Science is the best way we have of finding out about the world. Scientists collect evidence （证据）, They have ideas about the way things work. Science tests those ideas. Sometimes the test will show that the idea is not correct. If the idea passes the test, it adds to our understanding.

Scientists make observations （观察）. They may look, or listen. They may read the work of other scientists. This gives them ideas. You can do this. You can look around you. You can ask questions. You can plan a test to find out. You can discover something new.

Scientists make predictions. They say something about the future. They might say 'if I do this, then I think that will happen、Isaac Newton was a famous scientist. When he shone white light through a glass prism, he saw a spectrum （光谱）of different colors. Newton predicted what would happen if he shone the spectrum through a second prism. He thought the colors would come together and he would see white light again. He tried it. He shone a spectrum through a second prism. He was right. The colors made white light.

He discovered that white light is made up of many colors.

It's important to test your ideas. It's important to plan a fair test. A scientist wondered how a tree grows• Where does all that material come from? Was it from the soil?

He planted a young tree in a pot He weighed the pot, the dry soil and the tree at the start of his test. Years later, the tree had grown talk It had many branches and leaves. The scientist dug it up. He weighed it. The tree weighed far more than when it was young. Then he weighed the pot and the dry soil It weighed just a bit less. Where had all the new tree material come from? He decided that trees use water, and a gas from the air, to grow.

Hunan, a province in Central China, is the birthplace of China's greatest thinkers, scientists and leaders.

Wei Yuan ( 1794-1857 ) was boa in Shaoyang, hunan. He was the first Chinese thinker in modern times to open his mind to the outside world. In his best - known work Haiguo Tuzhi, Wei Yuan began to look at what could be learned from western countries.

Mao Zedong ( 1893-1976 ) was born in Shaoshan, which has become one of the country's most popular red tourism spots (景点) . Mao spent his childhood in Shaoshan. He went on to join and lead the Communist Party (共产党) of China. He played a central role in the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Yuan Longping ( 1930-2021 ) was a scientist. He began to research the rice production after graduating from college. He was the first person in the world to develop hybrid rice. And the hybrid rice increased the rice production. This helped solve the problem of worldwide hunger. Yuan and his team successfully developed technologies for producing indica rice. Helping China become the world's leading rice producer.

Li Bai was born in 701. He was also given the name "Taibai". The name meant "Venus" in ancient Chinese. Legend says that before Li Bai was born, his mother dreamt that Venus fell into her arms. Some people believed that Li Bai was a god. When Li Bai was five years old, his family settled in a town in today's Sichuan province.

• Making Iron into a Needle

There is a legend about Li Bai. He was not a very hard-working student when he was young. He often skipped school

One day when he was walking by the river, he saw an old woman. She was working on a large piece of iron.

He asked, "What are you doing? "

She said, 'Tm making a needle. "

"But how can you make a large piece of iron into a needle? " She replied, "I must work hard every day. "

Li Bai suddenly understood the importance of hard work, and he started to work hard at school.

• Friendship with Meng Haoran

When Li Bai travelled to Xiangyang in Hubei, he went to visit a famous poet called Meng Haoran. He was twelve years older than Li Bai, but they became friends. They both loved travelling to beautiful mountains and rivers. When Meng Haoran left for today's Yangzhou, Li Bai wrote a poem about it. Seeing Meng Haoran off at Yellow Crane Tower.