The Ever-Evolving
World ofScience
We hope you enjoyed your adventures with Curiosity in
Grade 6, and are now ready to continue our journey into the
wonderful world of science. This again, is not just a textbook
with
facts-it is an invitation to question, to perform experiments,
and to explore, as we try to understand the beautiful world we
live in. The world of science covers everything-small and large,
near and far. We may be looking at tiny cells inside a leaf, or
the movement of the sun and the stars. We may be testing out
the materials around us at home, or discussing how water flows
underground. As you go through the chapters in this book, you
will start newadventures that challenge your thinking, expand
yourknowledge,and help you become an explorer, making small
discoveries for yourself.
Before we dive into our exciting journey, take a moment to
observe something special about this book. Look at the page
numbers-they follow the playful flight of a butterfly and the
soaring of a paper plane! Just as a butterfly flutters freely
and a
paper plane flies into the sky, learning takes flight when curiosity
leadsthe way. Did you know that something as simple as a paper
plane inspired real scientific explorations of flight?
From early
inventors studying bird wings to modern engineers designing
aircraft, the dream of flying started with
simple observations and
imagination take
experiments. So, as you turn each page, let your
and reaching
flight-exploring new ideas, discovering wonders,
for the skies!
Exploration, of about discovering
course, isn't just
in Grade 6,is a process, So it is about a way of
new facts
or learning about different things in nature. Science, as
wes
said
,
thinking
welcomescuriosity, asks questions, and is open to the unk that at
In Grade 7, we will try to ask deeper questions: How do
things
work? Why do events happen the way they do? And what
we learn from the patterns that we see in nature?
To do this, we have out of this b00k, step out of tha
to step
classroom perhaps, and experience the world through activitie
and experiments.These are experiences that we hope willnot
just be interesting or exciting but also serve as stepping
stoneS
to a deeper understanding of the environment we live in and of
our place on this planet. We believe that this will also help you
to see science as an ongoing process of discovery. And not just
about discovery alone, but also about
responsibility. As young
science explorers, you will soon see how human activities are
linked to what happens in the natural world
and are connected
to the society we live in. You will, we hope, also
see the role that
science can play in addressing environmental
challenges and
help in creating a more sustainable world.
But let's get back into this book for now.You will
read about
topics in different fields of science, from
physics and chemistry
to biology and earth sciences. While
they might appear as
different chapters, just as we had said in Grade 6,
they are
all interconnected. Scientific ideas in one area often
inspire
discoveries in another, or at least allow us to ask
questions in
another area. So,let's take a quick journey through our book for
this year. We will start by looking at the properties of
materials
around us, mostly the things we experiencebut perhaps never
ask questions about- why are some fruits sour? What happens
when we wash a haldi stain on our school uniform?
move on and play with some
We then
electric batteries, lamps
and wires to try to
of materials.
find other kinds of properties
What kind of materials do we need to make
a
lamp glow? This will lead us to classifying
materials based on their properties-and we
will enter the world of metals and non-metals.
We know from our experience that a torch
battery runs out eventually, and can't be used
again. We'll explore what kind of changes happen around us.
Some changes can be reversed and others cannot be reversed.
Batteries run out, ice melts intowater, fruits ripen, rocksbreak
into pebbles... what kind of changes are these? Some of these
happen, or happen faster, when things are heated. We will look
at how heat flows-whether it is the melting of an ice cube
in a
glass, or the melting of a glacier. Water is, of
course, everywhere,
and with the heat from the Sun, it evaporates from the seas and
fallsas rain, perhaps trickling down into theground,
somewhere
far away.
However, it isn't just changes in
we see, or the hidden materialk
around us that
changes in
water that we do not see. As we are growing, ou
well. Especially
bodies are changing as
around
the middle-school years, our bodies are chaneih
rapidly! Why? Not just us humans, there a
life processes that are essential to all animal
for their survival. To grow, we have to eat ana
breathe, blood has to circulate the nutrient
from the food all over the body and so on. But
why animals alone? Don't plants also need fond
to grow? How do they get their food? Do they als,
breathe? How? Over the time that life has evolvet
on our planet Earth, it has figured out howtodo this ina beautifu
and carefully balanced way. Ah, but what is time? The clock on
the wall or a wrist watch tells us the time and how it passes. We
get prepared to go to school in themorning and are readyto slep
at night but have you thought about how we measure time? And
how fast does something happen?
Long before the age of electric clocks anddigital watches, early
humans observed the shadows of objects in the Sun and used the
position of the shadows to tell the time. Light and shadows are
not just useful for shadow
puppets or to tell the time.
Naturally, light helps us see
and today,we've developed
a lot of ways to generate
light (so we can read a
book at night, even when
the Sun doesn't shine). But,
more importantly, asking
questions about the nature
of light has given us a very deep understanding of the universe
we live in. While we'll perhaps learn about it only later, light and
shadows are not just limited to things around us
at home.
Even the Earth and the Moon can cast
shadows, leading to
the fascinating phenomena of eclipses. And of
course, we have
day and night that depend on receiving light from the Sun. To
understand all of this, we need to know how the Earth
rotates
around its axis, how the Moon goes around the Earth, and the
Earth around the Sun.And the consequences of these
movements
on life on our beautiful planet. While all this might have your
head spinning, think about it. Isn't it amazing that we humans
can wonder about the wonderful world we live in?
In the chapters that follow, you'll
also make simple observations and
do fun experiments, and dive into
topics that need careful thinking.
Each chapter builds on what you
already know and encourages you
to ask questions, explore, do hands
on experiments, and think like a
scientist! As you will find out, even
those experiments that seem to
confirm what we think will happen,
might lead to some additional
questions that might need more
experiments and more questions.
1.1 Happy Exploring!
Activity 1.1: Question the Answer
SChool or during tests, you're usually given questions and
that around! To think
CApected to find the answers.But let's turn
like a scientist, it is equallyimportant tto
ask t
Great scientists don't just interesting
answer questions- quesion
ones! (Remember last year we had -they ask
said, "Tobe a amazia
you must be a whys person") wise
person
Look at the answers below. Your task is
to
curious, come up
creative, and fun or situations that with
question
lead to these answers. There cu
are never any wrong
let your imagination questions
run wild! Since such exercises
be very familiar, here is an might ne
example to help you! Suppose
answerwas justmake it half!' what all could this be a respOnse
the
to? Well, it could range from
“How do we ensure getting equa
shares of cake?" to "My essay is too long", or
"I can't fit this
the envelope" or even Icannot dance to such a
long song". al
very different! So, let's see what kind of creative questions
you
can ask!
Question:
Answer: Just add some milk.
Question:
Answer: Because the cat's teeth were crooked.
Question:
Answer: Don't panic, I have my towel.
Question:
Answer: 42
(Pleaseask a more interesting, and not obvious questions
like "Whatis 32+10?", or even "Whatis the answer to life, the
universe, and everything?")
