Curling 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! #

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

Oh! Hello, there. I'm just having a dance with my broom.

Better get back to sweeping the floor, ha-ha.

BEEP, BEEP

-Oh, 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.

-Why do they sweep the ice in curling?

-That's a great question.

Why do they sweep the ice in curling?

Well, curling is a type of sport that's played on ice

and they always sweep the ice when they play.

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

BOTH: See you soon, Nina. Bye!

Bye. Well, 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 who do they sweep the ice in curling?

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

ALL: Me! Me! Me! Oh, 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!

Belle!

ALL: Go, Belle! Go, Belle! Go, Belle!

Brilliant! I'm all ears, Nina.

Today's question is, why do they sweep the ice in curling?

Because there are lots of brilliant sweeping

and swishing sounds in curling, Belle will be helping us today.

But, stand by Neurons,

I have a feeling I may need help from all of you.

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

Marsook loves eating Uyghur Polo. Emily loves practising guitar.

-I saw curling on the TV.

-Sweeping the ice looks fun.

But, they both want to know, why do they sweep the ice in curling?

So today, for one day only,

Marsook and Emily become...the experimenters!

-Hi, guys!

-Hi, Nina!

Welcome to my lab, and thank you for your great question.

Why do they sweep the ice in curling?

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

ALL: Whoop whoo! A senses experiment. We're ready, Nina.

First of all, let's have a look at what curling actually is.

-Oh, it looks fun, doesn't it?

-Yes.

Now, curling is a sport that's played on ice.

And teams of curlers have to work together to try

and slide special stones onto a target.

The winning stone is the one that's nearest

the middle of the target at the end of the game.

-Now, can you see the curlers sweeping the ice?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

So, why do they do that?

To help us find out, let's find out more about how things slide.

Sliding?! Yippee! I love sliding.

We are going to play a game with these little cups.

You guys are going to try and push them and we'll see how far they go.

OK?

-Are you ready?!

-Yes!

-Excellent. One, two, three...push!

Whoo. There they go.

Hey, the cups went really quite far, didn't they?

Yours has went to about the middle of the purple and,

Marsook, yours has nearly got onto the yellow. Very good indeed.

Now, the surface of the lanes, were they wet or dry? Have a feel.

-Now, is it wet or dry?

-Dry.

-It's dry.

Hmm, so I wonder what would happen if the lanes were wet?

So, let's wet them with water.

These bottles are safe for us to use in this experiment

because we know there is only water in them.

Always check with a grown-up before you spray bottles.

There you go. And one for you and one for me. Let's get spraying.

Oh, no, not water. Why do Nina's experiments have to be so messy?

Thank you very much.

OK, now, I'd like you to push these cups just like you did before.

One, two, three...push!

Oh, wow, it's gone right to the top and yours

got into the yellow.

They definitely went further this time.

Because water can make a surface more slippy

and that helps the cups to slide for longer.

So maybe this is how curlers can slide their stones so far?

Maybe it is, Ollie.

Let's get out of the lab and go somewhere cold to find out.

Hmm, where do you think we're going today?

-Nina said it was somewhere cold.

-I hope there's loads of snow!

I do hope Nina has remembered to bring some warm clothes.

Well, you can stop guessing. We're here.

So, you asked why do they sweep the ice in curling.

To find out, let's watch some really good curlers in action.

Oh, listen to that swishing noise as they sweep the ice! Ho-ho-ho-ho.

Aw, it must be really dirty to have to sweep it that much.

That's not why they do it, Bud.

Let's do an experiment to find out why.

OK, everyone, let's rub our hands together, gently.

Gently, gently, yeah, that's good.

Now, let's do it faster!

Heh-heh-heh-heh.

ALL: Ha-ha-ha.

-What's happening?

-Our hands are getting warmer.

Yes, as we rub our hands together they're getting warmer.

And that's because rubbing two things together creates heat.

And that's what the curlers are doing

when they rub the top of the ice with their brooms.

They're creating a little bit of heat.

They're not doing a very good job. It's freezing.

Nina did say, "a little bit of heat," Felix.

But, what does a little bit of heat do to the ice?

Well, let's hold an ice cube in our hand for a few seconds

and we'll see.

