, too.
- Hear (detailed) stories from the world of forensic science in our podcast with Prof Dame Sue Black
More great science books for children and teens
None of the above suit your kids' interests?
Try these brilliant books for science lovers and nature enthusiasts. There's something here for all ages!
What To Look For In Spring
Elizabeth Jenner
We might be in the chilliest months of the year right now, but soon the natural world will start waking up from its winter slumber to burst into life once more.
This beautifully illustrated, pocket-sized book guides young readers through the wonders of nature that can be witnessed during spring, including meteor showers, boxing hares and bleating lambs.
Ladybird’s original series of What To Look For books was published in the 1960s, and this modern, child-friendly update is sure to appeal to the new generation of readers.
Marie Curie And Her Daughters
Imogen and Isabel Greenberg
Many of us are familiar with Marie Curie, the brilliant scientist who made game-changing discoveries in the field of chemistry.
Yet perhaps less well known are her two daughters, Irène and Ève, who grew up to be just as passionate and independent as their mum. Irène became a great scientist, while Eve was a journalist, war correspondent and humanitarian, who later worked for UNICEF.
This gorgeously illustrated book tells the remarkable story of Marie, Irène and Ève, as they travel the world, save lives during WWI and WWII and win Nobel Prizes.
Made For Each Other
Joanna McInerney and Georgina Taylor
Sometimes it pays to have a trusted friend close by.
In nature, teamwork can make the difference between surviving another day or becoming someone else’s lunch.
This stunning book, illustrated by debut artist Georgina Taylor, takes us on a tour through some of the most intriguing partnerships in the wild world. Whether they help each other to ward off predators, remove parasites, reproduce or feed, the organisms featured in this book have learnt how to work together to successfully co-exist.
What’s The Weather?
Fraser and Judith Ralston
At a time when extreme weather is becoming more common, it makes sense to get clued up on the science behind it.
This colourful book tells us about clouds, the climate and global warming, reveals how the weather has changed over Earth’s entire history, what it could be like in the future, and teaches us how we can predict the weather.
What’s The Weather? is jam-packed with bite-sized facts and cute illustrations that reveal intriguing titbits of information, such as the different names for snowflake structures and how lightning storms form. A great one for learning at home.
The Awesome Power Of Sleep
Nicola Morgan
Teenagers today have to struggle with excessive amounts of screentime, pressure from social media, school stress, late nights, and worries about friendships.
It’s no wonder they aren’t getting enough sleep! Nicola Morgan, an expert on the adolescent brain, explores the importance of sleep for teenage health, wellbeing and development, and reveals why a good night’s rest is so crucial.
With plenty of scientific evidence conveyed in an accessible and authoritative way, this helpful guide is a fascinating read for both teenagers and adults alike.
30-Second series
A great series of books for revision, there are books on GCSE topics such as biology, chemistry and physics, but also specific titles including the study of genetics, the writings of Shakespeare and the science of Earth's weather.
Condensing each topic into 50 fundamental facts, these short books make learning straightforward and (dare we say it) interesting!
Also in the series are books aimed at adults, so if you fancy getting a better understanding of topics like opera, politics or fashion, check them out.
How Science Works
Although this book is primarily aimed at adults, it is full to brimming with easy to understand diagrams, illustrations and infographics that will spark the imagination of anyone that picks it up, young or old.
Teens cramming for an exam will love the fact that every page is dedicated to a specific part of science (think the quantum world, machines, special relativity or the carbon cycle), while for the rest of us this is probably the best science book if you need a quick refresher.
I Want to be... Series
Becky Davies, illustrated by Richard Merritt
- Buy I Want to be an Astronaut from Bookshop.org and Waterstones
- Buy I Want to be a Doctor from Amazon UK and Bookshop.org
- Buy I Want to be a Firefighter from Bookshop.org and Waterstones
These books for babies and toddlers make the perfect introduction to people's jobs and what their daily life is like. Share stories of what an astronaut might do out in space, or explain what your role as a doctor involves. Where is that firetruck going? I Want to be a Firefighter can help answer your little one's questions.
