Tiny Building Blocks: What's Inside Everything Around You
Look at your hand for a second. It looks smooth and solid, right? But if you could shrink down smaller than a grain of sand, smaller than a speck of dust, smaller than anything you've ever seen — you would find that your hand, and everything else in the whole world, is built out of tiny, tiny pieces called atoms.
What You'll Learn
In this lesson you will: - Learn that atoms are the tiny building blocks that make up everything - Meet the three tiny parts inside every atom - Discover that a glass of water, the air you breathe, and your own body are all made of atoms - Build your own model of an atom
What Is an Atom?
An atom is so small that millions of them could fit on the head of a pin. Everything around you — your desk, your dog, the water you drink, even the air you breathe — is made of atoms joined together. Atoms are like the tiniest LEGO bricks in the universe; different combinations of atoms build different things.
The Three Tiny Parts
Every atom has three even tinier parts. In the very center, called the nucleus, there are protons (which have a positive charge) and neutrons (which have no charge at all). Zooming around the outside of the nucleus, like tiny planets circling a sun, are electrons (which have a negative charge). A hydrogen atom, the simplest atom there is, has just 1 proton, 1 electron, and usually no neutrons at all.
Many of the atoms in your body were actually made inside stars billions of years ago, long before Earth even existed! Scientists sometimes say we are all made of 'star stuff.'
Everything Is Made of Atoms
A glass of water is made of tiny molecules, and each of those molecules is built from atoms — 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom joined together (that's why water's science name is H2O). Your body has trillions of atoms, mostly oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. Even the air you just breathed in is packed with atoms too small to see.
Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer
Where are protons and neutrons found in an atom?
Which of these is made of atoms?
Build a Model Atom
Using craft supplies like beads, buttons, or balls of paper (one color for protons, another for neutrons, and a third, smaller item for electrons), build a simple model of a carbon atom, which has 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons. Group the protons and neutrons together in the middle for your nucleus, and place the electrons around the outside. Take a photo or drawing of your finished model and label each part.
Want to keep learning?
Sign up for free to access the full curriculum — all subjects, all ages.
Start Learning Free