How the World Works
Tap a card to find out What Things Are Made Of · Solid, Liquid, Gas · Float or Sink · Push and Pull · Magic Magnets · Light and Shadow · Where Colours Come From · How We Hear Sound · Electric Power · Hot and Cold. Science is just finding out how ordinary, everyday things really work.
Ages 7–10
What's inside
What Things Are Made Of — wood, metal, plastic, glass
Look around and everything you see is made of some material — wood, metal, plastic, glass, cloth, stone. We choose each one for a job, because every material has its own special powers.
Solid, Liquid, Gas — ice, water and steam
Ice, water and steam look completely different, but here's a secret: they are all exactly the same stuff. The only thing that changes is how much the tiny bits inside are moving.
Float or Sink — why huge ships float
A tiny metal coin sinks straight to the bottom, but a giant metal ship as heavy as a town floats happily on the sea. How? The answer isn't weight — it's a clever trick with shape.
Push and Pull — forces make things move
Nothing moves, stops or changes direction on its own. Every single time something starts or stops, a force did it — and a force is just a push or a pull.
Magic Magnets — the invisible pulling power
A magnet can grab a paperclip across a gap without even touching it, using a force you cannot see. It feels like magic, but it's one of nature's real superpowers, and it only likes certain metals.
Light and Shadow — how we see everything
You can only see things because light bounces off them and into your eyes. In a completely dark room you see nothing at all — not because your eyes stopped working, but because there's no light for them to catch.
Where Colours Come From — rainbows and mixing
Sunlight looks white, plain and colourless — but it is secretly hiding every colour of the rainbow all mixed together. When something splits that white light apart, all the hidden colours suddenly leap out.
How We Hear Sound — wobbles in the air
Every sound you have ever heard — a voice, a song, a slamming door — is really something wobbling very fast and making the air wobble too. Sound is invisible shaking, travelling to your ears.
Electric Power — the power in the wires
Electricity is a kind of invisible energy that zooms through wires and makes almost everything modern work — lights, screens, fridges, games. It's incredibly useful, and it must always be treated with care.
Hot and Cold — heat on the move
Nothing is truly 'holding' cold — cold is just a lack of heat. And heat is always on the move, always sneaking from the warmer thing to the cooler one, until they end up the same.
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