Turn and Learn: Our World
Isabel Otter, illustrated by Hannah Tolson
If you've been watching Sir David Attenborough's new series as a family, why not explore more of the Earth with this interactive book for young readers? You'll meet the people who live in the Arctic, the creatures that live in the desert, and see the world from a new perspective through Hannah Tolson's detailed illustrations.
By the same author and illustrator is Turn and Learn: Weather, to help you explain how rain and the Sun, thunder and snow, come to be outside our windows.
Stop that Virus!
Illustrated by Susanna Rumiz
The coronavirus pandemic has brought up conversations that many of us didn't expect, and children may have asked questions that you might not know how to answer. Stop that Virus! explains how a team of cells within your body helps attack an intruder. What is the human body's immune system, and what do antibodies do to stop the enemy?
The book doesn't go into the role of personal hygiene in immunology, so it's important to also talk about hand-washing and how that can Stop that Virus!
The Weird Maths series
David Darling and Agnijo Banerjee
- Buy Weird Maths: At the Edge of Infinity and Beyond from Amazon UK, Waterstones or Bookshop.
org - Buy Weirder Maths: At the Edge of the Possible from Amazon UK, WHSmith or Bookshop.org
- Buy Weirdest Maths: At the Frontiers of Reason from Amazon UK, Waterstones or Bookshop.org
Mathematics is weird.
Teenage maths whizz Agnijo Banerjee, and his tutor and science writer David Darling, fill the pages of three books with exotic and unusual facts about maths, including God's Number (the smallest number of moves it takes to solve a Rubik's cube) and the reigning role of Pi in just about everything.
- Learn these unusual maths facts
Wish We Knew What to Say: Talking with Children About Race
Dr Pragya Agarwal
From a data and behavioural scientist, this book gives parents the confidence to answer their children’s questions about race and racism.
It includes questions, resources and suggestions for scenarios that could start these tricky conversations, written with delicacy and authority.
This isn’t just for parents, though – it’s aimed at anyone who has young people in their life and wants to support the education of the next generation.
- Read our interview with Dr Pragya Agarwal
Nodding Off: The Science of Sleep from Cradle to Grave
Alice Gregory
Offering parents an insight into their children's, and their own, sleep patterns, sleep psychologist Professor Alice Gregory brings science and self-help together in this guide to getting a good night's rest.
Thoroughly researched with interviews and statistics, this book is essential reading for all – whether you get 4 or 40 winks a night.
- Listen to Alice Gregory talking about sleep on the Science Focus Podcast
Ocean
Hélène Druvert and Emmanuelle Grundmann
This fantastic title from Hélène Druvert for children aged 7-11 explains the most fascinating facets of the sea, including waves, coral reefs and the food chain. With captivating fold-out infographics and stunning laser-cut illustrations, it’s a beautiful, interactive tome that’ll help both kids and adults appreciate our oceans.
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Is There Anybody Out There?
Dara Ó Briain
The hilarious Dara Ó Briain offers scientific answers to questions such as: how did life begin? How was the Earth created? Do aliens exist? in this illustrated book for 9+ years.
- Listen to our podcast with Dara Ó Briain
Encyclopedia Prehistorica of Sharks and Other Sea Monsters: The Definitive Pop-Up
Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda
These often-forgotten prehistoric monsters once ruled the seas, and they are no less menacing in their pop-up paper form.
A fight between two sea lizards unfolds between the pages, and the tentacles of ancient squid reach out from the depths of the ocean.
Stunningly crafted and meticulously researched, the Encyclopedia Prehistorica is a book that will be used and admired again and again.
Outdoor Maker Lab
Professor Robert Winston
Kids love making things, especially when it involves mess, explosions, and anything that makes you go “wow” (fun fact: so do we). Professor Robert Winston (the scientist with a very fetching moustache that presented the seminal BBC TV show The Human Body) introduces this 160-page book filled with wonderful experiments that are easily made using household items, but show off some seriously fun science.
Kay’s Anatomy: A Complete (and Completely Disgusting) Guide to the Human Body
Adam Kay
From the junior doctor who wrote the best-selling comedic memoir This is Going to Hurt comes a thorough tour through the human body. Answering questions like: What’s in a bogey? Do hideous creatures really live on our eyelashes? How does food become poo?
