My Science School

Have you ever had a pet that died? It hurts. It does not hurt like when you fall and scrape your knee. It is a different kind of pain. It makes you feel sad.

The death of your pet means that you will never see it again. Sometimes people die, too - people you love. This means that you will never see them again in this world. It hurts a lot.

When someone’s friend or relative dies, it is very painful. They miss that person. They feel lonely, strange, and sad. They may become quiet and want to be left alone. They want to think about the person who has died. They may feel angry that the person has left them. The sadness or anger after someone has died is called grieving. People who grieve are trying to understand and accept the death of someone they love.

Grieving takes time. Many people feel they will always miss the person who has died. But after a while, people begin to remember their loved ones with happiness. They remember good times they shared.

Pets and people never leave you completely. They live on in your memories. In this way, they are part of you forever.

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How do you know what is right?

How do you know what is wrong?

These are not easy questions to answer. However, looking for the answers to such questions can help you know yourself and the world around you. You will not find all the answers right away, but you will find the beginnings of the answers. Your understanding will grow as you grow.

You were not born knowing right from wrong. You learn this as you grow. You learn by talking and listening to people you can trust. You learn by watching and copying what the people around you say and do.

As you learn right from wrong, you will make mistakes. It is okay to make mistakes. You can learn from mistakes. You can change how you do things because of your experiences.

There is a feeling inside you that helps you decide what to do. Sometimes it is called an “inner voice” or “gut feeling”. Sometimes it tells you when something feels right. Other time it might say “oops!” Then you know something may not be right. Your inner voice can help guide you in everything you do.

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Think of people you know and see every day. They are all different. They look different from you, and some believe in different things. Some people probably cannot do all the things that you can do. Others can do things you cannot do.

No one in the world looks exactly like you, and no one can do exactly the same things. You might be great at maths, while your friend struggles with it. Your friend might be a good tennis player, while you cannot hit a tennis ball. What’s nice is that the two of you can help each other.

Nobody is good at everything, but everybody is good at something – even someone who has a body part that does not work properly. Moving around easily or seeing and hearing clearly are only some of the things that people can do. A person who cannot do these things is still able to do many other things.

When you think about something you cannot do, remember that it is only one part of you. There are other things you can do. All these things help make you a special person.

What special things can each person in your family do? Draw a picture of each family member. Below each picture, list a few of that person‘s skills or talents.

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Who shares your secrets? Who is the first to know when something good or bad happens to you? Your friends, that’s who!

Many people have a best friend. You might have a lot of other friends, too. Friends are people you feel safe with. You can trust your friends.

Sometimes your friends make you angry. But usually you do not stay angry for long. You know that your friends do not mean to hurt you.

Think of all the things you like about your friends. All your friends have something special about them that you like. You might like one friend because he is fun to be with or because she is a good listener.

Remember that you are friend too. You need to be a friend to have a friend. Friends treat others just as they want to be treated. Always be the friend you would like to have.

What is the best way to make friends?

You can make friends by:

• smiling and being nice,
• sharing a toy or game,
• telling a funny story,
• helping someone,
• listening to people without interrupting,
• asking polite questions to get to know people,
• saying nice things to make a person feel good,
• joining a group activity.     

What does it mean to be a good friend? You are a good friend if you:

• are fun to be with,
• share things,
• make your friends feel good,
• care about how your friends feel,
• enjoy doing some of the same things as your friends do,
• accept your friends for who they are.

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Press your finger on a window or a mirror. Can you see your fingerprint? No one in the world has fingerprints exactly like yours. Your footprints are different from everyone else’s, too.

Take a close look at your fingerprints. See the many tiny lines going this way and that way? These lines form designs with loops, waves, and circles. Each finger has a different design. You have 10 fingers and 10 different fingerprints.

When you were born, the doctors probably made a copy of your footprint. Newborn babies in hospitals look a lot alike, but all their footprints are different. The millions of children in the world have millions of fingerprints and footprints. Now you know, though, that the marks made by your fingers and your feet are yours alone.

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Do you know why you have fingernails and toenails? They help protect the ends of your fingers and toes.

Your fingernails and toenails are made of strong stuff called keratin. Keratin is made up of hard skin. Animal claws, hoofs, scales, feathers, and horns also are made of keratin. Animals use these for protection, too.

The outer skin at the base of your nail is called the cuticle. Your nails grow from the cuticle. As this layer of skin grows, it pushes the older skin towards the tip of the nail. Near the growing area, you cannot see the flow of blood as well as you can in the rest of the nail. This is why you see a light half moon at the base of your nails.

Your nails grow all the time. You need to cut them or file them when they get too long. Otherwise, they may scratch you, split and break, or catch on things. It is a good idea to keep your toenails straight across so that they will not dig into the skin and corners of your toes.

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Your hands and feet helps you do all kinds of things.

Each hand has four fingers and thumb. Your fingers and thumbs pick up things and hold them.

Your fingers and thumbs are good tools. You use them to button your shirt, tie your shoelaces, turn the pages of a book, and move the mouse on a computer.

Your fingers touch and feel things too. They help you know whether something is hot or cold, soft or hard, smooth, rough, or prickly.

You also use your hands to protect yourself. They shield your eyes from bright sunshine, brush away flies, and “catch” you when you fall.

