Gravity Nina and the Neurons: Earth Explorers

# 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 her senses while helping all her fans

# By doing her experiments with potions and with bangs

-# 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, he helps us with our eyes and Felix with our touch

# Ollie sniffs out smells and scents and Belle, she hears so much

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

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

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue

-# Fingers

-Fingers

-# Eyes, Eyes

-Ears, Ears

-# Nose

-Nose

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

# Yeah!

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

# Oh, yeah! #

Woo...ha! Woo - ha-ha!

Oh! Hello there.

I'm just experimenting with this mirror - watch this.

# Woo-hoo-doo-doo-doo-doo... #

It's even funnier when I try to swim.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

It looks like I'm floating! Whee!

COMPUTER BEEPS

I hear a beep, I see a flash - I wonder what they're going to ask?

-Hi, Nina.

-Hi, Nina.

-Hi.

We've got a question for you.

Why do astronauts float in space?

That's a great question - why do astronauts float in space?

It's going to be fun exploring this.

Come down to my workshop and we'll investigate.

BOTH: See you soon, Nina. Bye!

Bye.

I'm going to need 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 "Why do astronauts float in space?"

Which Neuron will be most useful helping us find the answer?

-Me!

-Me!

-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's 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's Felix.

ALL: Go, Felix! Go, Felix! Go, Felix! Go, Felix!

Go, Felix! Go, Felix! Go, Felix!

Marvellous - a little touch can mean so much, Nina.

Today's question is "Why do astronauts float in space?"

Floating is a sensation we feel, so Felix will be helping us today.

But stand by, Neurons - I may need help from all of you.

I must get the workshop ready before the explorers arrive.

Marty likes to watch TV

and Phalgun likes to sing and dance to music.

They both want to know - why do astronauts float in space?

-Astronauts are always floating about.

-We want to know why.

So today, for one day only,

Marty and Phalgun become the explorers!

-Hi, guys.

-Hi, Nina.

-Hi, Nina.

-Welcome to my workshop.

Thank you for your question - "Why do astronauts float in space?"

To find out the answer, let's start by using our senses.

ALL: Woop-woo! A senses experiment! We're ready, Nina!

Let's watch some special people

who I think can help our investigation.

This is the International Space Station, way up in space.

There are astronauts living up there.

Space is very different from Earth, but in what way?

Let's experiment. First of all, with these balls.

There you are, take one. Lovely. There you go.

What do you think would happen

if we were to let go of these balls now?

-BOTH: They'll fall.

-They would fall?

OK, let's see - three, two, one, drop!

Hey, you were right!

Now, let's see what happens when you let go of something in space.

-LUKE:

-Look - it's floating.

It's amazing, isn't it?

So, on Earth, when you drop things, they fall to the ground,

but in space, they float.

I wonder what it's like to eat in space.

First, let's eat some yogurt, here on Earth.

Here are some spoons. There you go - lovely.

Let's take a of bit yogurt each and let's eat it.

Mmm. Now, let's see what happens when you eat in space.

Whoa! I wonder if food tastes different in Space, Nina.

Mm - well, it probably tastes the same, Bud.

-Does the same thing happen to people, Nina?

-Great question, Felix.

Let's try jumping as high as we can

and we'll see if we float or drop to the ground.

OK, get ready...go!

-Oh!

-Ah!

-Oh, keep going!

-Oh!

Boing, boing, boing! Higher! Higher!

-Jump!

-Oh!

-What happened?

-We didn't float, Nina.

That's right - when people jump on Earth,

you come back down to the ground.

Let's see what happens when you move in space.

FELIX: Oh! The astronauts are floating.

Most impressive.

Floating looks like fun,

but it can be tricky to move around or handle objects,

because they keep floating away.

Why don't we float on Earth, Nina?

Great question - I think we need to do another experiment

to find out more.

You asked, "Why do astronauts float in space?"

So far, we've found out no matter how high you jump on Earth,

you always come back down to the ground. But why is this?

Now, this is a magnet, and magnets are very special,

because they pull metal towards them.

Woo!

Magnet - I like that word.

Magnets pull metal towards them,

and Planet Earth also pulls things towards it.

When you jump on Earth,

you're pulled straight back down to the ground - whoo!

So, is Earth a magnet, Nina?

