In Science, we have been learning about a couple of really interesting things that I thought I would share with you and encourage you to think about.

First of all, we have learned these four important concepts so far:

• Beyond the atmosphere is space.
• Earth is surrounded by an atmosphere of air.
• Evidence is information that is used to explain things.
• Scientists base their explanations on evidence.

To help illustrate these points, we read a story about the first balloon trip into the atmosphere. It was not very high up but because no one had ever gone up before, the scientists were not sure as to whether people would be able to survive. So they sent animals instead. When the animals came back down alive, there was evidence that it was safe for man to venture in the sky. Of course, they didn’t know that the higher they went, the less air there was going to be. That would come later. The point is that there was evidence. We then watched a video showing people sending a camera high into the atmosphere and what happens as it reaches the edge of the atmosphere. Watch for yourself.

Now William asks a good question as to why the balloon pops. I am thinking that it has something to do with the balance of air in the balloon to air outside the balloon. As the air outside the balloon decreases in weight compared to the weight of air inside the balloon, that imbalance causes the balloon to pop. If anyone can find an actual explanation, please add it as a comment. It was a neat video though.

The second video shows the planets and stars compared in size. I think that I have added this video to the blog already but it is always good to bring it out and make notice of it. You will be amazed!