Basic Science
Before science is a list of facts to memorize, it is a way of checking claims. Once you know the basic principles, you can judge for yourself whether an AI's explanation is right.
Ask an AI and a scientific explanation appears in seconds. But to judge whether that explanation is correct, and where an analogy holds and where it breaks down, you still need the basic principles in your own head. Get a few big ideas right — force and energy, atoms and reactions, cells and genes — and the news, health information, and even your electric bill start to read differently.
The course opens with the scientific method (Lesson 1) and then moves through physics (Lessons 2–4), chemistry (Lessons 5–6), life science (Lessons 7–8), and Earth science and space (Lessons 9–10). The terms are the ones used in middle and high school science textbooks. Wherever a calculation is needed, it is worked through step by step in an example; if the formulas feel unfamiliar, take the Math Basics course alongside this one.
Most scientific knowledge is well tested, but some of it is a simplified model of reality and some is still being researched. Each lesson makes that boundary clear and also addresses common misconceptions.
- You don't remember much of the science you learned in school, and you get stuck when reading the news or health information
- You want to give accurate answers to your child's science homework and questions
- You need a yardstick for checking for yourself whether an AI's scientific explanation is correct
- You want to understand the principles behind everyday things like your electric bill, the seasons, and colds
Lessons
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1LESSON
🔍 The Scientific Method — The Skill of Checking Claims
The scientific method is the process that turns “that seems likely” into “we checked.” The key is to change only one thing at a time when you compare, and to see whether others get the same result when they try it again.
15 min -
2LESSON
🚲 Force and Motion — Newton's Three Laws
An object with no net force on it keeps its state of motion; an object with a net force on it accelerates in proportion to the force and in inverse proportion to its mass. Forces always act in pairs between two objects.
18 min -
3LESSON
⚡ Energy — It Changes Form, but the Total Stays the Same
Energy is never destroyed or created; it only changes form. But each time it changes, some of it scatters as less useful heat, which is why we need the idea of efficiency.
16 min -
4LESSON
🔌 Electricity and Magnetism — Current Makes a Magnet
Voltage is what drives current, current is the amount of charge flowing, and resistance is how much the flow is opposed; V = IR ties them together. Current creates a magnetic field, and a changing magnetic field creates current.
19 min -
5LESSON
⚛️ Matter and Atoms — How to Read the Periodic Table
All the matter in the world is made from combinations of about 100 kinds of elements. The periodic table is a map that groups those elements by atomic structure so that elements with similar properties sit together.
16 min -
6LESSON
🧪 Chemical Reactions — Rearranging Atoms
In a chemical reaction, atoms are neither created nor destroyed; they only change partners. So the number of atoms and the mass are the same before and after the reaction, and chemical equations are written to follow this principle.
18 min -
7LESSON
🧬 Cells and Heredity — From DNA to Protein
Living things are made of cells, and the DNA in a cell's nucleus holds the information for making proteins. This information is passed on to the next cells and the next generation through cell division and reproduction.
17 min -
8LESSON
🫀 Human Body Systems — Organ Systems and Homeostasis
The body's organ systems are not separate departments working alone; they are one team that supplies cells with nutrients and oxygen, clears away waste, and keeps conditions inside the body steady.
17 min -
9LESSON
🌏 Earth and Climate — Plates, Atmosphere, Seasons
Earth is a planet whose plates are moved by heat from within, while on the outside its air and water circulate on energy from the Sun. The seasons come not from distance but from the tilt of Earth's axis.
18 min -
10LESSON
🔭 Space Basics — From the Solar System to the Big Bang
Space is so vast that we measure distance by how long light takes to travel it. Looking far away means looking into the past, and those observations together support the Big Bang theory that the universe has been expanding.
16 min