Hovercraft 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 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

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

# Oh, yeah! #

Oh, the orange car's in the lead!

-Who's going to win? Oh, hello!

-BEEPING

-I'm...I'm just drying my hair!

-BEEPING

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

BEEPING

-Hi, Nina!

-Hi, guys.

-We've got a question for you.

Is there a machine that can move on land and water?

Is there a machine that can move on land and water?

Engineering is all about solving problems like this.

Why don't you come down and we'll investigate.

-See you soon, Nina, bye.

-Bye.

Well, I need help to answer this and I know just who to ask.

OK, Neurons, time to get to work.

-ALL: Neurons at the ready, Nina.

-Today's question is,

is there a machine that can move on land and water?

Which Neuron will be most useful to help 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!

It's Belle!

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

Brilliant! I'm all ears, Nina.

So, is there a machine that can move on land and water?

As machines are noisy, Belle, our hearing Neuron, will be helping us.

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

Felix loves lions, Sha'la likes jelly and Gabriella loves flowers.

-Cars drive on roads.

-Boats sail on water.

-I want to do both.

So, for one day, they become the engineers!

-Hi, guys!

-Hi, Nina!

Welcome and thanks for your great question.

Is there a machine that can move on land and water?

To find out the answer, let's use our senses!

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

First, let's see how things move.

Let's try pushing a wooden block across these mats. Go!

Oh, oh... Oh! Ha-ha!

-OK, engineers, stop pushing. What was that like?

-That was hard.

Yes, there must be an easier way.

Let's try turning the blocks onto their sides.

And we'll have another go.

That feels much easier, Nina.

It is much easier.

When two things are touching, they rub against each other.

The more they are rubbing, the harder it is to move.

Like this wooden block, the more of it that was rubbing against the mat,

the harder it was to move.

So, the less they touch, the easier it is to move.

I wonder, if we could lift things up into the air a little,

they wouldn't rub at all. That would make it even easier to move.

Come and have a look at this.

That looks like fun, Nina, what is it?

This is called an air-hockey table.

We play games on it using these.

This is a disc and we push it around the table using this.

Why don't you try pushing the discs across the table?

There's a disc, let me get another one. Go! Woo!

-Was it easier or harder than pushing a block across a mat.

-Much easier.

Yes, but what's so special about this table?

-To find out, let's put our hands on top of the table.

-Woo!

I can feel something moving, Nina.

That's right, Felix, this table blows air up from little holes

across the top. That's why it's called an air-hockey table.

By blowing air all the time, the table lifts up these discs.

Instead of rubbing against the table,

they stay up in the air and that makes it easy for them to move.

We've discovered the more something rubs or touches the ground,

the harder it is to move, but if you lift it up into the air,

moving it becomes much easier.

I wonder if this could help us find a machine

that could move on land and water?

I know somewhere that's wet and dry where we could find out more.

-Where do you think we're going today?

-It's somewhere dry and wet.

Maybe it's a swimming pool, that's dry and wet.

We'll soon find out! We've arrived!

You asked if there's a machine that can move on land and water,

so I've brought you to the seaside to find out the answer.

-Mmm, the seaside smells so fresh, Nina!

-Yes, it does, Ollie.

ENGINES WHIR

-That machine's very noisy!

-Yes, Belle, it is noisy!

In fact, it's a bit too noisy!

I think we need to go and find a quieter one. Let's go.

Oh, that's much better!

-This machine is called a hovercraft.

-A what-craft?

-A hovercraft, Bud.

Instead of resting on the ground,

a hovercraft rests on a cushion of air,

just like the discs on the air-hockey table.

Let me show you how it works.

It has big fans inside which blow air down into the cushion,

lifting the hovercraft up off the ground.

It's a special machine which can travel on land and on water.

We have special permission to have a closer look - let's go!

Because it gets lifted up by a cushion full of air,

the hovercraft doesn't get stuck on waves

and it doesn't rub against the ground.

It's great for helping people who are stuck on beaches

and if there's a big flood.

Now, let's go onboard and have a closer look.

Oh, it feels like we're inflating!

Woo!

Watch out for the boat!

Oh! That was great fun! Look at the big cushion of air!

-What are those things in the back, Nina?

-They're big fans!

Let's go back to the workshop and see how they work.

Hovercraft have big fans in the back which they use to move around.

Let's see how they work.

OK, Engineers, you're going to be our fantastic hovercraft pilots.

You're going to steer this hovercraft.

Piloting a hovercraft, that sounds exciting!

These two flaps at the back move the air from this fan

and can change the direction the hovercraft goes in.

If you want to go that way, you move the flaps that way,

if you want to go that way, you move the flaps that way.

There I am in the hovercraft and I would like to leave land

and go across the water to visit my friend in the fishing boat.

-Sha'la will you help me go to the fishing boat?

-Yes.

OK, let's move the flaps into position.

That's it, give them a little push.

Lovely and now, I'll turn on the air.

I can help! I'm good at blowing!

-Pbbbtttt! Ppppbbbbtt!

-Thanks, Bud!

Here we go!

Woo!

ALL LAUGH

And stop!

Now, I want to take the fish I've been given to the lighthouse,

so, Felix, it's your turn.

Let's straighten up the flaps, are you ready? Here we go!

Whoa!

OK!

Now I'd like to go back to the land,

so, Gabriella, can you help me move the flaps, they need to go this way.

That's it. Perfect, OK, here we go.

Oh! Ooh! Hahaha!

Oh, hahaha!

I had a wonderful trip, thank you.

You guys make brilliant hovercraft pilots.

# Nina and the Neurons! #

So, you asked, is there a machine that can move on land and water?

I think we've answered it.

We discovered that the less things rub on the ground,

the easier they are to move.

We went to see a hovercraft

which is a special machine which uses air to lift up.

We also found out that hovercraft move using big fans

to push themselves forward or whichever way they want to go.

-I hope that's answered your question.

-Thanks, Nina! Bye!

You're welcome. Bye!

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

go to the Nina section on the CBeebies website. Have fun!

-# Pulling!

-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! #

I've had a brilliant day! Learning about the hovercraft was fun,

even if it was noisy!

It's been a marvellous day.

I loved the floating feeling when the hovercraft lifted into the air.

It's been such a great day, man!

Riding a hovercraft around looks so cool.

Engineers help to build the world around us.

They make things work and use science to solve problems.

-See you soon, bye!

-ALL: Bye!

# Nina and the Neurons Go engineering! #