Free
For anyone curious$0always
- 399 things and how they connect, from the big bang to the internet
- Daily link puzzle, with a shareable result
- From scratch, the timed building game
- Evidence and sources on 824 links
- No account, no ads
Made Of
Everything is made of something.Free for everyone. Extra tools for families and classrooms.
Everything in Made Of stays free for anyone, with no account and no ads. The family and educator versions add ways to pitch it at the right level and to follow a learner’s progress, at home or in class.
Family
For kids learning at homePricing to comeper family
- Everything in Free
- A profile for each child, with their own progress
- The junior interface and difficulty levels
- Self-paced trails, with badges to collect
- A saved map of everything they’ve explored, and goals to aim for
- A weekly summary for parents
Educator
For teachers, classes and schoolsPricing to comeper class or school
- Everything in Free
- Three difficulty levels, from short chains to full depth
- A junior interface for younger students
- Ready-made lesson plans and guided trails
- A class space to play together, plus a teacher dashboard
- Saved exploration and class or personal goals
What the family version adds
For a child exploring on their own, with a parent who can see what they’re learning.
Learning at home, at their own pace
Each child gets their own profile, so their progress, badges and From scratch records are theirs. Trails they can follow alone turn curiosity into a goal, and badges give them a reason to come back.
- Child profiles: one per child, each set to their own level.
- Badges and collections: collect all 29 elements, trace five things back to the stars, build a phone from scratch.
- Weekly summary: what each child explored, finished and found most interesting, with a question to ask them at dinner.
- Safe by design: no ads, no chat with strangers and no public leaderboards.
Example weekly summary
Maya’s weekExample
23things explored
1trail finished
3badges
Finished the trail From fish to you
Most visited: Neutron star merger
AuNew badge: Gold hunter
Ask her: Where might the gold in your ring have come from?
In both Family and Educator
Progress that’s saved, goals to aim for, and ways to pitch the same map at the right level for each learner.
Your map of everything
Every item a learner visits is saved, so they can see how much of the map they’ve uncovered and pick up where they left off. The unexplored parts become something to go and find.
- Saved exploration trees: revisit any path taken, like “shirt, thread, cotton, cotton gin”.
- Coverage: how much of the map has been discovered, overall and by tier.
- Nearby unknowns: suggestions for the closest things not yet seen.
Example: a learner’s map so far
77 of 399things discovered · 19% of the map
Fundamental 15/34Natural 36/89Material 14/95Component 3/38Product 6/129System 3/14
Goals
Learners set their own goals, or a parent or teacher sets them. Progress fills in as they explore and play, so there’s always a next thing to work towards.
- Discovery goals: meet every element, or explore all of the tree of life.
- Game goals: beat a From scratch time, or keep a Daily link streak going.
- Set by grown-ups: a teacher sets a goal for the class; a parent sets one for the week.
Example goals
AuMeet every element12 / 29
Explore the tree of life22 / 54
Make a pencil in under 5 minutesDone in 4:12
Daily link streak3 of 5 days
Difficulty levels
The same map, cut to the right depth. Simple hides long chains so younger students see a few familiar steps. Complex keeps every step, down to the elements, with debated links front and centre.
- Simple: two steps upstream, the most familiar items, short From scratch targets.
- Standard: the map as it is today.
- Complex: full-depth chains like the microchip, with evidence on every link.
What goes into a pencil, at each level
WoodGraphiteClayPaintRubberAluminium metalCuCopper
A junior interface
A calmer screen for ages 7 to 10: big icons, short words and fewer choices at once. Facts can be read aloud, and evidence labels become plain phrases like “scientists agree” or “scientists still argue”.
- Age bands: 7 to 10, 11 to 14, and 15 and up.
- At most four choices on each side of the bowtie.
- Simpler wording for every fact, checked for reading level.
Junior view
Sheep
Sheep grow wool. People cut it off once a year to make clothes.
← What it needsWhat it makes →
Read it to meWhat the educator version adds
These are the features we plan to build. Tell us which would matter most in your classroom.
Lesson plans and guided trails
Ready-to-teach routes through the map, each with teacher notes, discussion questions and a short quiz.
- Trace your breakfast to the stars125 things
- How is a phone made?198 things
- From fish to you59 things
- Where did life begin?29 things
- Why pencils are hard to make120 things
Each plan will be matched to science and geography topics in common curricula.
A class space
Students join with a class code, with no email needed, and play together.
- A class Daily link, with everyone’s results side by side.
- Team From scratch: split a build like a phone across groups.
- Live challenges the teacher starts for the whole room.
- Leaderboards are optional and off by default.
Teacher dashboard
See who has played, which trails they finished and where they got stuck.
- Progress by student and by trail.
- Hints used and common wrong turns.
- Assign a trail or a puzzle for homework.
Evidence skills
Use the evidence on each link to teach how we know what we know.
- Students sort evidence into For and Against.
- Lessons built on debated links, like where life began.
- Students propose new links with a source, for the teacher to approve.
Privacy and school setup
Built for schools from the start.
- No ads and as little student data as possible.
- Sign in with school Google or Microsoft accounts.
- Licences for a single class or a whole school.
Sponsor a trail or section
Museums, science centres, societies and foundations can help keep Made Of free by sponsoring part of the map. Sponsors get a clear credit where it’s relevant. They never get a say in what the map says.
What sponsors get
- A “made possible by” credit on a trail or a section of the map, like the tree of life or the story of the microchip.
- A listing on the supporters page.
- Optional: a sponsored Daily link day, themed on your subject.
What sponsors don’t get
- Any influence over items, facts, links or evidence. Our evidence rules apply to every section, sponsored or not.
- Ads, tracking or data about learners.
- Sections where they have a stake. An oil company can’t sponsor the oil chain, and a chipmaker can’t sponsor the microchip.
Sponsorship opens once Made Of has its own home on the web. Contact details will be here.
How a credit would look
Trail: From fish to you
LUCA→Fish→Amphibians→Synapsids→Mammals→Primates→Humans
LOGOThis trail is made possible by Your organisation. Sponsors have no say over its content.
Questions
Will the free version stay free?
Yes. Exploring, the Daily link, From scratch and all the evidence stay free for everyone.
Can I use Made Of in class today?
Yes. The free version works in any classroom now. The educator version adds structure: levels, lesson plans and a shared class space.
Is Made Of independent?
Yes. Sponsors and paying customers never decide what goes on the map. Every link follows the same evidence rules, and debated things stay marked as debated.
What’s the difference between Family and Educator?
Family is for a parent and a few children at home: child profiles, badges and a weekly summary. Educator is for a teacher and a whole class: lesson plans, a shared class space and a dashboard. Both include difficulty levels and the junior interface.
When will the family and educator versions be ready?
Both are in development, and the features above may change as we learn what parents and teachers need.