Bridges Nina and the Neurons

# If you've got a question and you don't know where to go

# Ask Nina for some help cos she's got a science show

# She makes sense of our senses while helping all her fans

# By doing her experiments with potions that would bang

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue

-# Fingers

-Fingers

-# Eyes,

-eyes,

-ears,

-ears

-Nose,

-nose

# Nina and the neurons find out what you need to know

# Nina and the neurons find out what you need to know

# Luke helps us with our eyes and Felix with our touch

# Ollie sniffs out smells And Belle she hears so much

# Bud is Ollie's brother He helps us with our tastes

# They're Nina's little neurons and they are coming to your place

-# Touch your tongue,

-tongue

-Fingers,

-fingers,

-eyes,

-eyes

-# Ears,

-ears,

-nose,

-nose

# Nina and the neurones find out what you need to know

# Nina and the neurons find out what you need to know. #

Hello, there. I am just putting down some train tracks.

Oh, but I have come to a river

and I don't think my train will be able to cross it.

Ah! I can use this bridge.

There we go. Hee-hee!

Now my train can cross the river.

Choo-choo!

BEEPING

I hear a beep, I see a flash, I wonder what they are going to ask?

-ALL: Hi, Nina.

-Hi, guys.

We have a question for you.

-How do we build bridges?

-That's a great question.

How do we build bridges?

Bridges need to be really strong because lots of cars,

people and trains cross them.

Why don't you come down to my workshop and we will investigate.

-ALL: See you soon, Nina. Bye!

-Bye!

Well, I am going to need some help to answer this one

and I know just who to ask.

OK, Neurons, time to get to work.

ALL: Neurons at the ready, Nina.

OK, today's question is how do we build bridges?

Which Neuron do you think will be most useful in helping us

-find the answer?

-Me!

-Me!

-Me!

Will it be fabulous Felix?

I can help so very much if you need the sense of touch.

Will it be beautiful Belle?

I send messages to brain from ear. If there's a sound, I'll help you hear.

Will it be lovely Luke?

For looking and seeing, day or night,

I'll help you with your sense of sight.

Will it be awesome Ollie?

If it is pongy or whiffy but you can't tell,

-my messages help your sense of smell.

-Or will it be baby Bud?

Sour, salty, bitter or sweet, I'm your taste buddy whenever you eat.

It is Luke!

Go, Luke! Go, Luke! Go, Luke!

Cool, Nina. I will be looking out to help you.

Today's question is how do we build bridges and because

we'll be looking at bridges, our sight Neuron Luke will help us.

Right. I need to get the workshop ready before the engineers arrive.

Aimee-Louise loves holidays. Gabby likes guinea pigs.

Archie loves cricket.

Some bridges are really large.

-I have driven over a long bridge.

-How do bridges stay up?

So today, for one day only, Aimee-Louise, Gabby

and Archie become the engineers.

-Hello, guys.

-ALL: Hi, Nina.

Welcome to my workshop and thanks for your great question.

How do we build bridges?

To find out the answer, we will start by using our senses.

Whoo-hoo! A senses experiment. We are ready, Nina.

Have a look at this model.

It is a road going around some water.

Mr Blue lives over here and Mr Red lives over here.

Mr Blue and Mr Red are friends and if Mr Blue wants to visit

Mr Red, he has to go all the way around the water.

That looks like a long way, Nina.

It is a long way, Luke, and it takes a long time.

So what do you think would make it easier for Mr Blue to get to Mr Red?

-A bridge.

-You are absolutely right - a bridge.

I have a road here. Can you use it, please, Aimee-Louise,

to make a bridge between Mr Blue and Mr Red? Excellent!

So now Mr Blue has a much shorter journey to go and visit Mr Red.

-Have a look at the bridge. Is it holding the car up?

-Yes.

Yes, it is, isn't it? The bridge is straight.

Toot-toot! Hello, Mr Red.

But now Mr Blue and Mr Red have moved house.

All the way down here.

-So what happens now?

-They need a longer bridge.

Yes, they do need a longer bridge and I have one here.

Gabriella, can you put it across the water for me, please?

Very good. And now Mr Blue can drive over to see Mr Red again.

Oh, what has happened?

-It is bending.

-That is right.

The car is heavy and it is pushing the bridge down in the middle.

The problem with longer bridges is they need more help to stay up

and stay straight.

How do you think we could solve this problem and keep the bridge up?

-Put a little stick under it or something.

-What a good idea!

I don't have a little stick but I do have this piece of card.

I am going to put this piece of card underneath the bridge in an arch.

It will help to keep it straight.

Here we go. Make the arch.

Pop the bridge back on.

So now when Mr Blue's car pushes down on the bridge,

the arch keeps the bridge straight and Mr Blue can cross safely.

Hello, Mr Red.

-Now Mr Blue can have dinner with Mr Red!

-He certainly can, Bud.

Engineers have made lots of bridges this way.

They are called arch bridges and I have a picture of one here.