Kay’s Anatomy is like Horrible Histories but for the human body.
Probably best to have your Christmas dinner before opening presents, if you intend on gifting this…
This Book is Not Rubbish
Isabel Thomas
We all know that the grown-ups have messed up and now our planet is struggling. But you can help save it. This book contains 50 everyday ideas, like how to use less water when you do the washing-up, to how to make your next birthday party eco-friendly.
The Lost Words
Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
Worried by the way in which natural words (acorn, dandelion, kingfisher, etc) were disappearing from children’s vocabulary, Robert Macfarlane teamed up with illustrator Jackie Morris to produce this exquisite ‘spell book’, combining acrostic poems with hand-painted artwork.
What if?
Randall Munroe
XKCD webcomic creator and former NASA roboticist Randall Munroe addresses questions such as ‘If we all disappeared, how long before the last light went out?’ and ‘Can you warm up a cup of tea just by stirring it?’. It’s like BBC Science Focus’s Q&A section fell down the rabbit hole… but the author’s inquisitive mind is the star.
- Listen to Randall Munroe talking about his newest book, How To, on our podcast
Why Your Parents Are Driving You Up the Wall and What To Do About It
Dean Burnett
Why are teens so emotional? Why won’t they listen when adults depart their worldly knowledge? Why won’t they tidy their rooms?
Well, there are plenty of parenting books out there that attempt to answer these questions, but neuroscientist Dean Burnett’s book offers teens an insight into their parents’ minds.
By giving teenagers the psychology behind why their parents do the things they do, Burnett answers common complaints such as; why is my Dad always dragging me out of bed? Why are my family always so obsessed with asking ‘How was school?’ and more.
- Listen to Dean Burnett talking about the teenage brain on the Science Focus Podcast
The best books of all time
For more great book recommendations, check out these lists:
- The best science books to read right now
- The best maths books
- The best quiz collections and puzzle books
- The best wildlife books and nature writing
- 5 best physics books, according to Jim Al-Khalili
- AI: 5 of the best must-read artificial intelligence books
- 5 race science books you must read
Science stories for children | Material (junior, middle, senior, preparatory group) on the topic:
The author is a teacher of the SPOAU YaO
"Yaroslavl
industrial and economic
college named after N.
P. Pastukhov"
Konovalova N.V.
Collection of children's stories "Scientific stories from the life of animals"
(industrial biochemistry for children)
How animals received strawberry tablets
The hedgehog ran up to the fox and said: "Let's be friends!"
The little fox answered the hedgehog with laughter: “Why should I be friends with you? Your friendship will prick me!”
The hedgehog thought to himself: “How can I make friends with him?”
But suddenly he remembered how much the little fox loves fragrant strawberries and how much he misses them in winter! You can, of course, cook jam from berries, but there was no sugar for this!
And then, the hedgehog decided on an experiment: on the hottest day, the hedgehog, together with the squirrel, dried berries at the ends of thin tree branches. And now, they were already going to take them off.
Ah! Dried berries crumble, turning into powder! What to do?
And the hedgehog came up with! He and his friends carefully collected all the raspberry powder from the berries and evenly crushed the remaining berries into the same fine powder! They spread the strawberry powder in equal small portions between the fragrant mint leaves, and then, into a rounded depression, which the grinder bugs drilled in the stump especially for this occasion, and asked the strongest bear in the forest to stomp on the leaf from above!
Wow! And it turned out delicious strawberry tablets!
The wise owl watching all this explained that this is how the tablets were obtained as a result of the direct compression method! It turns out that all you need to do is apply pressure!
And what about the friendship between a fox and a hedgehog?
Now, wherever the fox cub goes, there are always delicious strawberry tablets in the pockets of his clothes .
.. hedgehog's friend!!!
