0:00:03 > 0:00:07# There are lots of things all around us
0:00:07 > 0:00:10# Exciting things that surround us
0:00:10 > 0:00:13# But how does it work? Do you know?
0:00:13 > 0:00:17# How is it made? Do you know?
0:00:17 > 0:00:20# Things that go up, things that go down
0:00:20 > 0:00:24# Things that go pop, things that go round
0:00:24 > 0:00:27# With special cameras to show you inside
0:00:27 > 0:00:30# It's going to be a big surprise
0:00:30 > 0:00:34# But how does it work? Do you know?
0:00:34 > 0:00:37# How is it made? Do you know?
0:00:37 > 0:00:40# Do you know? Let's find out! #
0:00:42 > 0:00:47Hello! I'm Maddie, and today, I've come to the cinema!
0:00:47 > 0:00:49I love watching movies,
0:00:49 > 0:00:52but there's one treat I like to have most when I'm watching a film.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Can you guess what it is?
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Yes, it's popcorn, of course.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Thank you.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Do you like popcorn?
0:01:08 > 0:01:13But have you ever wondered how popcorn works?
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Why and how does it pop?
0:01:17 > 0:01:19Let's find out.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29When we eat popcorn, it looks like this.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Soft, white and fluffy.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34They look a bit like little clouds, don't they?
0:01:34 > 0:01:40But it starts out like this, as pieces of corn that we call kernels.
0:01:40 > 0:01:46But to turn this into popcorn, we need to cook it so that it gets hot.
0:01:46 > 0:01:48This is microwave popcorn,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51and inside the bag are lots of kernels of corn
0:01:51 > 0:01:53like the ones I've just shown you.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00And we're going to cook it inside the microwave.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03You might even cook popcorn like this at home.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Remember, you should always get a grown-up
0:02:07 > 0:02:10to help you use the microwave.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Nothing's happening yet, but that's because we need to wait for
0:02:16 > 0:02:19those kernels of corn to get really hot.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23It smells really good already, though!
0:02:25 > 0:02:28POPPING
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Can you hear that?
0:02:31 > 0:02:35The corn has started to pop, turning it into popcorn!
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Oh!
0:02:43 > 0:02:46The popping has slowed down, so do you know what that means?
0:02:46 > 0:02:48It means the popcorn is nearly ready.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56BEEPING
0:02:56 > 0:02:57It's ready!
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Let's have a look, shall we?
0:02:59 > 0:03:04Oh, it's steamy and hot and it smells incredible.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Careful - make sure you get a grown-up to do this bit
0:03:06 > 0:03:09for you because it's very hot.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Mm! And there they are - ready to eat.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Sh!
0:03:17 > 0:03:20But what happens inside the bag?
0:03:20 > 0:03:25How does a small kernel of corn turn into a piece of popcorn like this?
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Every kernel of corn has a hard shell on the outside
0:03:29 > 0:03:34and a soft layer of white stuff called starch on the inside.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39And inside the starch, there's a tiny droplet of water.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43When the corn is heated, the starch melts and the drop of water
0:03:43 > 0:03:47starts to expand, which means it gets bigger.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51Eventually, it gets so hot, it starts to turn into steam,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53like when water boils in the kettle.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57The steam builds up inside the kernel of corn
0:03:57 > 0:03:59and pushes against the hard shell.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Eventually, it can't hold it any more
0:04:01 > 0:04:04and the pressure bursts the shell with a pop.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08As it pops, the starch pours out, and immediately cools into
0:04:08 > 0:04:11the soft white bit we see when we look at popcorn.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16Let's see it for real, shall we? My special camera will show us how.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17Let's take a look.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Because I couldn't put my special camera in the microwave,
0:04:20 > 0:04:23I filmed this popcorn being cooked in a pan.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26It pops exactly the same way.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Wow! There they go. See how high the corn jumps.
0:04:34 > 0:04:40It's very quick. Let's see it again in super-slow motion.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Can you see the kernels heating up?
0:04:42 > 0:04:45As the kernel of corn gets hotter and hotter,
0:04:45 > 0:04:49so does that little droplet of water inside.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53It grows bigger and bigger inside until it turns into steam
0:04:53 > 0:04:57and just has to burst out, pushing the white starch out with it.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Amazing!
0:05:00 > 0:05:03I loved seeing how popcorn works.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05What was your favourite bit?
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Can you remember the name
0:05:07 > 0:05:10for a piece of corn before it turns into popcorn?
0:05:11 > 0:05:13That's right - it's a kernel.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18Did you hear the sound the corn made when it popped?
0:05:18 > 0:05:19POPPING
0:05:19 > 0:05:21It was loud, wasn't it?
0:05:22 > 0:05:26And did you see the popcorn popping in slow motion?
0:05:26 > 0:05:28It jumped really high!
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Now, I've got my popcorn ready to snack on later, but first
0:05:41 > 0:05:45I need to make my dinner, and I'm going to have my favourite - pasta.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Do you like pasta?
0:05:47 > 0:05:49I love all the different shapes and sizes,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51from small tubes
0:05:51 > 0:05:53to little shells...
0:05:53 > 0:05:57and, of course, spaghetti.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Pasta first came from Italy,
0:06:02 > 0:06:04but now you can buy it everywhere in the shops.
