Science · Unit 1

What is Science?

Observing the world and thinking like a scientist

Science is not a body of facts but a way of settling disagreements about the world, and this unit is about the method rather than the findings.

It covers observation as a skill rather than a passive activity, the tools that extend what the senses can reach, and how a vague curiosity gets turned into a question that can actually be answered. Who counts as a scientist gets its own section, largely because the stereotype is unhelpful and wrong.

This unit breaks down into 22 short steps and 129 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 2. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 22
Questions: 129
Difficulty: 1-2

What this unit covers

Observing the World
Tools Scientists Use
Asking Questions
Who Are Scientists?
Using Our Senses

Where this fits

The opening unit of the general Science track. The Scientific Method later takes the same ideas much further.

Where people slip

Observation and inference are different things. Seeing that a plant on a windowsill has bent is an observation; saying it bent towards the light is already an explanation.

How the unit is structured

What is Science? runs as 22 short steps that unlock in order. 16 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 2 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 22 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 129 in the unit altogether.

Asking Questions

Build the sentenceLevel 1
1. Build a science question about the sky.
Answer: Why is the sky blue
'Why is the sky blue?' is a great question a scientist might ask.
Fact or fibLevel 1
2. A good science question is one you can find out by looking or testing.
Answer: True
The best questions can be answered by observing or trying things out.
Fill the blankLevel 1
3. The word we use to ask about a reason is ____.
- whycorrect
- apple
- run
- blue
The word why asks for the reason something happens.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
4. Scientists are curious, so they ask a lot of ____.
- questionscorrect
- naps
- shoes
- cars
Scientists ask lots of questions to learn how things work.
Odd one outLevel 1
5. Which word is NOT a question word?
- Jumpcorrect
- Why
- How
- What
Why, how, and what start questions, but jump does not.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
6. Which of these can you find out by testing? Pick all that apply.
- Which paper airplane flies farthestcorrect
- How many days a bean takes to sproutcorrect
- Which ice cube melts firstcorrect
- What the prettiest color is
You can test and measure real things, but 'prettiest' is just an opinion.

Observing the World

Choose all that applyLevel 1
7. Which of these are things you could observe? Pick all that apply.
- A bird flyingcorrect
- Rain fallingcorrect
- The color of a leafcorrect
- A dream you had last night
You can observe real things around you, but not a dream inside your head.
Fact or fibLevel 1
8. You can observe how a small plant grows taller over many days.
Answer: True
Watching a plant change over days is a great way to observe.
Fill the blankLevel 1
9. A good scientist looks ____ at things to learn about them.
- closelycorrect
- away
- never
- asleep
Scientists look closely so they can notice tiny details.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
10. What does it mean to observe something?
- To look at it closely and carefullycorrect
- To throw it far away
- To close your eyes and guess
- To eat it quickly
To observe means to look at something closely and carefully to learn about it.
Odd one outLevel 1
11. Which one is NOT a way to observe?
- Guess with your eyes shutcorrect
- Watch a bird fly
- Look at the shape of a leaf
- Notice the color of the sky
Observing means looking closely, so guessing with your eyes shut is not observing.
Picture questionLevel 1
12. 👀 What is this person doing with their eyes?
- Looking closely (observing)correct
- Sleeping
- Eating
- Running
Big open eyes show observing, which means looking closely at something.

Tools Scientists Use

Fact or fibLevel 1
13. Tools help scientists see and measure things better than using only their eyes.
Answer: True
Tools let scientists learn more than they could with their eyes alone.
Fill the blankLevel 1
14. Scientists look at faraway stars with a ____.
- telescopecorrect
- ruler
- spoon
- cup
A telescope makes faraway things like stars look closer.
Match the pairsLevel 1
15. Match each tool to what it measures.
Answer: Ruler = Length; Scale = Weight; Thermometer = Temperature; Stopwatch = Time
Each measuring tool helps you find out one thing, like length or time.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
16. What does a magnifying glass do?
- Makes small things look biggercorrect
- Makes things colder
- Makes loud music
- Makes things fly
A magnifying glass makes tiny things look bigger so you can see them.
Odd one outLevel 1
17. Which one is NOT a science tool?
- Pillowcorrect
- Magnifying glass
- Ruler
- Thermometer
A pillow is for sleeping, but the others are tools that help scientists.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
18. Which tools help scientists see more than their eyes alone can? Pick all that apply.
- Magnifying glasscorrect
- Microscopecorrect
- Telescopecorrect
- Pillow
Lenses like these help us see things too small or too far for our eyes alone.

Using Our Senses

Choose all that applyLevel 1
19. Which senses could help you enjoy popcorn? Pick all that apply.
- Smell itcorrect
- Taste itcorrect
- Hear it popcorrect
- See through walls
You can smell, taste, and hear popcorn, but no sense lets you see through walls.
Fill the blankLevel 1
20. In the dark you cannot see, but you can still use your ears to ____.
- hearcorrect
- see
- taste
- smell
Your ears let you hear even when it is too dark to see.
Guess the numberLevel 1
21. How many main senses do people usually have?
Answer: 5 senses
People usually have five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
Match the pairsLevel 1
22. Match each body part to the sense it gives you.
Answer: Eyes = Sight; Ears = Hearing; Nose = Smell; Tongue = Taste; Skin = Touch
Each body part gives you one of the five senses.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
23. Which sense helps you tell a red ball from a blue ball?
- Sightcorrect
- Hearing
- Smell
- Taste
You use your eyes and your sense of sight to see the different colors.
Odd one outLevel 1
24. Which one is NOT one of the five senses?
- Flyingcorrect
- Smell
- Taste
- Touch
Flying is not a sense; the five senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

Who Are Scientists?

Choose all that applyLevel 1
25. Which things do scientists do? Pick all that apply.
- Ask questionscorrect
- Observe carefullycorrect
- Test their ideascorrect
- Make up answers without checking
Scientists ask, observe, and test their ideas instead of just making things up.
Fact or fibLevel 1
26. Kids can act like scientists by observing and asking questions.
Answer: True
Anyone, even a kid, can be a scientist by looking closely and asking questions.
Fill the blankLevel 1
27. Scientists are very ____ , which means they love to find things out.
- curiouscorrect
- sleepy
- angry
- quiet
Being curious means you really want to know how and why things work.
Match the pairsLevel 1
28. Match each kind of scientist to what they study.
Answer: Animal scientist = Animals; Space scientist = Stars and planets; Weather scientist = Rain and clouds; Ocean scientist = The sea
There are many kinds of scientists, and each one studies different things.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
29. Who is a scientist?
- A person who studies the world to learn how it workscorrect
- A kind of animal
- A type of car
- A person who only sleeps all day
A scientist is a person who explores and studies the world to understand it.
Guess the numberLevel 2
30. A scientist watches a plant on Monday and every day through Friday. On how many days did she observe it?
Answer: 5 days
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday make five days of observing.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 14 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Build the sentence
Choose all that apply
Fact or fib
Fill the blank
Guess the number
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Odd one out
Picture question
Put in order
Sort into groups
Spell it
True or false
Type the answer

Practise What is Science?

129 questions across 22 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about What is Science?

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

More units in Science

See all 18 units in Science →