ALL ABOUT SCIENCE

BABIES
Take a look at some baby clothes. See how tiny the arms are on shirts. Imagine getting your feet
into baby-sized socks. Once, your feet did fit into such tiny socks. You wore clothes that small
when you were a tiny baby. Every human being is born as a tiny baby.

HOW ARE BABIES BORN?

Babies grow inside a part of the mother called the womb or uterus. The growing baby is called a
fetus. First the heart, brain, arms, and legs of the fetus form. It takes about nine months for a
fetus to grow into a baby that is big enough to be born. Some babies are born earlier than nine
months. Doctors must give these babies special care.

When the baby is ready to be born, the mother goes into labor. The mother’s uterus pushes the
baby out through a passage called the vagina or birth canal.

NEWBORNS ARE HELPLESS

Newborn babies, or infants, spend most of their time sleeping. They are not strong enough do
anything for themselves.

Parents or other grown-ups must feed newborns. The infants eat by sucking liquids. Many infants
drink their mother’s milk. Older infants drink milk or baby formula from a bottle.

Infants wear diapers. They cannot control when they poop or wet themselves. Grown-ups must
change their soiled diapers and give them baths.

Newborn babies cannot talk, so they cry when they need something. They cry when they are
hungry or their diapers are wet. They cry when they are too hot or too cold. Parents or big
brothers and sisters have to figure out what a crying baby needs.

BABIES USE THEIR BRAINS

After about three months, babies start to notice things around them. They may watch colorful
toys or turn to look for what makes the sound of a rattle. Before long, infants can smile. Look at
some pictures of you as a baby. Are you laughing, smiling, or frowning?
Babies also learn who they are. They love to see themselves in a mirror. You probably noticed
yourself in a mirror by the time you were six months old. By 18 months, you could look in a
mirror and know, “Hey, that’s me!”

BABIES GROW UP

Babies grow very fast in their first two years. They get bigger and taller. They grow teeth, and
their muscles get stronger.

First they get strong enough to lift their heads, roll over, and sit up. Then they can stand, crawl,
and walk. Every baby learns to do these things at a slightly different age. You probably learned
to walk when you were between 13 and 18 months old.

You probably could talk a little bit by the time you were two years old. At first, babies just
babble. They say “goo” and make other sounds that don’t mean anything. Then they learn to say
words such as “mama” or “dada.” Babies can usually say simple sentences by the time they are
two.

Babyhood is over at about age two. The next stage of growing and learning, childhood, begins.

Also in Encarta Kids

All articles about the human body
Genes and Heredity
Reproduction
Sleep and Dreaming
Bones and Skeleton
Squeeze your arm. The outside of your arm is soft, but there is a hard
part inside. The hard part is a bone. There are bones in your arms and in
your legs. Bones go up the middle of your back. They go around your
chest. All of your bones together make up your skeleton. Your skeleton
holds your body up. It gives your body its shape. Bones do many other
important jobs in your body.

WHAT DO BONES DO?

Many bones protect the soft parts inside your body. Skull bones around your
head protect your brain. Rib bones make a cage around your chest. Your rib
cage protects your lungs and heart.

Muscles hook on to bones. Muscles pull on your bones to make them move.

Muscles and bones together let you stand, sit, and walk around.

Blood is made in the center of bones. The center of a bone is filled with bone

marrow. Bone marrow is soft. Red and white blood cells are made by bone
marrow. Red blood cells carry oxygen to all parts of your body. White blood
cells help your body fight germs.

Three tiny bones help you hear. The three bones are deep inside your ears. One
of these bones is called the stirrup bone. It is the smallest bone in your body.

WHAT ARE BONES MADE OF?

There are two kinds of bone. One kind is called compact bone and the other is
called spongy bone. Compact bone is the hard and smooth part on the outside of
a bone. The long bones in your arms and legs have lots of compact bone.
Spongy bone usually lies under the compact bone. Spongy bone is at the ends of
arm and leg bones as well. Bones of the pelvis (hipbone), ribs, breastbone,
backbone, and skull also contain spongy bone.

