Mighty Metal 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.

-Yeah!

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

# Oh yeah! #

Oh, hello! I'm just making myself

a wee cup of tea for the "how long does it take

"to drink a cup of tea experiment".

BURBLING BEEP

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

CLICK!

-BOTH:

-Hi, Nina!

Hi, guys.

-We've got a question for you.

-What is metal?

That's a brilliant question! What is metal?

We use metal things all the time but what is it?

Come to my lab and we'll do some experiments to investigate.

-BOTH:

-See you soon, Nina. Bye!

I'm going to need some help to answer this. I know who to ask.

OK, Neurons, time to get to work.

BUZZING AND ZAPPING

-ALL:

-Neurons at the ready, Nina.

OK, today's question is what is metal?

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

-ALL SHOUT:

-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.

-Yes!

-OTHER NEURONS:

-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 what is metal?

Metal is something we can see, so Luke, our seeing Neuron, will help.

I need to get my lab ready before the experimenters arrive.

Felix likes walking his dog. His friend, Cameron, loves cars.

But they both want to find out what metal is.

So today, for one day only, Felix and Cameron become -

the experimenters!

BOTH: Hi, Nina.

Welcome to my lab. Come in.

Thanks for coming down.

So your question is what is metal?

A great question. Why do you want to know?

We were told that lots of things are made of metal.

Like bikes and coins and toys.

But we don't know what metal is.

Well, I think to find out more

we need a closer look at some metal.

For our first experiment we'll use our senses.

NEURONS: Woo-hoo! A senses experiment! We're ready, Nina!

Here are some things that are made of metal

and some that are made of plastic.

Do you think you could tell just by looking at them

which ones are metal?

BOTH: That one...

these ones,

that one and that one.

They look like metal because they're shiny and you're right -

they are metal. Now, let's see what they feel like.

Pick some of them up.

This one feels quite light and this one's a wee bit heavier.

FELIX: The metal objects feel very different

to the plastic ones.

Let me just have a little feel here. Ah, yeah! So the metal things

are much heavier than the plastic things, aren't they?

Metal and plastic are quite hard, too,

but metal is often much stronger. In fact, if I try to break

this metal fork...

SHE CHUCKLES

..I can't! But if I do the same with the plastic fork...

-SNAP!

-Oh!

..it breaks really easily. So by looking and feeling

we've worked out which ones are metal

and we also found out that metal is usually heavy, hard and strong.

Come on, let's get on to the next experiment.

There different types of metal in the world

and I have a few of them here.

This is iron,

this is copper,

and this plasticky looking one is called sodium.

They don't just look different from one another,

let me show you what happens

if I put some copper into this water, here.

Ha-ha! The water hasn't changed the copper at all.

It's why pennies are made from copper.

If you get them wet by mistake, it doesn't matter.

OK, now I'm going to put the iron into the water.

Now what can you see happening?

-Nothing.

-It looks like nothing's happening

but if you left the iron in there for a long time

the water and the air around it would make it go rusty, like this.

Look!

LUKE: It's a different colour and everything!

OK, on to the final metal.

This one is the sodium

and I promise something'll happen this time.

It's why we're wearing safety goggles, I've got gloves on and you

are standing well back.

Here we go.

FIZZING

POP!

BUD: Wow! Look at that!

P-POP!

Ho-ho ho-ho!

-Oh, the water made the sodium react a lot, didn't it?

-Yes.

-Yes!

We've found out there are lots of different metals in the world

and they don't just look different,

they behave differently, too!

So why don't we do a bit of detective work outside?

BELLE: Hmm? Where do you think we're going today?

-FELIX:

-Nina didn't really say. She said, "Outside."

It could be anywhere.

-BUD:

-Ha-ha-ha! No, it couldn't, Felix! It couldn't be INSIDE!

Oh-ho! Very funny, little Bud!

OK, experimenters,

we've come outside to hunt for things that are made of metal.

To help us I've got this! It's a metal detector and it beeps

when it detects metal. I just need something to test it on. Any ideas?

The Science Centre, Nina.

Of course! Oh, the Science Centre!

Well, it looks like it's made of metal. Let's test it.

