Floating Houses 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 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! #

NINA CHUCKLES Oh, hello there.

My little boats are going to have a race.

OK. Who do you think will win? Ha-ha!

Go.

Oh-oh-oh-ohh!

Oh, and just the yellow team.

BEEPING

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

-BOTH:

-Hi, Nina.

Hi!

-We've got a question for you.

-Can we build floating houses?

Oh, that's a great question. Can we build floating houses?

We know that people build houses on land.

But could we build a house that floats on water?

Why don't you come down to my workshop and we'll investigate?

-BOTH:

-See you soon, Nina. Bye.

Bye.

I'm 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, can we build floating houses?

Now, which Neuron would be most useful in helping us find the answer?

It's Luke.

-ALL CHANT:

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

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

Cool, Nina! I'll be looking out to help you.

Today's question is, can we build floating houses?

It would be really exciting to see a house floating on water.

Luke will be helping us. But standby, Neurons.

I've a feeling I may need help from all of you.

I need to get the workshop ready before the experimenters arrive.

Sugar likes being the goalie when playing football.

Poppy loves playing snakes and ladders.

But they both want to know can we build floating houses?

So, today, for one day only, Sugar and Poppy become the experimenters.

-Hi, guys. BOTH:

-Hi, Nina.

Welcome, and thank you for your great question -

can we build floating houses.

This is what a floating house might look like.

All houses on land have a base underneath called foundations

to stop them sinking into the ground.

And floating houses would also need foundations

to stop them sinking into the water.

But how would they work?

Why don't we try building foundations for a floating house

-to found out more? BOTH:

-Yeah.

-ALL:

-Whoop-whoo! An experiment! We're ready, Nina.

So, I've got a box here with five sides.

I'm going to pop it into the water.

And I want you guys to watch what happens.

Hey, it's floating!

Oh.

Uh-oh.

SHE CHUCKLES

-What's happening, experimenters?

-It's sinking.

We wouldn't want our house to sink, Nina.

Yes!

The water is getting in through the joins.

Oh, no. It's sinking.

Having joins in the box meant that water got in.

So, how could we make it better?

-Have one with no joins.

-Great idea. Let's try that.

We've got some runny paste here that will go hard

and we've got the mould in the shape of a box.

So, let's pour our runny paste.

That's it. Go for it.

And stop.

Oh, lovely. SHE CHUCKLES

Ooooh!

When it goes hard, the paste will stay in the shape of the box

even when the mould's taken away.

Oh! I think our foundations are ready now.

Here we go.

Ooh.

SHE CHUCKLES

There we go.

I'm going to put this box into the water, just like the last one.

SHE GASPS

Hey!

This box is floating, too.

But is it leaking?

-No.

-No.

That's right. This box looks the same as the other one,

but what's different?

-There are no joins.

-That's right.

Because the box has no joins, water can't get in.

As long as there's no water in the box, it will keep floating.

The foundations of a floating house could be made in the same way.

Except from concrete.

-How can concrete float?

-Good question.

Well, concrete IS very heavy. So, how can a concrete box float?

Hm. I think we need to go somewhere with lots of big floats to find out.

Off we go for another adventure.

Maybe we're going to a swimming pool with lots of floats.

Or we can make a splash-splash sound in the water.

Or a big bathtub with lots of floating toys!

Well, it's not a bathtub, but I CAN see lots of things floating.

So, your question was, can we build floating houses?

So far, we've discovered that floating houses

are built on foundations made of moulded concrete.

But now we want to know how heavy concrete can float.

We've come here to Amsterdam in the Netherlands

to have a look at these special houses.

What do you notice about them?

-They're floating.

-Yes! This is a whole village of floating houses.

Lots of people wanted to live here, but they ran out of land to build on.

They built floating houses on the water instead.

Shall we have a look around?

-BOTH:

-Yes!

-Let's go.

These houses are built on concrete foundations,

like the floating house we made.

But we want to know, how can heavy concrete float?

So, let's do an experiment. OK, you both have balls of clay.

They're both the same weight.

-So, do you think they'll float?