Your skeleton also contains cartilage. Cartilage is like bone but softer. It bends

easily. There is cartilage in body parts that must be tough but able to bend.
There is cartilage in the tip of your nose and in the outer part of your ear.
WHAT ARE JOINTS?
Joints are the places where two or more bones meet. Most bones are tied
together at joints by tough bands called ligaments.

Different kinds of joints let you move in different ways. Move your lower arm
up and down. Keep your upper arm still. The joint that joins your upper and
lower arm is called the elbow. Your elbow works like a hinge. It lets you move
your lower arm, but only up and down. Now swing your arm all around from
your shoulder. A joint in your shoulder called a ball-and-socket joint lets you
move your arm in many directions.

Your skull is made of many bones that do not move. They are held together in
one solid piece by suture joints.

HOW DO BONES GROW?

Bones grow or change as long as you live. Your head and other parts of your
skeleton had a lot of cartilage when you were born. Bones replaced the cartilage
as you got older.

Bones get thicker and longer as you grow taller. Bones keep growing in

teenagers. Bones stop growing longer in adults.

Some bones join together as you get older. Your skeleton had more than 300
bones when you were first born. An adult has 206 bones. The longest and
strongest bone in adults is the thighbone, in the upper leg.

Bones are replaced a little bit at a time even after they stop growing. This

replacement goes on for as long as you live. Your body needs a mineral called
calcium to keep strong bones. Milk has lots of calcium. Running and other
exercise also helps build strong, thick bones. Some older people have thin, weak
bones. Their bones can break easily. Getting enough calcium and exercise can
help keep bones from getting weak and thin.

WHAT HAPPENS TO BROKEN BONES?

Sometimes people have accidents that break bones. Maybe they fall out of a tree
or down a flight of stairs. Sometimes football players or other athletes break
bones when they are playing sports.

A doctor has to fix a broken bone. First, an X-ray picture shows the doctor what
the broken pieces of bone look like. Then, the doctor fits the broken parts of the
bone back together. This is called setting the bone. Sometimes a broken bone
must be put back together with wires or pins.

A broken bone should not be used until it is healed. The doctor makes a hard

case called a cast for an arm or leg with a broken bone. New bone starts to grow
around the break. The pieces grow together and heal the broken bone.

Bacteria
Peek into a clean room with no one in it. There are no pets in the room.
There are no plants in the room. It looks like there is nothing alive in the
room. The room, however, is swarming with life. Billions of tiny life
forms called bacteria cover the tables and chairs and the floor. You can’t
see them, but they stick to the windows, they cling to the ceiling, and
they float through the air.

Suppose you looked at part of a chair in the room through a microscope.

Microscopes magnify bacteria. You would see pale forms moving and
bumping into each other like ghosts. These tiny life forms are bacteria.
They live everywhere in the world. Billions of them even live inside of
you!

WHAT DO BACTERIA LOOK LIKE?

Bacteria come in three basic shapes. Some are round or shaped like a jellybean.
Some are spiral-shaped like a corkscrew. Some are long, like rods.

Each sphere or spiral or rod is called a cell. Animals have millions of cells, but

bacteria have only one cell. This single bacterial cell is called a bacterium. An
outer wall surrounds the cell and protects it. A substance called DNA floats
around inside the cell.

Some bacteria have hairlike parts called flagella. The flagella help the bacteria

move around in search of food. Flagella also move bacteria away from things
that could harm them.

WHAT DO BACTERIA DO?

Some bacteria help you. Bacteria in the body help fight off disease and help you
digest your food. Some bacteria that live in soil help plants by producing
substances plants need. They break down dead plants and animals and animal
waste. They make a gas called carbon dioxide from decaying material. Other
bacteria help plants take a gas called nitrogen out of the air. Plants need carbon
dioxide and nitrogen in order to grow.

Some bacteria can harm you. There are bacteria that cause food poisoning,

pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other sicknesses. Some bacteria cause tooth decay.
Bacteria can also infect farm animals and wild animals.

Disease-causing bacteria are different from helpful bacteria. You can swallow

disease-causing bacteria in unclean food or water. Bacteria that cause infections
can get into cuts and sores. Bacteria can get on your hands and go from your
hands into your nose, eyes, or mouth. That is why it is so important to wash
your hands often.

HOW DO BACTERIA GROW AND SPREAD?

