Science Around Us Photoessay by Jeff Goodman

How do flowers help a plant? How does an electric fence work? Why does your hand jump back if you touch it? What would happen if to a plant if you cut all its flowers off? How would your choices change if you were building a fence to keep animals in instead of to keep them out? When these plants die in the winter, what will happen to their leaves over time? What would be the best way to make something rot?

How does a wheel reduce friction? Why are nuts the shape of a hexagon? What materials would be best for making wheels? Why? Why are some materials shiny and others dull? How could you make a dull material more shiny?

What is a stroke? Why might someone who has a stroke have trouble walking? How is this man similar to how he was when he was young? How is he different? How might this man’s son be like him and how might he be different? Why? Why is exercise important even to an old person?

How is metal different than wood? Why does wood split? Why are nails usually made of metal? How could you determine whether the wood split before the nail was hammered in or after? How could you design an experiment to figure out the best way to keep wood from splitting?

What causes a pothole? Why do large rocks show up in a pothole on a gravel road? What would be the best way to prevent a pothole? What would happen if no cars drove on this road? How are leaves and rocks different? Create a plan to sort the rocks in this road. What are some good uses of rocks and leaves? Why is each suited to the task?

Why do only some metals rust? Are all metals that rust magnetic? How could we keep something from rusting? What evidence is there that water is involved in rusting? What is rust? Are all metals that rust magnetic?

Where might this water have come from? How does spider web help a spider? What would happen if this plant were to die? From the picture, what can you infer about the material the spider web is made of from? If you were going to make an artificial spider web, what material would you use? Why?

Why do the things underwater look distorted? Where is the yellow light we see in the leaf coming from? How would this scene look different through colored glasses? Why do rocks sink and some leaves float? Why do other leaves sink?

How will this grass be affected by the movement of cars? Why do tires sink in mud and not dry dirt? Predict what this will look like in the future. Why?