80+ Science Facts for Kids

Teaching young ones anything can be challenging if the information isn’t entertaining. But sometimes, reviewing science facts for kids can make learning more engaging than following a traditional curriculum.

If nothing else, it may spark an interest in various sciences from an early age and instill a thirst for knowledge.

Earth Science Facts for Kids

1. Contrary to popular belief, the Earth isn’t a sphere but an ovoid-shaped object. That’s because, despite its rounded shape, the planet is flattened at the poles.
2. Earth rotates around its axis every 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds.
3. Mars’s gravity is lower than Earth’s, making a 200-pound person weigh just 76 pounds on Mars.
4. The best scientific guesses put the universe at 13.8 billion years. In contrast, the solar system is only 4.6 billion years old. Earth is slightly younger at around 4.54 billion years.
5. Although small in the sky, the Sun is so massive that it could hold one million Earth-sized planets.
6. Our planet only has about 11% of farmable land. The rest is 8% volcanoes, 70% water, and 10% ice.
7. While magma and lava are theoretically the same, magma is only referred to as lava after erupting from a volcano.
8. Mt. Everest’s peak is 29,029 feet above sea level. However, Mt. Everest isn’t the highest point on the planet. That distinction is reserved for Mt. Chimborazo of the Ecuadorian Andes. Its proximity to the equator, known as the planet’s bulge, makes it the highest true point on Earth.
9. The tallest mountain on Earth, measured from base to summit, is Hawaii’s Mauna Kea dormant volcano. It measures 33,484 feet, although only 13,802 feet are visible above sea level.
10. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s most extensive coral reef system. It is also the largest living structure on the planet at 1,616 miles long, but not the biggest living organism.
11. Volcanic rock, or pumice, is the only type that floats on water.
12. Although it doesn’t seem like it, the Hawaiian archipelago moves closer to Japan yearly by around four inches. This is possible because Japan and Hawaii rest on different tectonic plates.
13. The Sun’s surface temperature is 5,778 degrees Kelvin or 9,941 degrees Fahrenheit. But that pales compared to the Earth’s core temperature of around 7,500 degrees Kelvin or 13,040.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
14. The Earth’s atmosphere has more water molecules than all the rivers on the planet combined.

Human Science Facts for Kids

1. No computer has ever been built to rival the computing power of the human brain and its 100 billion nerve cells.
2. Human DNA is often called unique, but everyone shares at least 99.9% of their DNA. Interestingly, the human species also has 60% of the same DNA as fruit flies and 96% the same as chimpanzees.
3. Due to a component called beta-carotene, eating too many carrots and similar foods can lead to yellow- or orange-like skin discoloration.
4. Human eyes can differentiate between more than 10 million colors.
5. Eyebrows have been proven to function as eye protectors against dirt, sweat, and rain and as essential body parts for expressing human emotions.
6. Humans can’t hear elephants sing because they create a very low ultrasound rumble, unperceivable for the human ear.
7. The brain can consume up to 25% of the body’s oxygen.
8. Of the 206 bones in the human body, the smallest bone (stirrup) isn’t much larger than a grain of rice.
9. Healthy human hearts can beat up to 115,000 times daily, but male hearts beat slower than female hearts.
10. Multitasking is an illusion because the human brain isn’t capable of doing it. It can switch very quickly between tasks, producing the illusion of multitasking.
11. Although humans have 206 bones, they’re born with about 300. Many of them fuse before reaching the adulthood stage, leaving people with 206 bones.
12. Human brains grow at an accelerated rate during the first year of life, easily tripling in size.
13. Contrary to Pinocchio, the human nose doesn’t get longer when you lie but can get warmer when you consciously lie.
14. Humans cry when chopping raw onions because of an irritant gas released by the vegetable. When it comes in contact with the eyes, the body quickly ramps up tear production to wash the eyes of the irritant.

Animal Science Facts for Kids

1. One of the most interesting science facts for kids is that ostriches can roar like lions and outrun horses.
2. Cats are very agile and silent because they lack collar bones, making their backbones super flexible.
3. Dogs make excellent scent trackers because they have separate passages for breathing and smelling and can store scents in their noses.
4. Contrary to popular belief, killer whales or orcas are the largest category of dolphins, not whales.
5. Hummingbirds are unique because they’re the only species that can fly in all directions and hover. They do it by swinging their wings up to 200 times every second.
6. Antarctica is the only continent that doesn’t have scorpions.
7. Snakes never migrated across the ocean or evolved in New Zealand. And thanks to the country’s strict policies, it’s a snake-free zone.
8. The platypus is the only mammal known to lay eggs.
9. Some lizards don’t just regrow their limbs but can also shed damaged tails willingly to escape predators.
10. While polar bears tend to be white, their skin is actually black.
11. According to the best scientific estimates, Earth may contain over 10 million life forms.
12. Insects have been on Earth longer than humans. Early homo sapiens remains date back 13,000 years, while insect remains have been dated as early as 350 million years ago.
13. Both cows and horses are mammals capable of sleeping while standing up.
14. An octopus has three hearts, unlike most animals or marine life.