Like a little fox made raspberry syrup
Winter has come in the forest. Everything was covered in white fluffy snow. Beautiful mysterious snowdrifts rose here and there. The hedgehog and the bear cub fell into a deep winter sleep. The fox, of course, did not sleep. He was bored alone in the mink without his hedgehog friend. He often took raspberry pills out of his pocket and recalled his hedgehog friend at the same time. There were very few raspberry pills left, - the little fox understood sadly. But he had water and sugar!
- What if we make raspberry syrup then! - an idea came to the head of the little fox - It only takes a few raspberry pills!
And so, rattling pots, the little fox began to diligently prepare sugar syrup first. He dissolved half a kilogram of sugar in one liter of boiling water, because in real sugar syrup the sugar content should be almost at least half of the volume! I filtered the finished syrup through a cloth, cooled the syrup a little and added raspberry tablets to the hot sugar syrup, stirred until completely dissolved.
Oh, what a fragrant raspberry syrup!
- If only the hedgehog was around now, and I would treat him to my syrup - thought the little fox, finishing his second mug of syrup. - I will definitely leave a few tablets until my friend the hedgehog wakes up ...
How the hedgehog got kefir
The long-awaited spring has come in the forest. The hedgehog woke up after hibernation. The squirrel changed her winter coat for a spring outfit.
Of course, the hedgehog tasted delicious fragrant raspberry syrup, he liked it very much. But after the spring awakening, the hedgehog really wanted kefir. Yes, where can I get it in the forest now, because even before he only managed to drink it from summer residents, and even then when they came to their dachas. And then he remembered the wise owl. Can she help him?
- Yes, I have such a wonderful mushroom. It is called - kefir mushroom! - the owl proudly answered the hedgehog. - From a liter of milk with one tablespoon of kefir mushrooms, you can get a little less than a liter of kefir! You drop kefir fungi directly into a jar of milk and put it in a warm place for a day, and the next day you get kefir! This process is called fermentation of milk to kefir! Take kefir fungi, but just don't forget to treat the animals in the forest!
The hedgehog thanked the owl and merrily went home with kefir fungi.
-Now I'll drink plenty of kefir!
A week passed, then another, and another. There were so many kefir mushrooms in the hedgehog: after all, when fermenting, they multiply - increase in number - that he simply did not know what to do with so much kefir! After all, he had already treated everyone he could to kefir in the forest.
What if the kefir grains are removed from the milk and gently dried, and then put away until the next use, when they are needed again?
Hedgehog tried it, and sure enough, it turns out!
- And I'll try to freeze them in the winter, it should work too! - suggested the squirrel.
- Friends, this process is called - "Anabiosis"! - the owl explained to the animals. - Anabiosis is a temporary slowdown or cessation of life processes under the influence of external factors (conditions), in these cases - drying or freezing.
Thus, the animals learned not only how to get kefir using kefir fungi, but also how to save them until the next use (when kefir is not needed), without harming kefir fungi.
How the animals got "tea kvass"
Summer has come. It was so hot in the forest that from time to time all the animals crowded around to bathe in a small forest river. How cool and fun it was!
- Oh, refreshing kvass now - the little fox sighed sadly.
- And we will make our own healthy kvass! said the hedgehog solemnly. - with the help of a miracle mushroom called Kombucha. It turns tea into invigorating carbonated kvass, but it’s also useful at the same time! So, my forest friends, bring me a jar of your favorite sweet tea today and in 1.5-2 weeks you will get a wonderful “tea kvass”.
- Hooray! - the animals shouted in one voice and rushed to their houses.
The hedgehog put kombucha in each of the jars with sweet tea.
And now, after a week and a half, the first tasting of "tea kvass" takes place at the hedgehog's house.
The squirrel, the hedgehog and the owl really liked the pleasant, moderately sweet "tea kvass" from the Ivan-tea drink.
Little Fox - refreshing hibiscus.
A teddy bear made from black tea.
- But I don't understand where the gas bubbles come from in this "tea kvass"? asked the little bear.
An owl answered him:
- Kombucha is the friendship of small living organisms: yeast and bacteria (living organisms are you and me, only large ones). But their friendship is so strong that they cannot live separately without each other at all. Such a strong friendship is scientifically called "Symbiosis" (Cohabitation of two organisms of different species, bringing them mutual benefit)! Sweet tea for kombucha is food. As a result of the life (life activity) of kombucha in sweet tea, gas bubbles are released.
