A candle flame What's a combustion reaction? When two molecules bump into each other under the right circumstances, they may exchange electrons in ways that change both molecules into new kinds [...]
Using magnifying glasses to focus sunlight and start a fire Be careful with fire! Be very careful with fire, because it can burn you, or burn down your house. If [...]
Kids eating food (thanks to USDA) - get ready to digest food! How do you digest food? When animals, including people like you, digest their food, they use an oxidation reaction to [...]
Proteins are a type of molecule made mainly out of hydrogen and carbon atoms. They are combinations of smaller molecules called amino acids. The first amino acids probably developed into proteins more than four [...]
A diagram of a sugar molecule found in outer space, from NASA Organic molecules means the kind of molecules that living things are made of - at least, all the [...]
A model of the amino acid molecule glycine (red is oxygen, black is carbon, yellow is hydrogen, and blue is nitrogen atoms) What are amino acids? Amino acids are molecules made [...]
Copper ore in Iran What is metal? Metals are atoms that attach themselves to other atoms in a particular way. Metal atoms, because of how their electrons are arranged, lose [...]
Bending a nail You can do an experiment to see that metal bends easily. Just take an iron nail and hit it with a hammer and if you don't hit it [...]
A big ocean wave The first molecules of water formed out in space, about 14 billion years ago, as part of the nebula left over after an early star exploded [...]
Diagram of a uranium atom Uranium is a rare atom, not just on Earth but also in space and on other planets. There is not very much uranium anywhere. That's [...]