BEEPING

Beep! It's metal!

-BEEP!

-Oh-ho-ho! Brilliant!

Let's see what else we can find.

-What about my car?

-BEEP!

-BOTH: It's metal!

-Hee-hee!

-BEEP!

-What about this bridge?

-It looks like metal.

BEEP!

-BELLE AND BUD:

-Beep! Ha-ha-ha!

-BEEP!

-Oh-ho-ho! Wow!

We've found some big things that set off the metal detector.

There was the Science Centre, my car, the bridge and this ship.

And most of them are made from something called steel.

I thought it was bad to steal, Nina?

It is, Bud, but this is a different type of steel.

The steel in this ship is mostly made from iron -

the metal in the lab that was rusty. Do you remember?

-Yes, it was brown and dirty looking.

-Yes.

Iron goes rusty when it's in water and air for a long time.

When it's rusty, it's not a strong any more.

So we mix iron with something else to stop it going rusty

and this metal mixture is steel.

Steel is much stronger and lasts a lot longer than iron

so it's used to make things like cars, bridges and ships.

Right, guys, we need to go back to the lab for a final experiment.

So here are four sticks and they're all made of something different.

This one's copper. Do you remember? Is copper metal?

-Yes, it's metal.

-Yes,

copper's a metal, pennies are made from it.

And this is steel.

We know that steel is metal mixed with other things.

What about the wood and the plastic? Are they metal?

No!

That's right. Wood and plastic aren't metal at all. So you'll have

two sticks each. Cameron, you can try those.

And, Felix, you can have this one. As you can see,

one our sticks there's something stuck to them.

This little thing is a thermometer and it's very clever

because it changes colour when it warms up. Look at this.

Is it changing colour?

Yes.

My forehead is quite warm

so the thermometer's changed colour.

So for this experiment you'll put the sticks

into this box and see if the thermometer changes colour.

But the box has got hot water in it

so pop your heatproof gloves on.

That's very wise, Nina. Hot water can burn, you know.

OK. So pick up your sticks.

Thermometers at the top.

And when I say "go",

you're going to put the other end in the hot water and we'll see

which thermometer changes colour first. OK, are you ready? Set? Go!

Good. So watch carefully.

LUKE: Some are changing colour.

They are changing colour, Luke. The first one to change

is the copper and then the steel changed.

-What about the wood and the plastic? Have they changed?

-BOYS: No.

No, they've not! They haven't changed at all.

This experiment has shown us that metals are special

because they're very good at taking in heat and spreading it.

The sticks of copper and metal took heat from the water, down here,

and it climbed all the way up to the top really quickly.

That's why radiators in houses

and the pans that we heat food in are made of metal.

So your question was, what is metal? And I think we've answered it.

First we discovered that there are lots of different types of metal

and some metals don't change in water or air

and can last a really long time.

Others are mixed with other things to make them stronger.

It's often these metal mixtures that are the strongest of all.

Finally, all metals are really good at taking and spreading heat.

That's why they're great for making radiators and pots and pans.

Has that answered your question?

BOYS: Thanks, Nina. Bye.

Bye!

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

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

Lab coat on, Nina?

Lab coat on, Ollie.

Safety gloves on, Nina?

Safety gloves on, Felix.

Don't forget your goggles, Nina.

Goggles are on, Luke. I think we're ready!

# We do experiments in the lab

-# In the lab!

-Shooby-dooby, in the lab

# Bubbling experiments in the lab

# Go, Nina, in the lab

# Fizzing and popping Steam and smoke

# We need protection Don't we, folks?

# We always put our safety first

# Shooby-dooby, dooby-dooby

# We do experiments in the lab

# Go, Nina! #

It's been a marvellous day.

I've been very busy feeling all that metal.

Ah, it's been such a great day, man!

Those metals did such different things in the water.

I've had a fabby day!

We went looking for metal

and saw bridges, and buildings

and a big ship!

I really enjoyed myself today.

It was amazing how fast the metal sticks warmed up.

Our day's been bursting with experiments.

I hope you've enjoyed it. See you soon. Bye!

NEURONS: Bye!