- Got it! - answered the teddy bear.
- In other countries, our "tea kvass" is called "kombucha"! the owl continued.
- Kom-bu-cha - the animals repeated after her at length - how beautiful it sounds!
During this evening the animals became stronger friends, each found new friends, because in the company they discussed the tastes of drinks for so long and amicably and got to know each other better.
How the animals survived a difficult winter with fodder yeast
Autumn came on more and more insistently. It got colder and colder. You can't hibernate on an empty stomach! What to do? thought the hedgehog.
Maybe the squirrel's girlfriend took care of food better than he did and will help him?!
The hedgehog stumbling quickly ran towards the squirrel at the edge of the forest.
- Squirrel, how many mushrooms did you stock up for the winter? Can you borrow a couple? the hedgehog asked.
- Oh, hedgehog friend, you probably remember how rarely it rained in our forest, so I didn’t stock mushrooms at all, - the squirrel answered sadly.
- Oh hey, what should I do? After all, winter will come soon, and there is no food left in the forest! - said the hedgehog - Can we ask the advice of a wise owl?
- Of course! - the squirrel responded with joy.
Evening. And now the three of us, visiting the owl appetizingly smacking their lips, the forest dwellers drank a drink of willow-tea in birch bark mugs with blueberry jam.
- There are other mushrooms in the world! Microscopic! Unpretentious! And which you can grow right at home, at any time of the year! - said the owl. You almost already know them.
- What are they called? the hedgehog and the squirrel asked in unison.
- Yeast! They are of different types: for making bread - bakery, beer - beer, but to get fodder protein - food for us, fodder yeast is used. A familiar owl sent them to me that year. - answered the owl.
- Why are we growing fodder yeast? the hedgehog asked.
- But, for example, for baking yeast bread, in addition to baker's yeast, you also need at least flour, sugar and salt. Do we have them now? the owl replied.
- Yes, indeed, no. - the hedgehog answered sadly.
- What do these fodder yeast eat then? What do you need to grow them? - the squirrel quickly responded.
- We will grow them right in the glass jars that the animals found when they were cleaning the forest from debris.
And their food will be a solution of specially processed wood chips, which is full in the forest! the owl answered proudly.
- Hooray! now we will be full! The animals called loudly.
- Yes, but you also need to somehow separate (filter) the yeast from the solution in which they will grow, haven't you thought about it? the owl continued.
- Oh! Exactly ... - the squirrel said drawled.
- And I will ask the spider to weave such a web that it will retain the yeast and let the solution through! - said the hedgehog.
- Wow! But the idea! the owl replied cheerfully.
A few days later, the animals have mastered this environmentally friendly and very economical (budget) option for getting food at home at any time of the year. The fodder yeast grew "by leaps and bounds", they were very satisfying, and now both hibernation for the hedgehog and cold winter for the squirrel were not at all scary! And they also treated everyone in the forest with fodder yeast, and at the same time they found new friends and buddies!
50 fairy tales about science - Trinity version - Science
Phys.
-Math. Sci., leading analyst in the Suomi satellite group (NASA) Nikolai Gorkavy sent one of his stories to the editors of TrV-Nauka, included in his new collection "Creators of Times" (Astrel-ACT). We would like to draw the attention of readers to this unusual popular science genre - a scientific fairy tale.
Foreword
The author is an astronomer. He moves freely within the solar system and knows every corner of it, and also looks into the planetary systems and other stars - Beta Piktoris, Epsilon Eridani and blue Vega.
One day the author wanted to look into the future. I wanted so badly that it became clear that something had to be done about it. But time machines have not yet been invented - and they are unlikely to be invented, because the future you want to fly to has not yet materialized. And if you get to this future at a slow pace - like everyone else who does not have a time machine - then it turns out that there is nowhere to return - the past in which he once lived is no longer there.
Then the author decided to write a book about the most probable future, so that by reading it one could find oneself in this future together with the characters of the book. Of course, this is only a probable future - but it is no worse than another, because any future, until it has been realized, balances on the edge of probability, obeying the will of people - and what it will be depends only on us.
The author wrote such a book about the future, and it came out under the title "The Astrovitian". The book tells about the world of the 23rd century, in which people fly comfortable and fast spaceships, have heart-to-heart talks with smart computers, create cities on Mars and observatories on Oberon.
Children of the 23rd century who want to become scientists, engineers or writers dream of going to the famous Einstein boarding school on the Moon. They are preparing for the exam in this school from early childhood - often parents even read to them at night not ordinary fairy tales, but completely unusual scientific tales.
One of the heroines of the book, Princess Dzintara, told her children stories from the thick book One Hundred Scientific Fairy Tales, and the readers of Astrovia-Tyanka were able to read one of them.
When The Astrovitanka was published, readers asked questions — where can I buy the book One Hundred Scientific Tales?
The answer was simple - nowhere, because such a book does not yet exist. But such simple answers do not bring happiness.
The author became thoughtful and promised readers to write such a book, thereby realizing at least a small part of what was described. Why not realize the future in which you want to find yourself?
The first collection of scientific tales "Star Vitamin" was published in 2012, the second - "Celestial Mechanics" - in 2013. Both books were received by the reader very well - and here is the third collection of scientific tales, which tells about the creators of time, about people who created our future, despite the fact that they often lived in the distant past.
These three books contain a total of 50 scientific tales - and the author is determined to fulfill his promise and bring this number to 100.
The tale of stones flying through the sky
Clusters of amber berries made the vine bend to the ground. Peasants working in the fields near the French town of Luce were in a hurry to harvest: sharp knives sparkled in tanned hands, and baskets were quickly filled with tight grape tassels. Two teenagers were carrying the wattle creaking from the weight to the edge of the field. The September sun was setting in the west, but there was plenty of time before sunset. Suddenly, something brightly flashed in the clear blue sky and a strange cloud appeared. Many peasants left their work and straightened up, looking at the ominous smoke. Slowly talking, they looked at the cloud, shielding themselves from the sun with visors made of callused palms. Suddenly, an unexpected thunder boomed, causing many to scream in fright.
Those who closely followed the cloud managed to see a dark object that flashed against the blue sky and crashed very close to the vineyard.
The teenagers were the first to rush to the place where the sky stone fell. After hesitating, the others followed.
In a shallow hole lay a black, as if charred, stone. The peasants cautiously approached the stranger, surrounded him with a ring. Everyone's nerves were tense, many crossed themselves and whispered prayers. The most restless boy, Jacques, stretched out his hand, touched the stone - and screamed! The peasants could not stand this already - and together they shied away from the terrible stone that had flown from the sky.
Only Jacques remained where he was, exclaiming:
— It's okay, he just turned out to be cold! I thought it would be hot, but it's like ice!
Indeed, the heavenly stone was frozen, as if it had arrived from winter.
All the peasants left their work and together went to the mayor of the city of Luce.
Proud Jacques dragged the heavenly stone - no one else wanted to deal with him.
The mayor listened to the excited eyewitnesses of the fall of the stone - and immediately believed them. These hardworking people will not invent absurdities to fool him. And here is the rock itself, still strangely cool, as if the skies were made of ice. The mayor thanked the peasants, took the find and sent it to the French Academy of Sciences, along with a cover letter telling about the fall of a heavenly stone in the early evening of September 13, 1768.
Fig. 1. Collection of meteorites of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (Washington). Top left: A stony Martian meteorite with traces of melting in the atmosphere. Bottom left: pallasite, a stony-iron meteorite. Top right: A metallic meteorite covered with characteristic dents due to partial melting. Bottom right: Widmanstätten figures on a section of a metal meteorite. Photo by the author No one knew where such stones come from. In those days, many inhabitants believed that these were "thunder stones" that were born in the sky with thunder.
And most scientists considered the stories about stones from the sky to be folk superstitions.
