Tunnels 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

# Fingers

# Eyes, ears, 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

# Fingers

# Eyes, ears, nose

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

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

# Oh, yeah! #

Oh, nearly there. Just a little bit more.

Done it! Oh, hello, there.

I'm just taking the core out of my apple. Look!

I can see right through the middle now.

BEEPING

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

-ALL: Hi, Nina.

-Hi, guys.

-We've got a question for you.

-How are tunnels made?

-That's a great question. How are tunnels made?

Well, tunnels use lots of clever engineering,

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

ALL: See you soon, Nina! 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, how are tunnels made?

Which Neuron do you think

will be most useful in helping find the answer?

ALL: 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 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, how are tunnels made?

We SEE inside tunnels,

so Luke, our sight Neuron, will be helping us.

But standby, Neurons,

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

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

Connor loves playing on the trampoline.

Emily loves her goldfish. Ferdia likes climbing each trees.

-Some tunnels are really long.

-A tunnel can go underwater.

I've been through a tunnel in my car.

For one day only, Connor, Emily and Ferdia become the engineers.

-Hi, guys.

-Hi, Nina!

Welcome to my workshop, and thanks for your great question.

How are tunnels made?

To find out the answer, we're going to start by using our senses.

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

So, what is a tunnel and why do we need them?

Well, a tunnel is a long hole under the ground that we use

to get from one place to another.

They can help us go under things, like rivers and seas.

This is a model that shows us how a tunnel can go under the water,

but the tunnel doesn't get wet inside.

-LUKE:

-Looks dry to me, Nina!

It is, Luke. So when it's too difficult to build a bridge

to cross a river or the sea,

engineers make a tunnel that goes under the water.

People go into the tunnel at one end... Whee!

..and out the other end.

Tunnels are really good for trains, because trains aren't very good

at going over hills, so trains often go through tunnels.

I wish I was a train! They go really fast and they make lots of noise!

Choo-choo!

I'm going to try and make a pretend tunnel using this clay,

and this tunnel is going to be under the sea,

so we're going to pretend that this blue block is this sea.

-Oh! Ugh! That feels very heavy, Nina!

-It is, Felix.

Water gets very heavy when there's a lot of it in one place,

like the sea.

So let's sit the blue block on top of the clay

just like water sits on top of the ground.

And I'm going to make the tunnel using this,

which I used on my apple earlier.

Now, that's our tunnel started. It's still quite small.

We need to make it bigger so cars and trains can go through.

-OLLIE:

-Nina, your tunnel's going droopy.

That's because a tunnel is made by taking away the soil,

and when you take away the soil,

you're taking away what's holding up the heavy water above.

Some tunnels go underneath cities with heavy buildings,

or under big mountains which are made of heavy rock,

so engineers had to work out how to make tunnels strong enough

so they could hold up water or buildings or even mountings.

How do they make the tunnels so strong, Nina?

I know an amazing place where we can find out. Let's go, engineers!

Yeah!

Hmm! Where do you think we're going today?

-Nina said it's an amazing place!

-Maybe it's a maze at a playground.

I have a nose for finding the right way to go in a maze.

We'll soon find out, Neurons. We've arrived.

OK, engineers, you asked, how are tunnels made?

And we've come to the Channel Tunnel.

This tunnel goes under the sea,

just like the little tunnel back at the workshop.

The Channel Tunnel is one of the longest tunnels in the world.

It's so long that it goes all the way

to another country - France. Look!

We've got special permission to go inside, engineers.

-Well, engineers, how far can you see?

-A long way, Nina.

This tunnel's so long, I can't see the end, Nina.

Now, what shape is this tunnel?

It's round, Nina.

That's right, it's round, just like a circle.

Engineers make tunnels round because it makes the walls stronger,

so this means they stay up,

even though there's lots of heavy water above them.

This gives me an idea for another experiment. Let's go, engineers.

OK, engineers, we're going to pretend these are two tunnels.

One is round. And one is square.

And we know that the sea is heavy,

so we're going to make these heavy bolts our sea.

But which one of the tunnels will stay up under the heavy weight?

Let's find out.

Keep going, engineers!

Wow. The round tunnel was far better

-at holding up our heavy sea, wasn't it?

-Yes!

So we've proved that a circular shape makes a stronger tunnel

than a square shape. Circles are strong

because their shape spreads weight evenly around their sides.

And this makes circles the perfect shape for a tunnel.

-How did they get all the soil out, Nina?

-That's a great question.

To find out the answer, we need to go back to my workshop.

So your question was, how are tunnels made?

So far, we've discovered that engineers make tunnels

that are shaped like circles

because they are better at holding things up than square tunnels,

but we still need to find out how all the soil gets out of a tunnel.

And I have the perfect experiment to show us.

We're going to pretend this is a tunnel we're making

and inside it are these foam blocks.

And Ferdia, Emily, you guys are going to be the diggers.

You'll dig out the soil, making the tunnel,

and Connor, you are going to collect the soil from the diggers.

-Are you ready for some digging?

-Yes!

OK, let's dig! Go! Go!

Go, Emily, you're first.

Brilliant, excellent.

Give it to Connor. Brilliant! Swap round.

Brilliant!

Oh, go on, Ferdia, you can do it!

The tunnel looks nearly empty, Nina.

You've finished, engineers. Well done.

You got all of the soil out of the pretend tunnel.

You dug right through to the other side.

-But did the digging get easier or harder as you were doing it?

-Harder.

Yes, and that's because the longer a tunnel gets,

the further you have to go back to move the soil away.

Engineers had a clever idea to solve that problem.

Instead of digging from just one end,

dig the tunnel from both ends at the same time.

Let's try it. Go!

You're doing really well, guys!

Wow! Because you were digging from both ends,

you only had to carry the soil through your half of the tunnel.

And that meant the job was finished much, much faster.

And that's how lots of tunnels are built.

So, your question was, how are tunnels made?

And I think we've answered it.

We discovered that tunnels are holes in the ground that help us

go underwater or through big hills or mountains.

Engineers make tunnels shaped like circles

because they are strong and hold their shape.

We also found out that digging a tunnel

from both ends at the same time is faster,

because you only have to carry the soil half as far.

-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!

-# Boring

-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, pop 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! #

It's been such a great day, man.

Seeing inside the big tunnel was so cool.

I've had a brilliant day.

Hearing why tunnels are circular was amazing!

I've had a fabby day!

Digging out the pretend tunnel was lots of fun!

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!

ALL: Bye!