Most bacteria simply split in two. Bacteria reproduce very rapidly. One bacterial
cell can become two in just a few minutes. Two bacteria become four bacteria
and then four become eight bacteria. Bacteria keep multiplying this way until
there are billions of them.
Different kinds of bacteria must compete for food. This competition keeps
bacteria from overrunning Earth.

WHO DISCOVERED BACTERIA?

No one knew about bacteria until the microscope was invented. Bacteria are so
small that they must be magnified at least 500 times their actual size for us to
see them.

A Dutch microscope-maker named Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in the 1670s was

the first person to see bacteria under a microscope. He saw tiny life forms
swimming around in drops of rainwater and in scrapings from his teeth. He
called the bacteria “animalcules,” meaning tiny animals.

French scientist Louis Pasteur in the 1800s proved that some bacteria are germs
that cause disease. He found that heat kills bacteria. Heating surgical
instruments to kill bacteria is called sterilization. Heating milk and other foods
to kill bacteria is called pasteurization, a word named for Pasteur.

A German scientist named Robert Koch also made important discoveries about

bacteria. He founded a field of science called bacteriology, the study of bacteria.

WHY DO WE STUDY BACTERIA?

Scientists study bacteria to find out how these tiny life forms behave. Scientists
also want to know what diseases bacteria cause. They look for ways to kill
disease-causing bacteria.

In the mid-1800s, scientists learned that killing bacteria can stop the spread of

some diseases. Doctors learned that sterile surgical instruments and operating
rooms help prevent infection after operations. Scientists learned that having
clean drinking water and food prevents the spread of deadly diseases such as
cholera and typhoid.

Scientists also learned how to make vaccines that protect against some diseases

caused by bacteria. They made vaccines from dead or weakened bacteria or
from poisons bacteria produce. For example, a shot of tetanus vaccine protects
you from the bacteria that cause tetanus. Tetanus bacteria live in the soil. They
can get into even small cuts on your body. Tetanus causes muscles to tighten. It
can be deadly.

In the mid-1900s, scientists discovered antibiotics, drugs that kill bacteria.

Before antibiotics, many people died from pneumonia and other infections
caused by bacteria. Some bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics. The
antibiotics no longer kill them. Scientists are working to make new kinds of
antibiotics that will kill resistant bacteria.

Brain and Nervous System

What kind of supercomputer can write stories, do math problems, draw
pictures, play games, see through eyes, hear someone talking, talk back,
and network with devices that make snacks in the microwave oven?
Your brain and nervous system can do all these things. Do you think a
computer will ever be as powerful as your brain?

You think with your brain. Your brain also sends signals through a

network called your nervous system. It tells your legs to walk and run. It
tells your hands and arms to put popcorn in the microwave. You don’t
even have to think about many of the things your brain does. Your brain
tells your heart to beat. It tells your lungs to breathe in and out, even
when you are sleeping.

Your brain also controls your feelings. Such feelings as joy, sadness,

love, anger, and fear all come from your brain.

WHAT IS MY BRAIN MADE OF?

Your brain is made of about 100 billion nerve cells. It looks like a lump of
pinkish-gray jelly. The surface of the brain is wrinkled, and deep grooves divide
it into sections. A network of blood vessels brings oxygen and food to your
brain cells and carries away wastes. Your brain is protected by bone called your
skull. Liquid and skinlike tissues also protect your brain.
When you were born, your brain weighed about  pounds (about 0.35
kilograms). Your brain keeps on growing while you grow up. By the time you
reach the age of 20, your brain will weigh about 3 pounds (1.3 kilograms).

Your brain has three main parts. The parts are called the cerebrum, the

cerebellum, and the brain stem. The cerebrum makes up the largest part of the
brain. The cerebellum is underneath the back part of the cerebrum. The brain
stem connects with the spinal cord at the bottom of the brain.

Your cerebrum and cerebellum are divided into two parts. These parts are called
the right brain and the left brain. The right side of your brain controls the left
side of your body. The left side of your brain controls the right side of your
body. Nerves from the right and left side of your body cross over when they
enter your brain.

WHAT DOES THE CEREBRUM DO?

