Author name: Simon Wellings

Astronomy and Space Science Exploring Space and Beyond Grade 9-10

人类观测星系的历程

By •

People have always looked into the sky and tried to explain what they saw. Some early civilizations created fantastic stories to explain the patterns above us. Our modern scientific understanding shows the truth is more extraordinary than any of these tales. Some small dots of light in the sky are actually enormous objects called galaxies, made up of billions of stars, some so far away that it took billions of years for the light to reach us. These galaxies are shaped, not by the exploits of gods, but by a whole range of incredible objects, like black holes in space from which nothing can ever escape.

人类观测星系的历程 Continue reading »

Grade 6-8 Learning Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry Physics and Chemistry

2050年，我们将用什么来替代化石能源？

By •

Welcome to the year 2050. In cities around the world, cars whiz past tall buildings and factories, yet the air is clear, clean, and cool. People have stopped burning coal, oil, and gas to run engines or make heat and electricity. These fossil fuels no longer spew pollution and greenhouse gases into the air. As a result, climate change is slowing. Dangerous wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are becoming less common. Humanity has managed to back the world away from the brink of disaster.

2050年，我们将用什么来替代化石能源？ Continue reading »

Applied Science Exploring Artificial Intelligence

我们身边的机器人

By •

In the Star Wars movies, the droid R2-D2 carries messages, puts out fires, and while trapped on Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge, even carries a tray of drinks. R2-D2 also saves the heroes’ lives on several occasions . C-3PO and R2-D2 are both servants and friends. The idea that people might create machines to do tasks for them has been around for centuries— but only in myths and science fictions. Golems, animated clay statues, march through Jewish folklore. And Greek myths describe living metal statues called Automata.

我们身边的机器人 Continue reading »

Grade 6-8 Shaping Humanity’s Shared Future Social Science

超级智能会毁灭人类吗

By •

“Everyday, theWorld Mind churns out new inventions. It cures diseases,finds new ways of making things,builds new robots andother machines, and even creates new forms of art, music, drama, and sport. It hasslowly reversedclimate change, backing Earth away from the brink of environmentaldisaster… The World Mind protects all the animals and plants in the world and has foundways to make and distribute food,clothing,andshelter so that no one experiences poverty. It has built and launched starships to explore the galaxy. It has also established societies and governments that keep everyone at peace. War belongs to thedistant past. “

超级智能会毁灭人类吗 Continue reading »

Appreciating Art and Aesthetics Art and Literature Grade 9-10

面对建筑、体验建筑——像建筑师那样思考

By •

As a small child, did you build forts out of branches or snow? Or use the building block to create your first architectural work? If you did, you had to think like an architect. An architect is someone who transforms space with buildings, gardens, and other structures . But they don’t do this merely for practical purposes . Architects are artists. Instead of paint or clay, they work with structures and spaces to express important ideas or evoke human emotion. Architects are also scientists and engineers who study the world and find ways to solve problems and create order. Architects might even question existing ways of thinking to move civilization forward.

面对建筑、体验建筑——像建筑师那样思考 Continue reading »

Earth Science Fighting the Climate Crisis Grade 9-10

预测风暴——气旋与反气旋的科学研究和历史

By •

Flattened homes. Crumpled cars. Broken trees . Emergency shelters filled with shaken, distraught victims. This was what the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas looked like in the days after Hurricane Dorian struck in September 2019. “Everything is gone,” survivor Robert Cornea told CBS news . He and his wife had lived on the islands for more than fifty years. They lost everything they owned in the storm but escaped with their lives . Many others didn’t. Officially, seve nty people died , b ut some estimate that the actual number was in the hundreds. “People lost family members, they watched people slip away right out of their arms into the water,” June Russell, a fishing guide who lives in the Bahamas, told NBC news.

预测风暴——气旋与反气旋的科学研究和历史 Continue reading »

Astronomy and Space Science Exploring Space and Beyond Grade 6-8

在火星上开创制造业

By •

Do you want to visit Mars? Someday, you may get a chance. Several countries and companies have plans for crewed missions to Mars. Elon Musk, a famous inventor and founder of the company SpaceX, is planning one of those missions for 2026. But he has even bigger visions. In a 2021 speech, he said that he wants to “build a city on Mars to become a spacefaring civilization, a multi-planet species. ”

在火星上开创制造业 Continue reading »

Exploring the Science of Nutrition Grade 6-8 Medicine and Health

未来的食物

By •

“One bug burger, please,” you say. “With lettuce and tomato.” Your meal tastes a lot like a hamburger made from beef. But the patty contains ground up mealworms, which are even more nutritious. The pale green bun was baked with algae instead of flour. And the lettuce and tomato are special varieties created to thrive inside vertical farms. You might be saying “eww” now, but twenty or fifty years from now, you could be saying “yum” instead. In the future, bugs and algae and genetically modified foods might seem normal and delicious, not gross or weird.

未来的食物 Continue reading »

Scroll to Top