So, hold it in your hand. Now, let's rub it into our hands like this.

-Yeah, that's it, whoo! Now, what's happening?

-They're melting.

Yes, oh, the ice is melting because of the heat from our hands.

So, ice is frozen water

and when it melts it turns back into water again.

Like the water that we've got in our hands.

The same thing happens with the ice here, too.

The heat created by the sweeping makes

the ice in front of the stone melt and makes a tiny layer of water.

The wet surface is more slippy

and this helps the stones to slide further.

Just like we saw in our experiment in my lab earlier.

So, the main reason for sweeping the ice isn't to clean it.

It's so the ice heats up and melts!

The heat melts the top of the ice and makes a layer of water.

And the water helps the stone to slide along further.

I couldn't have put it better myself, Neurons.

But, if it's really slippy, why don't the curlers fall over?

That's a great question. It's time for another experiment.

Now, we are going to see how slippy different

materials are on the ice using these sledges.

The blue one has rubber on the bottom

and the red one doesn't, it's just plastic.

So, let's try moving them on the ice

and we'll see which one slides better.

-OK, are you ready to slide?

-Yeah!

Oh-ho-ho-ho, OK, and I'll give you both the same push.

OK, Marsook, you're first.

Ha-ha-ha.

Ho-ho! Sliding on the ice is cool! Get it? Ice. Cool. Ha-ha!

-Ah, that was great fun, wasn't it?

-Yeah!

-He-he!

-Now, which one do you think was slidier?

-That one.

The red one, that's right,

and that's because the red one has a plastic bottom.

Which is a slippy material.

But, the blue one has rubber on the bottom which isn't as slippy.

And that's why rubber is used at the bottom of lots of shoes,

to help them grip.

But, we saw the curlers sliding and stopping on the ice, Nina.

How do they do that?

Very well spotted, Luke.

Curlers need to slide and stop when they're playing on the ice.

So, they have special shoes.

This is Fiona, one of our curlers from earlier. Hi, Fiona.

-Hi, everyone.

-ALL: Hi, Fiona.

These shoes are like Fiona's.

One of them has a smooth, special, plastic bottom for sliding

and the other one has a rubber bottom for stopping.

-So, Fiona, can you show us how you move and stop on the ice?

-Sure.

Oh, so that's how the curlers move around the ice safely.

They wear special shoes.

Two different shoes, one with a rubber bottom to help them

grip the ice and one with a plastic bottom to help them slide along.

That's right, Neurons. Thank you, Fiona, that was brilliant.

So, your question was why do they sweep the ice in curling?

And I think we've answered it.

We found out that curling stones slide faster on a wet surface.

-Weeeehehehe!

-And that rubbing two things together makes heat.

In curling, the sweepers rub the ice to make it hotter so it melts

and it's slippier for the stones.

-So, I hope that's answered your question.

-BOTH: Thanks, Nina. Bye!

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. Have fun.

On your marks, get set...go!

# Get sporty Doob-e-doob-e-doob-doob-doob-e-do-do

# Get sporty Doob-e-doob-e-doob-doob-doob-e-do-do

# If you're itching for some exercise

-# From your head down to your toes

-Toes!

# Why not try at something new and Give it a real go

# Whenever you are restless And feeling kind bored

# Bored

# Grab your friends and go outside And try a brand-new sport

# Get sporty Doob-e-doob-e-doob-doob-doob-e-do-do

# Get sporty Doob-e-doob-e-doob-doob-doob-e-do-do

# Spinning, throwing, running, jumping

# Lots of fun to do Cycling diving sliding rolling

# It's really up to you. Yoo-hoo.

# If you're wondering how a swimmer Swims or a bike can go so fast

# Give it a bash and make it last It's time to go get sporty

# Get sporty Doob-e-doob-e-doob-doob-doob-e-do-do

# Get sporty Doob-e-doob-e-doob-doob-doob-e-do-do

# Get sporty Doob-e-doob-e-doob-doob-doob-e-do-do

# Get sporty Doob-e-doob-e-doob-doob-doob-e-do. #

And remember, whether it's inside, outside,

on a bike or in a pool, we can all try something new and get sporty.

See you again soon. Bye!

ALL: Bye!

Get sporty!