Weather Science Facts for Kids

1. Lightning bolts may appear massive but are no longer than a ballpoint pen. That’s still enough to generate a temperature of up to 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit in a lightning strike.
2. A rainbow visible at nighttime is called a moonbow.
3. Raindrops can fall at a speed of up to 18 miles per hour.
4. It can take snowflakes as much as a full hour to reach the ground.
5. Pine cones can be used to predict weather patterns due to their ability to open and close based on the humidity in the air.
6. Not all clouds are alike; they fall into many categories, like cumulus, stratus, and cirrus.
7. The U.S. has the most tornados, averaging around 1,200 yearly. The country’s unique central geography is responsible for this.

Computer and Technology Science Facts for Kids

1. The world’s first computers were built in the 1940s and could weigh up to 27 tons and occupy an entire room.
2. A wind-up toy produced in Japan called the Lilliput is considered the world’s first robot toy.
3. The term robot wasn’t coined until 1920 and was used to describe any machine that could resemble humans. Interestingly, the term wasn’t coined by a scientist but by a Czech writer and playwright named Karel Capek.
4. Playing certain video games can help enhance analytical thinking in kids when done in moderation.
5. The oldest sketches for humanoid robot designs date back to 1495 and can be attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.
6. The camera obscura device was used in Ancient Greece and Ancient China to project images. Its principle and operation have been among the most essential elements in creating modern-day cameras.
7. The internet and the World Wide Web are two different things. The former is a network or series of networks, while the latter refers to a collection of linked pages accessible via the internet.

Nature Science Facts for Kids

1. Strawberries are the only fruits with seeds on the outside.
2. Pineapples can take as long as two years to fully mature.
3. Some plants have been on the planet’s surface for almost 400 million years.
4. Around 5% of the planet’s dry land is covered by the Amazon rainforest.
5. Up to 25% of ingredients used in modern medicine have been discovered in rainforest plants.
6. Water doesn’t freeze faster if it’s already cold. In fact, warm water can freeze much more quickly.
7. Only one natural substance can exist in three physical states based on the naturally occurring temperatures on Earth – water.
8. Bacteria are so small you may find up to 100 million in a tablespoon-sized soil sample.
9. The oldest tree in the world is over 4,800 years and can be found in California. The state is also home to the world’s tallest tree, 379.1 feet.
10. It’s been estimated that the planet has over 80,000 different species of edible plants. But humans probably consume no more than 30 varieties.
11. Plants can display preferential treatment towards siblings.
12. Plant matter in swamps can naturally turn to coal through metamorphosis.
13. Bamboo plants grow much differently than other plant life. They can reach over three feet in a single day under perfect conditions.
14. Over 600 carnivorous plants have been discovered, with the Venus Flytrap arguably the most famous.

Space Science Facts for Kids

1. Multiple solar planets have rings, including Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn.
2. Uranus and Venus spin differently than the others, with the former rotating on its side and the latter spinning backward.
3. The Milky Way has an estimated 100 billion stars.
4. The man-made International Space Station is a massive structure roughly the size of a football field with all compartments and modules attached.
5. Both the Sun and the moon are responsible for affecting the Earth’s tides.
6. Meteoroids may shoot up to 26 miles per second through the solar system.
7. Venus has the second-hottest surface area in the solar system after the Sun, with a maximum of 842 degrees Fahrenheit during the day.
8. Because outer space is a void, there is no sound. Sound needs a medium for someone or something to perceive it.
9. Astronaut footprints made of the moon’s surface during the Apollo missions won’t be erased by natural phenomena. Because it lacks an atmosphere, the moon doesn’t generate winds that can displace the dirt.
10. Days on Neptune are only 16 hours long because of the planet’s different orbit around the Sun and rotation around its axis.
11. Flying from the moon to the Sun in a regular commercial airplane can take 20 years, assuming it can survive the trip.
12. Neutron stars are some of the densest cosmic objects. A single teaspoon of neutron star matter weighs 6 billion tons.
13. The solar system’s entire mass is 99.86% the Sun. Earth and all other objects only account for 0.14% of the solar system’s mass.
14. Seeing a sunset on Mars differs from a sunset on Earth. The human eye would perceive it as blue due to the Red Planet’s fine dust.
15. Venus has a very slow axis rotation compared to Earth and is even slower than Neptune. One day on Venus takes as long as 243 Earth days. But a complete orbit around the Sun takes Venus 18 fewer days than Earth.
16. Astronomers have discovered a planet called 55 Cancri e, mainly composed of graphite and diamonds.

Find Time to Share More Science Facts for Kids

Going over various science facts for kids with your young ones is a great, fun way to expose them to the world and universe around them. It will make learning more exciting and can even help them gain increased interest in topics that previously seemed uninteresting or not applicable to their daily life.