Your cerebrum makes up most of your brain. Your cerebrum solves problems
and makes wishes. All of your thinking goes on in your cerebrum. Speech,
language, and emotions come from your cerebrum, especially your cerebral
cortex. The cerebral cortex is the outer part of the cerebrum.

Your cerebrum also gets signals from your senses. Nerves carry the signals.

Nerves from your eyes and ears go to parts of the cerebrum that let you see and
hear. Nerves carry signals to your cerebrum that let you feel, smell, and taste.

Your cerebrum sends messages out along nerves. The messages tell your legs to

walk or run. They tell your arm and hand to wave when you see a friend across
the street.

WHAT DOES THE CEREBELLUM DO?

Your cerebellum coordinates and fine-tunes your body movements. Your
cerebrum might tell your hands and arms to hit a baseball. Your cerebellum
controls how you swing the bat and make contact with the ball.

Your cerebellum helps your fingers play the piano, guitar, or violin. It helps you
keep your balance when you run, jump rope, or walk along a curb.
WHAT DOES THE BRAIN STEM DO?
Your brain stem takes care of all the things that you do but don’t need to think
about doing. It keeps your heart pumping blood. It keeps your lungs breathing
air. It makes your eyes blink. It pulls your hand back really fast if you touch a
hot pot on the stove.

WHAT IS THE NERVOUS SYSTEM?

Your nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves that run
throughout your body. The nervous system carries messages to your muscles
and organs. These messages tell your body what to do.

Your spinal cord is made of bundles of nerves. It starts in your neck and goes

down your back. Nerves go out from the spinal cord to other parts of your body.
Nerves from the spinal cord extend to the tips of your fingers and toes. Your
spine, or backbone, protects your spinal cord.

Cancer
Cancer—it’s scary word, and a scary disease. Cancer kills a lot of people
all over the world. Only heart disease kills more Americans.

But there’s good news too. Millions of people who have had cancer are

still alive. Doctors have learned a great deal about treating and
preventing cancer.

WHAT IS CANCER?
Cancer is not a single disease. It includes more than 100 different diseases. They
may affect any part of the body. But they have one thing in common. They are
all caused by cells that are out of control.

All living things are made up of cells. An adult human body has about 30

trillion cells—that’s 30,000,000,000,000! Cells reproduce (make more cells) by
dividing in half. In an adult body, about 25 million cells divide every second.
That’s how the body heals itself.
Sometimes a cell goes out of control and divides over and over. And that’s what
cancer is—unhealthy cells, growing and reproducing out of control. These cells
are said to be cancerous.

WHY CANCER IS DANGEROUS

When cancerous cells multiply, they form clumps called tumors. Tumors can
interfere with important body processes. Cancer of the lungs, for instance,
interferes with breathing. Cancer of the stomach interferes with digesting food.

Cancerous cells can also spread to other parts of the body. Then new tumors

form. This spreading is called metastasis. Cancer that has metastasized is the
most dangerous. When cancer attacks several parts of the body, it is hard to
stop.

HOW DOCTORS TREAT CANCER

The best weapon against cancer is detecting it at an early stage before it grows
very much. Regular checkups by a doctor can detect cancer before it grows and
spreads. People whose cancers are discovered early usually survive.

Some cancerous tumors can be removed by surgery. Doctors must remove some

surrounding healthy cells, too, to be sure they get all the cancerous cells.

Radiation, such as X rays, can also kill cancer cells. So can treatment with

powerful drugs, called chemotherapy. Unfortunately these treatments destroy
healthy cells too. They can make people very sick. Newer treatments encourage
the body’s own disease-fighting immune system to destroy cancer cells. But the
newer treatments don’t work for all types of cancer.

WAYS TO PREVENT CANCER

There is no sure way to avoid cancer. But there are things people can do to
greatly reduce the risk of getting cancer.

Smoking causes cancer. People who smoke get lung cancer 20 times more often
than people who don’t smoke. Don’t smoke!
Doctors suspect that eating certain foods can also increase the chances of getting
cancer. Eating lots of red meat and other foods high in saturated fat may make
people more likely to develop cancer.

Most skin cancer is caused by too much Sun. Avoid getting sunburned. If

everyone wore sunscreen or stayed out of the Sun, most cases of skin cancer
would be prevented.