1

Chapter

The Wonderful World of Science

As human beings, we have always been curious about our

surroundings. We start exploring our surroundings and
asking questions right from our childhood. Did you enjoy
discovering and exploring the world around you in the
Preparatory Stage of school? As you enter the Middle Stage,
we will continue this fascinating journey, trying to explore
and understand the beautiful world we live in. And for that,
we have a new subject, Science. Welcome to the

?
wonderful world of Science!
Science is a way of thinking, observing and What is
doing things to understand the world we live in Science?
and to uncover the secrets of the universe. Think
of it as a big adventure—we ask questions,
explore the world and try to understand how
things work. For this, the most important thing is to have
‘Curiosity’, which is where the title of this book comes
from.
Whether it is studying tiny grains of sand or massive
mountains, a leaf of grass or a vast forest, there is always
something new and exciting to discover. Have you ever
looked up at the night sky
and wondered why the
stars shine? Or watched a
flower bloom and
wondered how it knows
when to open?
These are just a few of
the many mysteries that
science helps us unravel.
The most wonderful thing
about science is that it
is everywhere. From the
depths of the ocean to the A mountainous region
 A Desert A Coast

vastness of outer space, from what is cooking in the

kitchen to what is happening on the playground, some
of the most groundbreaking discoveries have often come
from unexpected places.

An underwater view of an Ocean A Galaxy

Curiosity | Textbook of Science | Grade 6

Science is like a giant and unending jigsaw puzzle.

Every new discovery we make adds another piece to that
puzzle. And you know the best thing about this puzzle?
There is no limit to what we can discover, since every
new piece of knowledge leads to more questions and more
things to find out. Sometimes, we find that a piece of this
puzzle has been put in the wrong place and needs to be
moved. New discoveries often change our understanding
of the world.
As you go through this book, you will encounter
interesting ideas, do some thought-provoking experiments,
and see how some of what we will find out is useful in our
2
daily lives. And guess what happens as

?
we discover more and more? We start What will we
realising that these ideas are all explore with
connected. the help of
We will start off by looking at our this book?
home, planet Earth. It is the only planet
we know that supports life, and it has an
environment that we must protect. There
is an amazing variety of life on Earth—
plants
and animals that have managed to survive and thrive in
different regions on this planet. You might have seen a
seed grow into a plant, a caterpillar transform into a
beautiful butterfly and many more such observations. How
do these plants and animals grow?

Of course, to grow, we need food to eat, and especially

in a large and diverse country like India, food is so
fascinating. Across the country, we have different cuisines
with their many tasty dishes. What are they made of? How
do we find out?
The Wonderful World of Science

3
 Along with food, we need water to survive. Water is
such a delightful substance. Have you ever run and
jumped in a puddle when it rained? Do you ever wonder
why and how it rains?
Have you noticed that water freezes and becomes ice
when we cool it and boils and becomes steam when we
heat it? Do you enjoy drinking cool water in the summer
or showering with warm water in the winter? How do we
understand hot and cold? Whether it is water, or our own
body when we have fever, finding out how hot something
is can be important!

Then again, there are so many different things around

us—the paper we write on, the metal key, the plastic ruler
and the rubber eraser in our box, the magnet that keeps
the box closed, the clothes we wear, the cup we drink milk
in and so many other things. What are they made of? Are
they made of different materials? How do we separate
different materials from one another?
Curiosity | Textbook of Science | Grade 6

4
 We will have an almost unending list of questions about
everything on Earth as we further explore this book. But
why limit our questions to the Earth alone? We can ask
questions on things beyond—the Sun, the Moon, and the
millions of stars that shine in the sky!
Whether you are learning about the

?
structure of a leaf, discovering how things
How can we try
move, or separating the skin of a peanut
to find answers
seed, we hope each chapter of this book will
to our
ignite your spirit of inquiry. And hopefully questions on
you will have lots of questions in your mind! our own?
Even though you may not realise it, you
have already been finding answers to many
of your questions. Suppose your pen stops
writing. What would you do? You would ask yourself the
question, “Why did my pen stop writing?”. You might guess
that the ink finished.
You would then test this guess by opening
the pen and checking the ink refill. If it is
empty, you would know that your guess
was correct. But suppose you find that
the ink was not finished. Now what
would you do? You would make
another guess—perhaps the ink might
have dried up. To test if this guess is
correct or not, you will try something
else.
This is exactly how Science
works! The way you tried to find
out why your pen stopped writing
is an example of the scientific
method.
Activity 1: Let us think and write
The Wonderful World of Science

 Write about a similar problem that you tried to solve.

 What steps did you take?
Science is not just about memorising facts and figures or
doing experiments. It is about following a step-by-step
process that helps us find answers to our questions. So
5
 what are the steps that we can follow?

6
 First, we observe something that we find interesting
or we do not understand.

This makes us wonder and perhaps think of a question

about it.

Then, we guess a possible answer to that question.

We test this guess through experiments or more

observations.

We then try to analyse the results to see if it actually

answered our question.

Scientists are people who

follow the scientific method to
solve problems or to discover
new things. But anyone who
follows the scientific method is
working like a scientist.
Someone cooking food may be
wondering why the dal has
spilled out of the cooker—was
there too much water?
Think of a bicycle repair
person trying to find out why a
tyre is flat—from where did the
air leak out? Or an electrician
trying to find why a light bulb
is not working—is there some
Curiosity | Textbook of Science | Grade 6

problem with the bulb or the

switch? When we try to ask
questions and find out answers,
in a way, we are all scientists!
Activity 2: Let us think and write
 Describe a daily life situation where you feel someone
was following a scientific method.
Do you now realise that there are several daily life situations
where we knowingly or unknowingly apply the scientific

7
 method? Though we all apply the scientific method to
some extent, learning science will develop our capabilities
for finding solutions to bigger problems and solving
more mysteries of the universe. And to be able to learn
science well, the first and foremost thing is to be curious
and observe your surroundings keenly. And when we are
curious, we start posing questions, asking how and why?
Just remember, the world is full of things we do not know,
things that are waiting to be explored.
Activity 3: Let us think and write

 If you have to ask “Why?” about something, what

would you ask about?
 Try to write down how you would attempt to find an
answer to your question.
Science is rarely done alone. Scientists across the world
work together, often in large teams. So, if you cannot find
an answer yourself, ask your friends to help you out! It is
always more fun to discover things together.

The Wonderful World of Science

Of course, remember that you will not find answers to

all your questions within Grade 6. Do not worry, you are
embarking upon a journey of science for the next five
years or even beyond!
6
 ?
Much like children enjoying After all, to be
the rain, science is all about joyful a wise person,
exploration. Enjoy your scientific you must be a
journey, keep exploring and never “whys”
stop wondering about the amazing person!
mysteries of the universe and
asking questions.
Are you ready to embark upon the exciting journey of
Science? Let us get started!!
Curiosity | Textbook of Science | Grade 6