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Question 1

Look around your home

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Question 2

Everything is made out of something.

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Question 3

Each of these somethings is perfect for a different job.

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Question 4

Scientists call them materials.

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Question 5

This book is made from paper

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Question 6

Stone would be too heavy and glass would be too delicate.

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Question 7

Imagine a book made of chocolate…it would melt!

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Question 8

But what makes different materials light, heavy, strong, or flexible?

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Question 9

To find out, you need to study them very closely.

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Question 10

In fact you need to look right inside them.

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Question 11

If you did, you would discover that the world is made from tiny building blocks called atoms.

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Question 12

Every single thing won this plant is made from atoms.

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Question 13

Stop: read that last sentence again.

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Question 14

It’s a gigantic idea to get your head around, but it’s too important to skip over.

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Question 15

Tiny doesn’t just mean little - it means more than a quintillion times smaller than a grain of sand.

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Question 16

Atoms join one another to form molecules.

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Question 17

Some things are made from just one type of element…but most are made from several mixed together.

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Question 18

Coins are often made from nickel.

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Question 19

The way they are mixed together affects how they look and feel - whether they’re strong or flexible, light or heavy.

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Question 20

Carbon is a very important element.

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Question 21

There’s carbon all over the world, in every living thing - from daisies to oak trees, beetles to blue whales.

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Question 22

You probably have graphite in your schoolbag - it’s used to make the lead in your pencils.

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Question 23

Scientists discovered that they could take one layer away from graph to create a brand-new material, which they called graphene.

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Question 24

Graphene is so thin that it’s see-through, but it’s more flexible than rubber and stronger than steel.

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Question 25

In fact, it’s the strongest material known to human beings.

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Question 26

IF you made a tightrope out of graphene, an elephant could walk along it without breaking it.

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Question 27

We’re already using graphene to make: stronger lighter airplanes that need less fuel to stay in the sky - which makes less air pollution in the air…

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Question 28

windowpanes that was themselves using only sunlight…

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Question 29

thinner, lighter phones with brighter colors…

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Question 30

and medicines that doctors can steer through your body so that they end up in exactly the right place.

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Question 31

There’s plenty more in store.

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Question 32

These super-sieves could make seawater safe to drink - which could help millions of people in need of clean water

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Question 33

The glasses would send the person pictures of the world around them

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Question 34

But it takes years of testing to find out if new materials are safe to use- to be certain they won’t hurt us or our planet.

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Question 35

Scientists all over the world are helping to speed that process along by sharing advice and new ideas.

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Question 36

There are so many secrets left for scientist to unlock

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Question 37

And who knows: the person with the key might just be…YOU!