Tiny Tiny Particles
Look at your hand. It looks like ONE solid thing, right? But if you had super-duper magic glasses that could zoom in a million times, you would see that your hand is made of teeny tiny bits, way too small to see. We call these tiny bits ATOMS. Everything around you is made of atoms: your toys, your dog, the water you drink, even the air you breathe. Atoms are so small that it would take millions of them lined up to be as wide as one tiny hair on your arm!
What You'll Learn
In this lesson you will: - Learn that everything is made of tiny bits called atoms - Find out that atoms are too small to see - Discover that inside atoms are even TINIER bits - Play games to feel how small tiny really is
So Small You Can't See Them
An atom is so tiny that you cannot see it with your eyes. You cannot even see it with a regular magnifying glass! Scientists use giant special machines to find out about atoms. Think about a big pile of sand. Each grain of sand is small. Now imagine one grain of sand is a whole MOUNTAIN, and an atom is like one tiny speck on that mountain. That is how small an atom is!
When something is too small to see, we call it MICROSCOPIC. Atoms are microscopic. A whole world of tiny things is hiding inside everything you touch!
Even Tinier Bits Inside
Here is the amazing part: atoms are made of even SMALLER bits! Deep inside every atom there are tiny pieces zooming around. Some of these tiny bits are called ELECTRONS, and they whiz around super fast. So an atom is not the smallest thing. It is like a tiny box with even tinier things inside, buzzing and spinning.
Why Do Tiny Particles Matter?
Scientists study these tiny particles to learn how everything works. Someday, when you are older, you might learn how people are building special computers that use these tiny particles to think really fast. They are called quantum computers! But it all starts with the same big idea: everything is made of tiny, tiny particles.
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What are all things around you made of?
Why can't you see an atom with your eyes?
There are more atoms in one tiny drop of water than there are stars in the whole sky! Tiny things can add up to a HUGE number.
Build a Pretend Atom
Use a big ball of playdough or a cotton ball for the middle of your atom. Then take three or four tiny beads, buttons, or bits of paper to be the electrons that zoom around it. Place the tiny electrons around your big center. Now you have made a model of an atom! Show a grown-up and tell them one thing you learned: everything is made of tiny, tiny particles too small to see.
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