No, Felix. The Earth isn't a magnet.

But it does pull things towards it, a bit like a magnet does.

When you jump on Earth, you're pulled back down to the ground

-by something called gravity.

-Gravity?

That sounds very interesting.

Earth is a gigantic planet, and really gigantic things -

like planets - have gravity.

We know that gravity pulls things towards it,

but scientists don't really know why.

Now, we're going to put this big magnet

underneath our pretend Planet Earth.

Oh-oh-oh!

There we go.

And here we have some metal powder.

There you go. Phalgun, some for you. And some for you, Marty.

And we're going to sprinkle it all over the paper.

-LUKE:

-Look - it's moving towards the magnet.

Excellent, let's stop there - pop your pots down.

Now, what happened to the metal powder?

It's around the magnet.

Yes! The metal powder that's nearest the magnet underneath

has been pulled towards it.

But what's happened to the rest?

It hasn't moved, Nina.

That's right - only metal powder nearest the magnet

has been pulled towards it.

But the metal powder that was far away

hasn't been pulled by the magnet as much,

and it's the same with the real Planet Earth.

Because we're actually standing on the Earth,

we're pulled by gravity and so are the things around us.

But astronauts in space are far, far away from the Earth,

so they get pulled much less by gravity.

FELIX: So that's why, when they're in space, astronauts float.

Yes! Well done, Felix.

What's it like to float in space, Nina?

Oh - interesting question.

All I can say is our next experiment is going to blow you away!

FELIX: I love this bit. I wonder where Nina is taking us?

-BELLE:

-Nina said it's somewhere that will "blow them away".

-BUD:

-Maybe we're going sailing on a big, windy yacht.

And we'll get blasted by fresh air and salty sea waves.

-LUKE:

-We've arrived - but I can't see any sailboats.

So, you asked "Why do astronauts float in space?

"What does floating in space feel like?"

Well, can you believe - we are about to find out!

THEY LAUGH

-LUKE:

-Wow - it looks like they're in space.

Because space is so far away

and, eh...most of us don't have our own rockets to get there,

places like this allow people to find out - safely -

what floating feels like.

It has a really big fan that will lift us up.

Let's try it.

THEY SCREAM AND CHEER

-ALL:

-We're floating!

Ah! Oh, my - it feels so light and...well, floaty.

Well done, guys! How did that feel?

-It was brilliant!

-We felt like we were flying.

Floating is great fun, but I wonder what it's like for astronauts

trying to move around or actually do things in space?

With that in mind, I'd like you to go back in

and try floating through this hoop,

as if it's a door in a spacecraft.

FELIX: Floating certainly makes moving and holding things tricky.

Great job, guys - how was that?

-It was quite difficult.

-But it's great fun.

# Nina and the Neurons. #

So, your question was "Why do astronauts float in space?"

I think we've answered it.

FELIX: Planet Earth is gigantic and pulls things towards the ground -

a bit like a huge magnet.

-BELLE:

-And we call this gravity.

-LUKE:

-Astronauts in space are too far away from Earth

to get pulled as much by gravity.

OLLIE: So astronauts and their things float.

-BUD:

-Floating makes holding on to things tricky,

but it's brilliant fun!

I hope that's answered your question.

BOTH: Thanks, Nina. Bye!

You're welcome. Bye!

If you want to know more about the science all around us,

go to the Nina section on the CBeebies website - have fun!

# Every day the sun comes up it brightens up the sky

# A brand-new day to understand

-# A chance to ask ourselves why

-Why?

# There's a world of possibilities outside our front door

# Our front door

# So every day take a look around and explore

# Explore, explore, explore, explore...

-# Exploring in the garden

-Grass!

-# Exploring in the park

-Rivers!

-# Exploring in the daytime

-Mountains!

-# And even when it's dark

-Planets!

# Look at the Earth

# Look at the sky

# Look at the world before us

# Explore, explore, explore, explore...

# We're always on the lookout

-# We're Earth explorers

-Oh-oh, oh-oh

-# We're Earth explorers

-Oh-oh, oh-oh

# We're Earth explorers. #

Exploring is about looking at the world around us,

asking why and finding the answer.

Whether it's deep underground, at the end of your playground

or way above the clouds, keep exploring our exciting world.

See you again soon. Bye.

ALL: Bye!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd