Weird Science- Curiosity Series Workbook 2

Weird Science: Science That Sounds Fake But Isn't NEST Curiosity Series. Book 2

Science is often taught as a list of facts to memorise. The actual practice of science is far stranger, far funnier and far more surprising than any textbook lets on. This booklet is about the bits that genuinely make you stop and say: that cannot possibly be real.

What is inside:

Chapter 1: The Mantis Shrimp Can See Colours That Don't Exist. It has 16 types of colour receptor. You have 3. Its punch moves faster than a bullet and creates a shockwave. An activity explores consciousness and perception.

Chapter 2: Tardigrades; The Unkillable Animal. Survived five mass extinctions. Survived the vacuum of space. Currently living in your garden. Includes a survival guide writing activity rooted in real biology.

Chapter 3: Quantum Weirdness; When Physics Stops Making Sense. A particle can be in two places at once. Observing it changes what it does. Includes an explain-the-unexplainable activity for different audiences.

Chapter 4: The Placebo Effect; Your Brain Is Making Things Up. Fake surgery produced the same results as real surgery. Sugar pills work even when you know they are sugar pills. Includes a structured ethics debate.

Chapter 5: Slime Moulds; Intelligence Without a Brain. A single-celled organism solved the Tokyo subway map. No brain, no neurons, no excuses. Includes a network design activity linking to maths and computing.

Chapter 6: Exploding Lakes, Ball Lightning and Other Real Things. Some lakes spontaneously erupt. Ball lightning drifts through walls. Rogue waves were dismissed for decades. Includes a scientific field report writing activity.

Chapter 7: The Science of Time and Sleep. Why a man underground lost a month without noticing. Why time speeds up as you get older. Why many neurodivergent brains have a later internal clock and what the science actually says about that. Includes a time perception log activity and a letter-writing task on delayed sleep phase.

YouTube and website links throughout.

This booklet has no age label. It is written for curious minds, and curious minds come in all shapes, sizes and ages. If the topics sound interesting to your young person, it will work for them.

Format: instant PDF download, 26 pages, A4, print or use on screen. Designed by NEST Pembrokeshire.

Illustration: Dooder / Freepik