-No, Nina.

Why don't you try this one, Sugar?

Oh.

You were absolutely right. It's sunk to the bottom.

What do you think we could do with this other ball to make it float?

-Spread it out.

-That's a really good idea.

So, can you flatten it out for me and then make it into a cup shape?

On you go, Poppy.

OK, that's looking really good.

Why don't you try popping it onto the water?

Hey, hey, look at that! It's floating!

So, even though they both weigh the same, the cup shape is floating

because the weight is spread out so it takes up more space.

The ball, its weight is tightly packed together, so it sunk.

And when something is packed together tightly, we call it dense.

Mm, so "dense" means "packed close together".

Everything has a density. Even water.

So, the ball is denser than the water, so it sank.

But because we spread this ball out into a cup shape,

it was less dense than the water, so it floated.

Really heavy things like concrete can float

as long as their weight is spread out over enough space.

-Does a floating house move about in the water?

-Great question, Sugar.

Let's do one final experiment to find out.

So, you asked, can we build floating houses?

But now we want to know if floating houses will move about.

So, have a look at this boat over here.

So, can you see why it doesn't float away?

-It's tied up.

-Yes, it's tied up to a pole that can't move.

-Floating houses are tied up, too, so they don't float away.

-Oh, phew!

Let's have another look at the boat.

-Can you see how it's bobbing up and down in the water?

-Yes, Nina.

It wouldn't be much fun

if your floating house was bobbing up and down all the time.

You'd get seasick.

But floating houses are tied up in a clever way so they don't move about.

So, let's investigate.

We've got two floating houses here

and we need to get them tied up before they float away.

Now, Sugar, in your tray, you've got two poles on one side.

And, Poppy, you've got two posts on the opposite sides.

All right, so let's get them tied up.

Excellent work, guys.

-Ta-da!

-Great work, experimenters.

You've tied up the floating houses so they won't float away.

Which one is nicer to live in? Let's make some waves to find out.

You can make the waves using these pieces of card.

OK, experimenters, stop there.

Sugar, what happened to your floating house?

It bobbed up and down.

-It WAS bobbing up and down. What about yours, Poppy?

-It didn't move.

It didn't move, and that is because, Sugar,

your house was only tied up on one side,

so the waves could easily push it up and down.

And, Poppy, your house was tied up on opposite corners.

That stopped it moving up and down with the waves and held it still.

Which floating house would it be nicer to live in?

I think so, too.

So, floating houses are tied up at the opposite corners just like this.

That stops them bobbing about in the water

so the people inside don't get seasick.

# Nina and the neurons! #

So, your question was, can we build floating houses?

I think we've answered it.

Floating houses need foundations to stop them sinking into the water.

The foundations can be made by moulding concrete.

They're spread out so they're less dense than water.

Floating houses are tied to poles to stop them floating away.

Tying the houses in opposite corners stops them bobbing up and down.

-I hope that's answered your question. BOTH:

-Thanks, Nina. Bye.

Oh, you're welcome. Bye.

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

go to the Nina section on the CBeebies website.

# Superstructures

# Superstructures

# Superstructures, superstructures Superstructures

# Some of them are tall Some of them are wide

# They're bumpy, lumpy, wiggley-tee

# Wiggley-tee

-# Some of them are strong Some of them are small

-Like me!

# They're windy, whirly, whooshy, too

# All around

# Look over here

# Build it, stack it, pile it up

# Come on, let's get building

# Building, building, building

# Race it, hold it, make it stick

# Come on, let's get building

# Come on Let's get building

# Some of them are cosy-warm Some of them are chilly

-# Keep us safe and hide us, too

-Hide us, too

# Some of them are just for fun or help us to stay dry

# They're underground and high up, too

# Look around

# Over here

# Build it, stack it, pile it up

-# Come on, let's get building.

-Building

-Building

-Building

# Race it, hold it, make it stick

# Come on, let's get building

# Come on, let's get building! #

There are superstructures everywhere.

Whether they're big or small, wide or tall, you can all get building.

See you again soon. Bye!

-ALL:

-Bye!

-Get building!