Enjoy these 15 fascinating science facts for kids to amaze their friends, covering everything from physics to chemistry and biology to space! These fun science questions and answers are brought to you by Planet Science Kidz who offer workshops, camps and parties for inquisitive minds!

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15 Fascinating Science Facts for Kids

#1. Can Sunflowers Help Clean Up Radiation?

Yes, sunflowers not only look pretty, produce tasty seeds that are edible and rich in vitamin b, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, protein and vitamin e.

They have the power to help clean up radioactive soil in which they are planted. They do this by sucking out radioactive containments along with other nutrients that may be in the soil. Who knew sunflowers had superpowers!

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#2. What Are Humans Are Made From?

Did you know that the mass of the human body is made of just 6 elements? We are 99% carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, hydrogen and calcium! And you thought we were just flesh and blood!

And according to scientists, the average human body has enough carbon to produce 9,000 pencils! That’s a lot of writing!

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#3. How Long Is One Year On Pluto?

You may be surprised to learn that one year on Pluto is equivalent 248 years on earth! Why? Because it takes Pluto almost 248 earth years to do one orbit of the sun!

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#4. What Is 5 Times Hotter Than The Surface Of The Sun?

Next time you see lightning remember this fact – a bolt of lightning can become 5 times more hot than the surface of the sun! The lightening bolt can reach temperatures of 53,540ºF while the surface of the sun is just 10,340ºF!

Although if you bore down into the centre of the sun, temperatures could reach as much as 27,000000ºF (27 million!) but I don’t think anyone is going to try that, do you?

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#5. What Fruit Shares Up To 60% Of Their DNA With Humans?

The humble banana shares up to 60% of its DNA with humans. Nearly all living entities come with a genome, which is basically an instruction manual for growth and operation.

The instructions are made up of DNA that instructs the body how to make protein molecules, which are essential for life. Everything living evolved from a single common ancestor but over time have evolved into different forms, like humans and bananas!

Another interesting fact to tell your friends, is that we share DNA with many plants and animals including over 95% of our DNA with chimpanzee!

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#6. How Many Sweat Glands Are In A Human Foot?

Each of your feet contains up to 250,000 sweat glands! They can produce up to a whopping pint of sweat each daily! Yuck!

But you may not have known, sweat itself does not smell, but socks and shoes can trap bacteria that causes odors so it is important to wash socks well after each wearing and change shoes regularly.

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#7. What Animals Have Blue Blood?

You may have heard that royalty have blue blood but that is just a myth! Animals that do have blue blood include; lobsters, snails and spiders!

Now for the science bit. Their blood contains hemocyanin, which is rich in copper and gives off a blue hue. In most other animals and humans, their blood is red because it contains hemoglobin, which is rich in iron which gives off a reddish hue.

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#8. Does Sound Travel Quicker In Water Than Air?

Yes a sound wave travels up to 4 times quicker in water than air! Sound is made up of pressure waves by passing energy from one particle to another, a bit like when you do a relay race with your friends and have to pass on a baton.

As water is denser than air, the particles are closer together enabling them to pass this energy on more quickly!

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#9. What Animal Has 3 Hearts?

Wow, not only does an octopus have 3 hearts it also has blue blood, six arms, two legs and nine brains! One heart circulates blood through the body while the other 2 pump blood to their gills. While in the brains department, they have one central brain and a smaller brain in each of their 8 tentacles!

Another interesting fact is that they can change colour in the blink of an eye. This helps to camouflage them from predators. Colour changing cells called chromatophores are responsible for this trait.

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#10. What Is The Only Letter That Does Not Appear On The Periodic Table?

The letter J is the only letter that does not appear on the periodic table. Every other letter in the alphabet features! Check above to see if we are correct.

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#11. What Metal Is Liquid At Room Temperature?

Mercury is the only metal that we know of that is liquid at room temperature. Although it is not a good conductor of heat, it does react quickly to a change in temperature by expanding or contracting.

Mercury also has a high density and boiling point. This makes it the ideal substance to use in thermometers and barometers which are used to measure changes in temperature and pressure.

Although these days, you are more likely to have your temperature checked by a digital thermometer!

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#12. What Plant Has More Chromosomes Than A Human Being?

Potatoes! Most humans have 46 chromosomes (23 pairs) but a potato has 48! Just remember that next time you are tucking into a tasty plate of mash!

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#13. Who Has More Bones – A Baby or An Adult?

We are born with approximately 300 bones but as we grow and change they fuse together so most fully grown adults have just 206 bones!

Baby bones are mainly cartilage but through a process known as ossification, they fuse to become stronger bones. This process continues from birth until we are in our 20’s!

More bone facts to wow your friends with – the smallest bone in the humber body is the stirrup or stapes and it is found in the middle ear. And the largest bone in the body is your thighbone or femur which is found at the top of your leg.

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#14. Why Can Birds Survive Standing Or Sitting On Electrical Power Lines?

Birds are bad conductors of electricity! In simple terms, electricity flows along the path of least resistance by the movement of electrons through conductors, like the copper wire in power cables. As birds are bad conductors of electrons they can sit or stand freely on electrical power cables and not get shocked.

That is unless they touch another wire or point with a different voltage! As electricity flows from a higher voltage point to a lower one, if there is a change in the voltage the electricity will travel through the bird to get to the other voltage source. Not something you would want to witness!

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#15. How Long Does It Take For Plastic To Decompose?

On average, it takes 450 years for plastic to decompose and glass can take up to 4,000 years to decompose!

So the message to re-use and re-cycle is a very important one as we don’t want future generations finding our drinks bottles in 450 years time!

Over to you know. Did you know the answers to these science questions or have you learned some interesting science facts? Maybe you have a science fact of your own? Please share them with us in the comments box below.