False! Rockets fly by shooting gas out backward, which pushes them forward. They don't need air to push against; in fact, they work best in the vacuum of space where there's no air to slow them down.
That's not right! Trains aren't steered with steering wheels like cars. Instead, the train's special wheels follow the tracks, which keeps the train on the railway and going in the right direction. The train driver controls the speed and brakes.
That's true! Unlike airplanes, helicopters can change the angle of their rotor blades. This lets them direct the air to fly forwards, backwards, sideways, and even hover perfectly still in the air. Pretty cool, right?
No, that's false! Passenger airplanes are super fast, often flying between 800 and 950 kilometers per hour. A car on the highway rarely goes faster than 120 kilometers per hour, meaning an airplane is many times faster than a car!
False! Rockets start their journey from Earth and must first fly through our air layer, called the atmosphere, before they reach space. They need a lot of power to push through the air!
False! Hot air balloons actually fly because of warm air. When the air inside the balloon gets hot, it becomes lighter than the air outside, which makes the balloon float up. No engine is needed to lift them!
It's true! Submarines have special tanks called ballast tanks. When the submarine wants to sink, these tanks are filled with water. This makes the submarine heavier, and it sinks into the depths. When the submarine wants to rise to the surface again, the water is pushed out of the tanks and replaced with air. This makes the submarine lighter again, and it floats up to the surface!
That's right! There are trains called maglev trains. They use strong magnets to lift off the tracks and glide forward without touching the ground. This allows them to travel incredibly fast and quietly!
That's right! Before people dared to fly in hot air balloons, they tested sending up animals. The Montgolfier brothers sent a sheep, a duck, and a rooster up in a balloon in 1783. They wanted to see if creatures could survive the journey high up in the air, and they did! After that, people dared to fly themselves.
Yes, that's true! Special submarines, like the ones powered by nuclear energy, can stay underwater for a very, very long time. They can even make their own drinking water and oxygen! Only running out of food or needing to fix something on the submarine sets limits on how long they can stay underwater.
No, hot air balloons don't fly with an engine. They heat up the air inside the balloon with a burner. The hot air is lighter than the cold air outside, which makes the balloon float upwards.
That's not true! Cars usually use gasoline, diesel, or electricity. Space rockets need much more powerful fuel, like liquid hydrogen and oxygen, to leave Earth and travel into space. They're built for completely different jobs!
That's true! Modern submarines, especially those powered by nuclear energy, can make their own oxygen and drinking water. They also don't need to refuel often. This means they can stay under the sea for a very long time, sometimes for several months, limited only by how much food the crew has.
That's true! Some trains, called Maglev trains, use strong magnets to lift themselves a bit above the tracks. Without touching the tracks, there's less friction, which allows these trains to go incredibly fast and quietly!
To reach space and escape Earth's pull, rockets are often built in several parts, or stages. When a stage has used all its fuel, the rocket lets go of that part. This makes the rocket lighter and helps it go faster with the next stage's engines. This way, the rocket saves fuel and can go much higher.
A helicopter can fly forward, backward, and sideways.
It's true! Unlike airplanes, helicopters use spinning blades that can tilt in different ways. This lets them fly forwards, backwards, sideways, and even hover still in the air!
That's false! Airplanes don't fly by flapping their wings like birds do. Instead, airplanes have strong engines that push them forward. The wings are shaped specially so that the air flowing over them creates a force that lifts the plane upwards, which is called lift. So the engines push the plane forward and the wings lift it up – no flapping needed!
A regular airplane can hover in the air, just like a helicopter.
That's false. An airplane always needs to fly forward for its wings to create the lift that keeps it in the air. Without forward speed, it would fall. A helicopter, on the other hand, uses its spinning rotor blades to create lift and can therefore stand still in the air, fly backward, or sideways.
A helicopter can fly forward, backward, and even sideways.
That's right! Unlike many airplanes that mostly fly only forward, a helicopter can move in almost any direction. Its big rotor blades on top work like a special engine that can tilt in different ways. This lets the helicopter hover in one spot, fly forward, backward, or sideways. That's why helicopters are super useful for things like rescuing people, picking up things from tricky spots, or landing in small areas.
The tires on a big passenger airplane are filled with regular air, just like car tires.
That's not true! Airplane tires are actually filled with nitrogen instead of regular air. Nitrogen helps prevent fires because it doesn't burn like the oxygen in normal air. It also helps the tires keep their shape and pressure better when it gets very cold high up in the sky.