0:06:04 > 0:06:09You can buy fresh pasta, even dried pasta, like this,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11or pasta sauces in jars.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16But what's in pasta and how is it made?
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Let's find out.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27It all starts with a giant pasta-making machine,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31and we're going to find out how dried pasta like this is made.
0:06:33 > 0:06:39This is a pasta factory, and all these machines mean it's very noisy.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47In this factory, pasta is made from two ingredients -
0:06:47 > 0:06:52water and something called semolina. This is semolina here.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56It looks like a yellow powder, but it's made from
0:06:56 > 0:07:00a type of wheat called durum wheat that grows in fields.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03It's also used to make some breakfast cereals.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08But when you mix water and semolina together, you get pasta.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12But we're going to need a lot more semolina than this.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24These huge tanks are full of semolina.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Each one can hold about 150 tonnes' worth.
0:07:28 > 0:07:34That's the same as about 150 cars, but how does all that semolina
0:07:34 > 0:07:37get from the tanks to inside the factory?
0:07:39 > 0:07:42The semolina travels along this grey pipe,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46and into the pasta-making machine, where it will be mixed with water.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Water comes into the machine through this tank,
0:07:52 > 0:07:57and it's mixed with the semolina inside this silver tube.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02They're spun around together to make pasta dough.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Here it comes! This is what the mixture looks like.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12This is the pasta dough, but at the moment,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15it just looks like a pasta sausage.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18We want it to be a squiggly shape, and for that,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21we need a special cutter.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29This metal disc is called a die,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and the pasta dough is pushed through the die
0:08:32 > 0:08:34and all these little holes,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38and that's what gives the pasta its special, squiggly shape.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Let's see what happens to the dough as it's pushed through the die.
0:08:55 > 0:08:57Look at that!
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Can you see the golden pasta
0:09:00 > 0:09:03squiggling out of all the little holes in the die?
0:09:05 > 0:09:08It's like long, blonde curly hair growing out of the machine.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16It looks really fun, but it's too long.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19That wouldn't fit on your plate for your dinner, would it?
0:09:19 > 0:09:22So we need to chop it into smaller bite-sized pieces.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34The cutter chops the pasta into the perfect sized pieces.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38And now they're tumbling down this slide,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41ready to go onto the next stage of the machine.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Look at all those cut pieces of pasta.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48The machine is bouncing them up and down to spread them out.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53Let's use my special camera to get a closer look.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00The machine is bouncing the pasta,
0:10:00 > 0:10:05and it's making the pasta look like it's wiggling like worms.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16The pasta is now the right size and shape, but it's still not finished.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19To make it hard, like the dried pasta you get at the shop,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21it needs to be dried.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26The soft pasta falls into the drier up there
0:10:26 > 0:10:30and then it travels all the way through to come out the other end.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Just look how enormous the dryer is!
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Let's see just how big the dryer is, shall we?
0:10:38 > 0:10:40One, two, three,
0:10:40 > 0:10:42four, five, six,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45seven, eight, nine, ten!
0:10:47 > 0:10:50It's ten paces big!
0:10:58 > 0:11:02The pasta-making machine is all controlled by a computer,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06and this shows us how the pasta is moving inside the dryer.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10It goes backwards and forwards along this blue line,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14and look - it's nearly ready to come out the other end.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18After four hours in the drier, the pasta is ready.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23It comes flying down this tube, which looks like a helter-skelter.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Look at that! That looks amazing!
0:11:26 > 0:11:27RATTLING
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Did you hear the rattling noise?
0:11:29 > 0:11:31That's the sound of the dried pasta
0:11:31 > 0:11:34zooming down the helter-skelter into the bags below.
0:11:38 > 0:11:44It's going so quickly! I'd like to be a bit of pasta going down that.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46It would be really fun!
0:11:53 > 0:11:56The last stage is for the finished pasta to get packaged up
0:11:56 > 0:11:59and sent to food companies all over the UK,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02and that's a job for that robot.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24Inside each of these bags are hundreds of dried pasta shapes
0:12:24 > 0:12:26that look just like this.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Do yo know what this pasta shape is called?
0:12:29 > 0:12:33It's called macaroni.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36You might have even had macaroni and cheese for dinner.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41I loved seeing how pasta was made. Did you?
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Do you remember the name of the special machine
0:12:46 > 0:12:49that pushes the pasta into shapes?
0:12:50 > 0:12:52That's right - it's a die.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57Did you hear the rattling sound of the dried pasta
0:12:57 > 0:12:59as it went zooming down the slide?
0:13:03 > 0:13:07And did you see the machine bouncing the pasta up and down?
0:13:07 > 0:13:10It looked like wiggly worms.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19So, the next time you have pasta for dinner,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21you'll know just how it's made,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23and when you have popcorn as a treat,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26you'll know how and why popcorn pops!
0:13:26 > 0:13:28See you next time.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34# There are lots of things all around us
0:13:34 > 0:13:38# Exciting things that surround us
0:13:38 > 0:13:41# But how does it work? Do you know?
0:13:41 > 0:13:44# How is it made? Do you know?
0:13:44 > 0:13:48# Do you know? Let's find out! #