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How Things Work How do ocean currents move water? Explore wind, temperature, salinity, and Earth's rotation in a simplified ocean model.
How Things Work Why do ocean tides rise and fall? Explore the Moon's and Sun's influence on a simplified ocean model. Move them into different positions and compare patterns of tidal change.
How Things Work How do ocean waves form and reach the shore? Add wind and follow wave energy toward shallower water.
How Things Work How is sea salt produced? Guide seawater through evaporation, crystallization, harvesting, cleaning, and packaging.
How Things Work Why do the seasons change? Move a tilted Earth around the Sun. Compare sunlight angle and day length in both hemispheres and follow a location through the year.
How Things Work How do seat belts protect passengers? Stop a model vehicle and observe how a belt restrains a passenger's continued motion.
How Things Work How does a search engine find websites? Build a miniature index and compare which pages match different searches.
How Things Work How do desalination plants remove salt from seawater? Explore a simplified membrane system and compare its freshwater and concentrated saltwater outputs.
How Things Work How do tsunamis form? Displace a model seafloor and follow waves across deep and shallow water.
How Things Work How do coral reefs grow? Zoom into reef-building coral polyps and watch their skeletons accumulate over time. Explore how growing reefs provide shelter for many other living things.
How Things Work How do submarines dive and surface? Look inside ballast tanks and follow the movement of water and air. Control a submarine's depth and balance during an underwater mission.
How Things Work How do undersea cables carry information? Trace light signals through a cutaway cable connecting distant coastlines.
How Things Work How does carbon move through the environment? Follow carbon between air, plants, animals, soil, oceans, and fuels.
How Things Work How does canned food stay fresh? Follow a factory's preparation, filling, sealing, and heat-treatment stages. Explore how processing and sealed packaging help preserve food.
How Things Work How does crop rotation help farms? Plan several seasons and explore changing nutrient needs, pests, and soil cover.