The French Academy of Sciences has appointed a special commission to study a thunder stone that allegedly fell near the city of Luce. It included the famous chemist Lavoisier, the discoverer of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. The commission examined the stone and recognized it as the result of a lightning strike into the sand. “Stones cannot fall from the sky!” the Commission firmly stated. And the French Academy held this position for a very long time, ridiculing all the gullible and superstitious inhabitants.
In the middle of the same century, in 1749, in the distant taiga near Krasnoyarsk, the Siberian Cossack Yakov Medvedev stumbled upon a strange block - it was clearly metallic, but included many yellow translucent stones. The metal was covered with moss, but not touched by rust. Cossack Medvedev was a blacksmith and decided to attach a block to the case. With great difficulty, he transported the 700-kilogram lump to Krasnoyarsk.
But the strange metal did not succumb to the hammer - the blacksmith could not forge anything from it. The block lay for more than twenty years, until in 1772 the St. Petersburg academician Pallas arrived in Krasnoyarsk, who traveled around Siberia on the instructions of the Academy of Sciences. The iron block found by Medvedev interested the scientist and was soon delivered to St. Petersburg, where many pieces were cut from it, and they went to many European countries. Samples of "Pallas iron" also ended up in the Paris Academy of Sciences, as well as to the German scientist Ernst Chladni, a former foreign corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
French academicians, having learned that this heavy stone fell, according to the Siberian Cossacks and hunters, from the sky, only laughed at the wild superstitions of the inhabitants of distant Siberia. Academics did not believe the next message about heavenly stones, which came from the mayor of the Gascon city of Julliac.
Although the letter was signed by three hundred eyewitnesses of the meteorite fall, French academics called the mayor of the city of Julliac a superstitious fool.
But Ernst Chladni was not afraid to go against the opinion of French academicians and published in 1794 year book about the "Pallas gland". In his book, Chladni argued that such "lumps of native iron", as well as stones falling from the sky, came from outer space and are, apparently, fragments of large cosmic bodies. Chladni's work marked the beginning of a new science - meteoritics, which studies stones falling from the sky.
In order to support the brave Chladni, in the same year, stones from the sky simply fell down. And scientists from different countries began to recognize the correctness of the theory of heavenly stones.
Only the French academicians held firm and did not want to cancel their decision on the impossibility of falling heavenly stones. Only when a real meteor shower fell in France in 1803 did the academicians give up, gritting their teeth.
Now meteoritics is an actively developing science that studies the chemical and physical composition of stones coming from the sky.
Meteorites are stony, iron and stony-iron. Traces of melting are visible on the surface of iron meteorites in the form of characteristic dents - regmalypts - or, on stone meteorites, in the form of grooves, marking the movement of drops of molten stone, which were blown away by the oncoming air flow. But although the surface of the heavenly stone melts when it falls, inside it stores the cold of interplanetary space. A few seconds of rapid flight in the atmosphere are not enough to warm up a massive stone, and frost often forms around fallen large meteorites. Small meteorites are easier to heat up and, on the contrary, they can be warm to the touch and even melt the snow in which they fell.
Fig.2. Fireball explosion over Chelyabinsk on February 15, 2013. Stills from Sergey Zhabin's video (Chelyabinsk) Stone meteorites fall much more often than iron ones, but it is more difficult to find them on the ground.
Stony meteorites consist mainly of minerals such as olivines and pyroxenes. Among the stone meteorites, chondrites are distinguished - meteorites, including rounded grains of ancient cosmic matter - chondrules. This is a clear sign of the cosmic origin of the stone.
Stony-iron meteorites are an iron sponge with stones in the pores (like in pallasites), or vice versa - a stony sponge with metal veins. On Earth, such rocks are not found.
Iron meteorites consist of nickel iron or a solid solution of nickel in iron. When the German scientist Widmanstetten sawed an iron meteorite and etched the surface of the cut with acid, he discovered mysterious patterns that are now called "Widmann-Stetten figures." Scientists racked their brains a lot over their formation, until they finally proved that these patterns are formed by a complex mutual penetration of iron and nickel, which is possible only in space conditions.
Very rare meteorites include lunar and Martian meteorites.
- Lunar and even Martian? How did they get to Earth? Andrey was surprised.
