Hot Air Balloons 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, hello. I'm just blowing up some balloons.

You never know when you might need one for an experiment!

I'm a bit out of breath after all of that.

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

-Hi, Nina.

-Hi, guys.

-We've got a question for you.

-How does a hot-air balloon fly?

-That's a great question.

How does a hot-air balloon fly? It takes some very clever engineering.

Come to my workshop and we'll investigate.

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 how does a hot-air balloon fly?

Which neuron would be most useful to help us find the answer?

-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?

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.

COMPUTER BLEEPS

It's Luke!

NEURONS: Go Luke! Go Luke! Go Luke! Go Luke! Go Luke! Go Luke!

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

Today's question is how does a hot-air balloon fly?

As a hot-air balloon is something we can see,

Luke'll be helping us.

Stand by, Neurons, I've a feeling I may need help from you all.

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

Sydney loves monkey bars. Thomas loves riding his bike.

Amy likes walking in the woods.

I saw a hot-air balloon flying in the sky.

-A normal balloon doesn't fly.

-A hot-air balloon doesn't have wings.

So today, for one day only, Sydney, Amy and Thomas become the engineers.

-Hi, guys!

-ALL: Hi, Nina.

Welcome to my workshop and thanks for your question -

"How does a hot-air balloon fly?"

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

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

First, let's take a look at a hot-air balloon in action.

LUKE: Whoa, look at that colourful, big balloon flying in the sky.

Beautiful!

-BUD:

-Oh, it's got a giant picnic basket underneath!

It's not a picnic basket, Bud!

That's the basket for the people.

So, we know that a hot-air balloon can fly, but how does it do it?

To find out, we need to know a bit more about air.

Air is all around us, but we just can't see it. It's even in this bag.

Woo-woo-woo!

Just like it is in a normal balloon that you'd have at a party.

-So what do you think will happen if I let it go?

-It'll fall.

Well, let's see.

Oh, you were right. When I let go of the bag, it fell.

It's the same as the balloons we blow up at home. They don't lift up.

But let's see what happens if we make the air inside a bag hot

using my very own special air heater.

Remember, hot things are dangerous

so you should never try this at home.

MACHINE WHIRRS

There should be plenty of hot air in there now.

Whoo, ah!

So, what happened?

It floated up.

Yes, it floated up, and that is because hot air rises up the way.

When we heated the air inside the bag,

the hot air rose up and it lifted the bag up with it.

But when we weren't, the air inside the bag cooled down.

And as the hot air cooled, the bag came down.

What goes up, must come down.

So, from our experiment, we found out that hot air rises,

whereas cold or normal air sinks.

But that was just a light bag with a little bit of hot air in it.

I wonder what would happen if we heated lots of air.

Let's find out!

Here we go! I can't wait to see where we'll end up today!

-BELLE:

-Nina said it was somewhere with lots of air.

Maybe it's somewhere really windy! Whoosh!

We're about to find out, we're here!

These are hot-air balloons and they are full of hot air.

They're much bigger than our bag.

Let's go and take a closer look at one!

Brilliant, the fan has filled all of the balloon with air.

-But it's quite cool air, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

So, now it is time to heat up the air,

just like we did with our bag.

So, let's go outside and see how they do it.

Look, as the burners are heating the air, the air is rising

and pushing the balloon up. Just like earlier with our bag.

But you know, I don't think we can see very well from here.

We need to get in the balloon. What do you think?

-ALL: Yeah!

-Hee-hee-hee, let's go!

LUKE: Hurry up, Nina.

You don't want to miss the boat, or should I say basket?

Oh, this balloon is really big.

-Do you think it's big enough to lift us up?

-Yeah!

-Well, let's see.

Can you loosen the ropes for us, please? Here goes!

Yay, it's lifting us up.

Engineers discovered that if we heat more air,

it can lift bigger things, like us.

What do you think will happen as the air starts to cool?

We'll go down.

Well, let's see.

Oh, yes. Ha-ha-ha! Just like that.

-Shall we do it one more time?

-Yeah!

OK, hot air up!

Cool air...

-ALL: Down!

-Hee-hee!

So, now we know how engineers make balloons fly using hot air!

But we still don't know why hot air rises.

I think we need to go back to the workshop to find out.

So, your question was - "How does a hot-air balloon fly?"

So far we've discovered that hot air rises and cool air sinks.

Now, we want to know why hot air rises?

It's time for one final experiment!

So we want to know what happens to air when it gets hotter.

I'm going to put this bottle into some warm water.

And I've put some marbles in it, just to weigh the bottle down.

And watch what happens to the balloon on top.

FELIX: Remember, it's important not to touch hot water

or it could burn you.

-What's happened?

-The balloon's blowing up.

Yes, as the air in the bottle heats up, it takes up more space

and blows up the balloon.

We haven't added any more air, the air gets warm and expands,

which means it takes up more space.

Hey, I can expand too, when I do this.

Whoa, I'm taking up more space!

That's right, Bud.

Air is a bit like a ball of cotton wool.

When it heats up, it expands and takes up more space.

So, if we all pick up our cotton wool and gently pull it like this.

It's the same amount, it just takes up more space.

So now let's see what happens if I put the bottle into the cold water.

Oh!

The balloon's gone down.

Yes. If we cool the air, it takes up less space,

just like if we squash our cotton wool back into a ball.

So we know that hot air takes up more space,

but we still don't know why hot air rises. Come with me.

We're going to pretend that all these balls are air.

The blue balls are cold air, because they take up less space.

And the red balls are hot air,

because they've expanded and take up more space.

I'll pop those back in here.

So, we've got lots of hot and cold air mixed up together.

Let's see what happens if we move our hot and cold air balls about.

Amy, could you give it a good mix and a shake for me, please?

That's it. Get your hands right in there. Good girl!

LUKE: Those big red balls are pushing their way to the top.

Wow, the hot air balls gradually lifted to the top

and the cold air balls settled on the bottom.

And this shows us what happens with hot and cold air. The hot air rises.

That's because hot air is lighter than the colder air around it.

# Nina and the Neurons! #

Your question was, "How does a hot-air balloon fly?"

And I think we've answered it.

We discovered that hot air rises and cold or normal air sinks.

A hot-air balloon is filled with lots of air which is then heated

and the hot air lifts up the balloon.

To come down again, you let the air cool.

Hot air rises because it expands and is lighter than the air around it.

And if you have enough hot air, you can lift a big balloon,

and even people, up into the sky.

Just like us in our very own hot-air balloon.

-I hope that 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!

-Pulling!

-Pushing!

-Twisting!

-Mixing!

-Squeezing!

-Floating!

# Go engineering!

# Go engineering!

# When we need to fly it, make it, shape it

# Go engineering!

# Go engineering!

# When we 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

# Engineering! #

Aah, it's been such a great day, man,

seeing all those bright,

colourful balloons. There was lots of hot air.

I've had a fabby day, especially going on a balloon ride!

Up and away!

I really enjoyed myself today.

Shaking the balls around was fun - shaky, shaky!

Remember, engineers help to build the world.

They use science to solve problems.

See you again soon. Bye!

ALL: Bye!