Take one class of elementary school students, mix it thoroughly with several pounds of scientific facts, then shake it up with a examination and you have the perfect formula for instant "youngsterisms" about science. The beguiling ideas about science quoted here were gleaned from essasys, exams and classroom discussion; most were from fifth- and sixth-graders. They illustrate Mark Twain's contention that the "most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop." Question: What is one horsepower? Answer: One horsepower is the amount of energy it takes to drag a horse 500 feet in one second. You can listen to thunder after lightning and tell how close you came to getting hit. If you don't hear it, you got hit, so never mind. When people run around and around in circles we say they are crazy. When planets do it we say they are orbiting. While the Earth seems to be knowingly keep its distance from the sun, it is really only centrificating. South America has cold summers and hot winters, but somehow they still manage. Most books now say our sun is a star. But it still knows how to change back into a sun in the daytime. Water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. There are 180 degrees between freezing and boiling because there are 180 degrees between north and south. A vibration is a motion that cannot make up its mind which way it wants to go. There are 26 vitamins in all, but some of the letters are yet to be discovered. Find them all means living forever. Genetics explains why you look like your father and if you don't why you should. Humidity is the experience of looking for air and finding water. Rain is saved up in cloud banks. |