- Both the Moon and Mars are bombarded with asteroids, which on impact form craters and a cloud of flying debris. Thanks to the rarefied atmosphere of Mars and its almost complete absence on the Moon, some fragments go out into space and wander between the planets until they fall on some other cosmic body. Occasionally, such space wanderers fall on Earth.
— But how can you determine that this meteorite is from Mars? Galatea asked curiously.
— Scientists determine the origin of a meteorite by its chemical composition. Cosmochemists are real wizards, with the help of chemical analyzes and modern instruments, they can tell many interesting stories about meteorites.
One team even found evidence of fossilized bacteria in one of the Martian meteorites picked up in Antarctica. True, other scientists were skeptical about these "Martian bacteria."
— In Antarctica? Galatea raised her eyebrows.
- In the same place, all meteorites are immediately covered with snow!
Dzintara explained:
— Antarctica turned out to be a convenient place to search for meteorites. They fall on the glacier and, indeed, are quickly covered with snow. But a glacier with stuck meteorites flows towards the ocean like a very slow river. And on the warmer coast, where the ice melts, a large number of meteorites gradually accumulate, carried by an ice river from the center of the continent.
Gradually scientists realized the danger of such celestial aliens.
In 1908, in the area of the Siberian river Podkamennaya Tunguska, a stone asteroid 60 meters in size exploded. It knocked down a forest over an area of a thousand kilometers. Numerous victims were avoided only due to the sparse population of this remote Siberian taiga.
Fig.3. Above: A cloud of steam and dust left by the explosion of the Chelyabinsk superbolide. Photo of Elsa Kobeleva (Petropavlovka village, Kusinsky district, Chelyabinsk region), taken 4 minutes after the explosion.
Below: The US Suomi satellite has detected a dust cloud left by a fireball in the stratosphere. Computer animation by NASA's Science Imaging Studio (GSFC). There is a crater in Arizona with a diameter of more than a kilometer. It arose 50 thousand years ago due to the impact of an iron-nickel asteroid 50 m in diameter.
66 million years ago, a 10 km diameter asteroid - the "dinosaur killer" as it is often called - left a 180 km Chixilub crater in Central America. The impact of a supermeteorite caused a supertsunami and a powerful seismic wave that gave rise to a surge of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Due to the dusty atmosphere, the climate of the planet changed, and the dinosaurs became extinct.
But even small asteroids are dangerous. On February 15, 2013, a stone asteroid 20 meters in size and weighing more than 10 thousand tons exploded over Chelyabinsk. In a city of a million people, windows were broken in thousands of houses, and the roofs of some buildings were seriously damaged.
One and a half thousand residents asked for medical help - to treat glass cuts and bruises.
— Why did the asteroid explode? Can rocks explode? Galatea asked in surprise.
- The stone explodes perfectly if it flies at a speed of almost 20 km / s. The kinetic energy of a kilogram of such a heavenly stone is 40 times greater than the energy of a kilogram of powerful explosives. If such a stone collides with the atmosphere, it collapses - and its kinetic energy is released in the form of light radiation and a shock air wave.
The explosion power of the Chelyabinsk fireball reached 500 thousand tons of conventional explosives or 30 Hiroshima atomic bombs. The Chelyabinsk fireball showed that a body even tens of meters can be deadly for an entire city. The inhabitants of the Ural city were saved only by the flat trajectory of the fireball, which entered the atmosphere at an angle of less than 20°, due to which its path in the atmosphere lengthened and it burned up at an altitude of 30 km.
If the trajectory had been steeper, then the fireball would have exploded lower, and the city would have received serious destruction.
We live on a spaceship, planet Earth. This planet is huge for us, but on the scale of the cosmos it is a fragile ship. It is well protected from meteorites and dangerous radiation by the atmosphere and magnetic field, but any natural protection has its limits - and if people do not want to experience the fate of dinosaurs, they must learn to defend themselves from bodies falling from space, and also set themselves the task of gradually resettling other bodies in the solar system. If cities arise on the Moon and Mars, then humanity will become cosmic and will no longer be afraid of threats from random aliens.
- People will like to live on the Moon! Galatea said authoritatively.
