Actually, it's the water itself that makes the ocean look blue! Water absorbs all other colors in sunlight (like red and yellow) much more easily than blue. The blue light bounces around in the water and out to our eyes, making us see the ocean as blue. The sky can reflect in the water too, but that's not the main reason for the ocean's own blue color.
Water always boils at 100 degrees Celsius, no matter where you are on Earth.
False! Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius when you're at sea level, where the air pressure is highest. But if you climb up a tall mountain, where the air is thinner, there's less air pressure. Then, the water will boil at a lower temperature, maybe even at 90 degrees Celsius! It all depends on the air pressure.
A hot air balloon flies upwards using small engines that push it into the air.
No, that's not right! Hot air balloons don't have engines that push them upwards. They fly up because the air inside the balloon gets heated and becomes lighter than the colder air outside. When the warm, lighter air rises, it takes the balloon with it up into the sky, just like a cork floats upwards in water!
When water freezes into ice, it gets smaller and takes up less space.
That's not right! Water is special. When it freezes into ice, it gets bigger and takes up more space than when it was liquid. Most other things shrink when they get cold. This is why ice floats in water and why water pipes can burst if the water inside them freezes into ice.
You can hear sounds in space, just like here on Earth.
No, that's false! Sound needs something to travel through, like air or water, for us to hear it. Space is almost completely empty, a 'vacuum,' so there's nothing for sound waves to travel in. That's why space is totally silent!
Crocodiles have very strong muscles to open their mouths.
No, that's false! Crocodiles have incredibly strong muscles to CLOSE their mouths and hold onto their prey, but the muscles for OPENING their mouths are actually quite weak. An adult human can hold a crocodile's jaws shut with their hands!
You are a little bit taller in the morning than you are in the evening.
Yes, that's true! During the day, the fluid in the discs between your backbones gets squeezed a bit. When you sleep and lie down, your spine stretches out again, and you become a tiny bit taller.
The smallest bone in the human body is found in the foot.
No, the Earth is not flat! It's round, like a big ball, but a little squashed at the poles. That's why we can fly all the way around the planet without falling off!
Your tongue can only taste sweet at the front and bitter at the back.
That's an old myth! Our taste buds can sense all flavors – sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami – all over our tongue, even if some areas might be a little more sensitive to certain tastes.
Yes, that's right! One of the most important features of an insect is having six legs, two antennae, and a body divided into three parts. Animals like spiders have eight legs, so they are not insects.
That's true! In space, there is no air or other particles for sound waves to travel through. That's why it's completely silent! Astronauts use radio to talk to each other in space.
True! It's called 'crocodile tears'. When crocodiles eat, they push air through their sinuses, which can stimulate their tear glands and make tears flow. But they aren't sad!
False! Only some of the large gas planets have clear rings, like Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. Earth and the other rocky planets have no rings.
Goldfish have a memory that only lasts a few seconds.
False! It's a common myth, but goldfish can actually remember things for several months. They can even learn to recognize people and perform small tricks if you train them!
False! Saturn's beautiful rings are not made of clouds. They are made of billions of tiny pieces of ice and rock orbiting the planet. Some pieces are as small as grains of sand, while others are bigger than a house!
That's correct! When a tiny grain of sand or a parasite gets into a mussel, the mussel covers the irritating object with a shiny material called nacre, or mother-of-pearl. Layer after layer builds up, and eventually, a beautiful pearl is formed!