You have five toes on each foot. Your feet can do some of the things your hands can do. You can use your feet to touch and feel things. And if you try, you can even pick up and hold things with your toes. It takes practice!

Your feet also do things your hands cannot do. Your feet support the weight of your body so that you can stand, walk, run, skate, and jump. Your feet are especially good for dancing and kicking a ball.

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Around the world-and in your own neighbourhood – people’s skin colours are different. Some have light brown skin, some have dark skin, some have yellow skin, and some have skin that is pink, almost white.

Most of the colour of your skin comes from a dark chemical called melanin. Melanin is made inside your skin, hair, and eyes.

Everyone, no matter what colour their skin is, has some melanin. But different people’s bodies make different amounts of melanin. The less melanin they make, the lighter their skin.

People who come from hot countries make more melanin. This helps protect them from the sun’s burning rays. Melanin protects the body by absorbing, or taking in, the sun’s burning rays.

The amount of melanin your body makes, and therefore your skin colour, comes from your parents. But skin makes more melanin when sunlight hits it. This extra melanin tans skin.

Sometimes, melanin builds up in small spots. These spots are called freckles. People who have freckles may get even more of spots if they spend a lot of time in the sun.

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Millions of people live in the world. Not one of them looks exactly like you. Your look is truly special.

No one else has precisely your nose or exactly your skin colour. No one else has a smile just like yours, or the exact same fingerprints. You may look like a little-or even a lot-like someone else, especially someone in your family. But there is no one, not even if you have a twin, that looks like you do in every way. You are really one of a kind.

Face to face

Look at your face in the mirror. What do you see?

You see two eyes, and nose, and a mouth.

What else do you see?

You see eyebrows, and you see eyelashes. These tiny hairs keep dirt and dust out of your eyes.

Look deep into your eyes. The coloured circle is your iris. What colour is your iris?

Look closely at your nose. Your nose has two holes in it called nostrils. The air you breathe and the scents you smell go in through your nostrils.

Below your nose is your mouth. You use your mouth for eating, drinking, breathing, and talking.

On the sides of your head are your ears. The parts of your ears you can see catch sounds and send them inside your ears.

In many ways, your face is like everyone else face. Everyone has a mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. But yours have shapes and sizes all their own.

Put them together, and they make your own unique face.

One you, two sides

Your head has two sides, right side and left side. Each side has an eye, a cheek, an eyebrow, an ear, and a nostril. So, do both sides look the same? Take a closer look and see.

Look at yourself in the mirror.

Are your eyebrows exactly alike? Or is one more curved than the other?

Are your ears in exactly the same place on each side of your head? Do they have the same shape?

Does your nose have the same shape on both sides?

What about your hair? Does it look both sides?

Do your eyes have the same shape?

Now you can probably see that each side of your face is a bit different. This is okay. Everyone has two different sides.

Other parts of your body do not match exactly, either. Look at your hands. Is one bigger than the other? How about your feet? Do the toes on each foot have different shapes?

Let’s talk teeth!

When you were a newborn baby, no one could see your teeth. They were just little tooth buds hidden in your gums. There they waited to grow. When you were between six months and one year old, your baby teeth begin to break through your gums. By the time you were about two years old, you had all 20 of your baby teeth.

Your permanent teeth start to show after your baby teeth begin to fall out when you are about six. If you do not have them yet, you soon will. One by one they will push out your baby teeth.

When all your permanent teeth come in, you will have 32 teeth. That may seem like a lot of teeth for your mouth, but your jaw will grow to make a room for them.

Your teeth all together make a great smile. Each tooth also has a special job. The teeth at the front of your mouth are shaped to cut food. The pointed teeth next to them are made to grip and tear food. At the back of your mouth are flat teeth for chewing. All your teeth work together to break food into little pieces that are easier for you to swallow.

Here’s to hair

Your body is covered with the hair. Tiny hairs grow over most of your body. Thick hairs grow from your head. The only places on your body where hair does not grow or the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet.

Each hair grows out of a tiny sac, “a little pocket” in your skin. The sac is called a follicle. At the bottom of each follicle is a supply of blood for the hair. The blood makes the hair grow. Around each hair there is a little supply of oil. The oil makes hair soft and shiny. And each tiny sac has a muscle that makes your hairs on end when you are cold or scared.

Have you ever wondered why some hairs grow long while others never do? This happens because hairs grow for only a certain amount of time. Then the follicles take a rest. When a new hair starts to grow, the old hair falls out. The hair on your head grows for a long time. Other hairs grow for only a short time.

The skin you are in

Look all your body. What do you see everywhere you look? The answer is skin! Skin covers your entire body, and it protects your body in many ways.

Your body needs certain fluids, such as water and blood, to walk. Your skin keeps these fluids in. Your skin keeps out harmful things that can make you sick. It also helps keep your body at a certain temperature.

All skin is made up of three layers. The outer layer is about as thin as a piece of paper. This is where most of your skin’s growth takes place. The middle layer is much thicker than the first layer. It contains blood and hair follicles. This is also where sweat is made. Under this layer is another layer. It contains fat and blood vessels.

Your skin has tiny holes called pores. When you are hot, sweat comes out through your pores. As the sweat dries, you feel cooler. When you are cold, your pores close and no sweat gets out.

Sometimes when you are cold, you shiver. Shivering helps to warm you. It is caused by muscles moving in your skin.

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