Living Things · 生命與生態
Living Things 生命與生態
Every living thing, from a blade of grass to a hawk in the sky, has to find energy, grow, and leave young behind. See how a leaf makes food from sunlight, how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, and why a mudflat is one of the busiest places on the coast.
每一種生物，從一根小草到天上的老鷹，都得取得能量、長大、留下後代。看一片葉子怎麼用陽光做出食物、毛毛蟲怎麼變成蝴蝶，還有為什麼一片泥灘是海岸上最熱鬧的地方。
Every lesson starts with something you can find near your school: a leaf, a sparrow, a line of ants. A 3D model shows what is going on inside, one idea at a time, and an English reading explains it, with Chinese a tap away.
每一課都從學校附近找得到的東西開始：一片葉子、一隻麻雀、一排螞蟻。先用 3D 模型看清楚裡面發生了什麼事，一課只講一個道理；再讀一篇英文短文把它說明白，中文翻譯隨點隨看。
The lessons are grouped into four units: cells and life, plants, animals, and living together. When a lesson touches something already explained in The Human Body, How Things Work, or Earth and Weather, it links there instead of explaining it twice.
課程分成四個單元：細胞與生命、植物、動物、生態。遇到「人體探索」「萬物原理」或「地球與天氣」已經講過的東西，就直接連過去，不重講一次。
Every number is checked against a source listed at the bottom of each lesson. Each lesson also tells you clearly which parts of its model are real and which are only a picture.
每一個數字都查證過，出處列在每課最下方。每一課也會清楚告訴你，模型裡哪些是真的、哪些只是示意。
12 of 16 lessons are ready so far; more are on the way.
目前完成 12 課（共規劃 16 課），持續增加中。
Unit 1 · 單元一
Cells and Life 細胞與生命
What every living thing is built of, where food begins, and the instructions inside every cell.
所有生物是用什麼蓋成的、食物最初從哪裡來，還有每個細胞裡的那份說明書。
What Is a Cell?
細胞是什麼？A whale, a mushroom, a blade of grass, and you are all built from the same kind of tiny living block. It is called a cell. In a 3D model, cut one open and tap each part to see what it does. Then switch to a plant cell and find the three things it has that yours do not. Last, learn to tell what kind of cell you are looking at.鯨魚、香菇、一根小草，還有你，都是用同一種很小很小的、活的積木蓋成的。它叫做細胞。在 3D 模型裡把一個細胞切開，點一點每個部分，看它在做什麼。接著換成植物細胞，找出它有、你的細胞卻沒有的三樣東西。最後，學會分辨眼前看到的是哪一種細胞。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →How Does a Leaf Make Food from Sunlight?
葉子怎麼用陽光做出食物？A plant never eats, yet it grows from a tiny seed into a tall tree. Where does all that stuff come from? In a 3D model of a leaf cut open, give it light, air, and water, and watch it make sugar and give off oxygen. Take one of the three away and see what happens. Then find out why almost everything you eat began as sunlight on a leaf.植物從來不吃東西，卻能從一顆小小的種子長成一棵大樹。那麼多的東西是從哪裡來的？在一片切開的葉子的 3D 模型裡，給它光、空氣和水，看它怎麼做出糖、放出氧氣。再拿掉其中一樣，看看會怎麼樣。最後找出答案：為什麼你吃的東西，幾乎每一樣最初都是照在葉子上的陽光？Start the lesson · 開始上課 →What Is DNA?
DNA 是什麼？Inside almost every one of your cells there is a set of instructions for building you. It is written with only four letters. In a 3D model, unzip a piece of DNA and watch each half build itself a new partner, until one molecule has become two that match. Then change a single letter and see where the change goes. Last, write a code of your own and count how many different codes four letters can make.你身上幾乎每一個細胞裡，都有一套把你做出來的說明書。它只用四個字母寫成。在 3D 模型裡把一段 DNA 解開，看兩邊各自補上新的搭檔，一個分子變成一模一樣的兩個。接著換掉一個字母，看看這個改變會跑到哪裡去。最後自己寫一段密碼，算一算四個字母能排出多少種不同的密碼。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →How Are Bacteria and Viruses Different?