But if the water underneath the bridge is really deep,

it can be difficult to build an arch,

so some bridges need to be held up in a different way.

Instead of having an arch underneath,

they are pulled up from above.

So to find out more, we need to go to a place with lots of water.

Let's go, engineers.

Oh, goody! I love this bit. I wonder where Nina is taking us.

Nina said it's a place with lots of water.

-I wonder if it's a swimming pool.

-We're about to find out.

Looks like we're here, everyone.

Engineers, you asked how do we build bridges,

and to help answer your question,

I've brought you to this really, really long bridge!

Wow!

Now, this bridge is a different shape to the arch bridge

we made earlier, and I have a picture of an arch bridge here.

There's nothing underneath this bridge pushing it up.

Instead, this bridge has an arch on top, pulling it up.

If I turn this arch bridge upside down, it looks like this bridge.

Engineers had the clever idea to put the arch on top of the bridge

to pull it up instead of below the bridge, where it pushes it up.

This type of bridge is called a suspension bridge.

So let's take a closer look. Come with me.

Ooh! A suspense-man bridge!

It's a suspension bridge, Bud!

WIND RUSTLES

Ooh! Listen to that wind!

A windy suspension bridge!

Look at these giant cables! Can you see what they're doing?

-Holding the bridge up.

-That's right.

These giant cables pull the bridge up. But what pulls the cables up?

The towers.

Yes, the two big towers hold up the cables,

and the cables hold up the bridge.

-The cables and the tower are really strong.

-I'm strong, look!

The cables and the towers are even stronger than you, Bud!

Let's have a look at a picture of this bridge.

-Can you see the cables and the towers?

-Yeah.

Holding the bridge up from above,

the cables and towers makes it really strong.

It's so strong, you could fill the whole bridge with elephants

and it wouldn't even bend in the middle.

Nina, why do the cables go into the big blocks?

That's a great question!

The blocks help to keep the cables pulled tight.

-Why do we need to do that?

-Let's go back to the workshop to find out.

Your question was, how do we build bridges,

and so far we've discovered a suspension bridge is held up

from above instead of being pushed up from below.

Towers hold up cables, and the cables hold up the bridge.

And you guys noticed that the cables were pulled tight,

so we've got our very own suspension bridge here to find out why

the cables have to be pulled tight.

So here are the long cables,

and there are some shorter cables.

And there's the road on the bridge.

So I think it's time to test our suspension bridge with this car.

Okey-doke.

Oh. Oh! Oh, dear!

The bridge doesn't seem to be staying up.

What do we need to do to fix it?

-Pull the ropes tight.

-That's right.

We need to pull the ropes tight,

and I've got two heavy weights here to tie the ropes down.

That will keep them tight. OK, Archie, can you help me over here?

You go round. I'll just take the car off here.

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

Very good.

Give it a good pull... Excellent.

MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH

That's it. Very good.

Pull yours tight.

Great work, engineers! Now, can you feel that the ropes are right?

-Have a feel of the ropes.

-It feels much tighter, Nina.

Let's test our suspension bridge again.

Yay! Whoo-hoo! The cables are tight, so the bridge is staying up.

Now we know why the cables on the real bridge

were in those big blocks. Big blocks keep the cable tight.

# Nina and the Neurons. #

So, your question was, how do we build bridges,

and I think we've answered it.

We discovered that there are lots of different types of bridge.

They help us to cross water so we don't have to go around it.

Longer bridges need something to help them

stay up in the middle, and they can be held up from above or below.

Suspension bridges are held up by cables.

The cables hang between towers

and they must be kept tight to hold the bridge up straight.

This suspension bridge is helping Mr Blue visit Mr Red!

-So I hope that's answered your question.

-Thanks, Nina. Bye.

You're welcome. Bye.

If you want to know more about the science and engineering

that's all around us, go to the Nina section on the CBeebies website.

Have fun!

-Pulling.

-Pushing.

-Twisting.

-Mixing.

-Drilling.

-Squeezing.

-Floating.

# Go engineering Go engineering

# When you need to fly it Make it shape it

-# Go engineering

-Go engineering

# When you want to build go engineering. #

Engineering!

# When you've got to solve a problem but you don't know how to do it

-# It's time to go engineering. #

-Engineering.

# When you want to lift it Stick it pump it bend it

-# It's time to go engineering. #

-Engineering.

-# Go engineering

-Go engineering

# When you need to fly it Make it shape it. #

Engineering.

-# Go engineering

-Go engineering

# When you want to build Go engineering. #

Go engineering!

I've had a fabby day!

I loved it when Mr Blue went to visit Mr Red!

I wonder what they had for dinner.

I really enjoyed myself today.

I'm amazed engineers can build such long bridges.

It's been a marvellous day.

Checking the cables were tight by feeling them was most exciting.

And remember, engineers help to build the world around us.

They make things work and use science to solve problems.

-See you again soon. Bye! Bye!

-Bye!

# Nina and the Neurons Go engineering. #