細菌和病毒哪裡不一樣？People call both of them germs, and both are far too small to see. But they are not the same kind of thing at all. In a 3D model, watch one bacterium split into two, then four, then thirty-two, all by itself. Then watch a virus, which can do nothing alone, get a living cell to build new viruses for it. Last, find out how many of each would fit across one millimeter.大家把它們都叫做「病菌」，兩種也都小到看不見。可是它們根本不是同一類東西。在 3D 模型裡，看一個細菌靠自己分裂成兩個、四個，一直到三十二個。再看一個自己什麼都做不了的病毒，怎麼讓一個活的細胞替它做出新的病毒。最後算算看，一毫米的寬度可以排下幾個細菌、幾個病毒。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →Unit 2 · 單元二
Plants 植物
How a seed wakes up, why flowers bloom, and how water climbs to the top of a tree.
種子怎麼醒過來、花為什麼要開，還有水怎麼爬到樹頂。
How Does a Seed Know When to Grow?
種子怎麼知道什麼時候該發芽？A seed can lie in a paper packet for years and do nothing. Put it in damp soil, and within days it is a plant. In a 3D model, give a seed water and warmth and watch it wake: first a root going down, then a shoot going up. Turn the seed upside down and see whether it gets confused. Grow it in the dark and see what goes wrong. Last, decide which seeds in four different places will wake up.種子放在紙袋裡，可以好幾年一點動靜也沒有；把它放進溼溼的土裡，幾天之內就變成一株植物。在 3D 模型裡給種子水和溫度，看它醒過來：先是一條根往下，再是一根芽往上。把種子倒過來放，看它會不會搞錯方向。把它放在暗處，看看會出什麼問題。最後判斷看看：放在四個不同地方的種子，哪幾顆會醒？Start the lesson · 開始上課 →Why Do Flowers Bloom?
花為什麼要開？Flowers are not there to look pretty for us. They are how a plant makes seeds, and a plant cannot walk over to another plant. In a 3D model, cut a flower open and follow one grain of pollen: carried in by a bee, caught by the stigma, and then growing a tube down to a waiting seed-to-be. Switch to the wind and see why some plants must throw away so much pollen. Last, look at a flower and work out who delivers for it.花不是為了讓我們覺得好看才開的。花是植物製造種子的方法，而植物沒辦法走到另一株植物那裡去。在 3D 模型裡把一朵花切開，跟著一粒花粉走：被蜜蜂帶進來、被柱頭接住，然後長出一條管子，通到等在那裡的「未來的種子」。換成風來送，看看為什麼有些植物非得浪費那麼多花粉不可。最後看著一朵花，推理出是誰在替它送貨。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →How Does Water Reach the Top of a Tree?
水怎麼爬到樹頂？A tall tree lifts water higher than a ten-story building, every day, without a pump and without a heart. In a 3D model, watch a thread of water run from the roots to the leaves, and find out what is doing the lifting. Turn off the sun, dry out the soil, or fill the air with mist, and see the flow slow down or stop. Last, compare some real trees with the highest that sucking alone can ever raise water.一棵大樹每天都把水送到比十層樓還高的地方，沒有幫浦，也沒有心臟。在 3D 模型裡，看一條水柱從根一路通到葉子，找出到底是誰在出力。把太陽關掉、讓土乾掉，或是讓空氣充滿水氣，看水流怎麼變慢、甚至停下來。最後拿幾棵真的樹，和「只靠吸」最多能把水抬到的高度比一比。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →Why Do Leaves Change Color?
葉子為什麼會變色？A leaf does not turn yellow in autumn. It was yellow all summer, and you could not see it. In a 3D model, look inside a leaf at the three pigments that color it. Move the season forward and watch the green fade until the yellow underneath shows through. Then choose a tree that turns red, and find out what kind of weather makes the brightest reds. Last, mix the three pigments yourself.葉子不是到了秋天才變黃的。它整個夏天都是黃的，只是你看不見。在 3D 模型裡，看看讓葉子有顏色的三種色素。把季節往前推，看綠色慢慢褪去，底下的黃色露出來。接著選一棵會變紅的樹，找出什麼樣的天氣能讓紅色最鮮豔。最後自己動手調一調這三種色素。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →Unit 3 · 單元三
Animals 動物
How birds fly, how fish breathe, and how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.
鳥怎麼飛、魚怎麼呼吸，還有毛毛蟲怎麼變成蝴蝶。
How Does a Bird Fly?
鳥為什麼會飛？A bird is heavier than air, just as you are. It stays up because almost everything about its body has been shaped for flying. In a 3D model, slow down one beat of the wings and watch four forces change: lift, weight, thrust, and drag. Look inside at the muscles that do the work. Then stop flapping, and see how a bird can still climb without moving its wings at all. Last, match four wing shapes to four ways of flying.鳥比空氣重，就和你一樣。牠能留在空中，是因為牠身上幾乎每一個地方都是為了飛行而長成那樣的。在 3D 模型裡，把拍一下翅膀的動作放慢，看四個力怎麼變化：升力、重量、推力和阻力。看看身體裡面出力的肌肉。接著停止拍翅，看一隻鳥怎麼連翅膀都不動也能往上升。最後把四種翅膀的形狀，和四種飛法配起來。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →How Does a Fish Breathe Under Water?
魚怎麼在水裡呼吸？A fish needs oxygen just as you do, and there is oxygen in water, but only a little. In a 3D model, look inside a gill, where water and blood slide past each other on two sides of a very thin wall. Watch the oxygen cross over. Then turn the blood around so that it flows the same way as the water, and see how much the fish would lose. Last, meet four fish that breathe in four different ways.魚和你一樣需要氧氣。水裡有氧氣，只是很少。在 3D 模型裡看看鰓的內部：水和血隔著一層很薄的膜，從兩邊擦身而過。看氧氣怎麼跑過去。接著把血掉頭，讓它和水往同一個方向流，看看魚會少拿到多少。最後認識四種魚，牠們各有各的呼吸辦法。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →How Does a Caterpillar Become a Butterfly?
毛毛蟲怎麼變成蝴蝶？A caterpillar and a butterfly do not look like relatives, and yet they are the same animal at two different ages. In a 3D model, follow one insect from an egg on a leaf to a caterpillar that outgrows its skin again and again, and then into a chrysalis. Look inside the chrysalis while the body is taken apart and built again. Watch the new butterfly open its wings. Last, find out which insects go through this great change and which do not.毛毛蟲和蝴蝶看起來一點也不像親戚，但牠們其實是同一隻動物，只是年紀不同。在 3D 模型裡，跟著一隻昆蟲，從葉子上的卵，到一次又一次把皮撐破的毛毛蟲，再到蛹。看看蛹的裡面：身體被拆開，再重新蓋起來。看剛出來的蝴蝶把翅膀撐開。最後查一查，哪些昆蟲會經歷這樣的大改造，哪些不會。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →How Do Migrating Birds Find Their Way?
候鳥怎麼認路？Every year some birds fly thousands of kilometers to a place they have been before, and they arrive at the right spot. They have no map and no phone. In a 3D model, send a bird across the sea from the north, past Taiwan, to the south. Change day to night, bring in the clouds, and switch off its senses one at a time to see what it still has to steer by. Last, compare some real journeys with the length of Taiwan.每年都有一些鳥飛幾千公里，回到牠們去過的地方，而且到得很準。牠們沒有地圖，也沒有手機。在 3D 模型裡，讓一隻鳥從北方出發、飛過海洋、經過台灣、到達南方。把白天換成夜晚、讓雲飄進來，再把牠的感覺一種一種關掉，看牠還剩什麼可以用來認方向。最後拿幾段真實的旅程，和台灣的長度比一比。Start the lesson · 開始上課 →Unit 4 · 單元四
Living Together 生態
Who eats whom, who lives in the mud, and what happens when one kind of living thing disappears.
誰吃誰、泥灘裡住了誰，還有一種生物消失了會怎麼樣。