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PlayOwl

Explore · Wonder · Discover

How Things Work

Ever wondered how airplanes fly, why popcorn pops or how your heart pumps? Pick a question, then watch it, look inside, try it, solve a challenge and go deeper. Every topic changes for Preschool, Elementary and Middle school.

  1. 1Watch it
  2. 2Look inside
  3. 3Try it
  4. 4Solve a challenge
  5. 5Go deeper

500 topics to explore · showing 1–24

Every topic

#1 Flight & transportation How do airplanes fly? Explore wings, engines, and flight controls. Watch airflow around a wing, adjust speed and wing angle, and try taking off and landing. #2 Flight & transportation How do birds fly? Watch wings and feathers in slow motion. Compare flapping, soaring, and gliding, then experiment with different wing shapes and flying conditions. #3 Flight & transportation How do helicopters fly and hover? Explore the main rotor, tail rotor, and controls. Adjust a simplified helicopter's lift and direction to take off, hover, turn, and land. #4 Flight & transportation How do rockets reach space? Look inside a rocket and follow its launch stages. Watch exhaust leave as the rocket accelerates, then experiment with thrust and cargo weight. #5 Flight & transportation How do boats and huge ships float? Explore buoyancy using different hull shapes. Build a virtual boat, add cargo, and investigate how its shape affects how much it can carry. #6 Flight & transportation 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. #7 Flight & transportation How do trains work? Explore wheels, motors, brakes, and track switches. Build a small railway, move passengers or cargo, and guide trains through stations and junctions. #8 Flight & transportation How do bicycles work? Follow motion from the pedals through the chain to the rear wheel. Change gears on hills and explore steering, balance, and brakes. #9 Flight & transportation How does a car engine work? Watch a transparent engine in slow motion. Follow air and fuel entering, compression, combustion, and exhaust, then trace the motion toward the wheels. #10 Flight & transportation How do electric cars work? Follow energy from the battery to the motor and wheels. Drive a short course, recharge the battery, and explore how regenerative braking recovers energy. #11 Making everyday things How is paper made? Turn wood or recycled paper into pulp, spread it into a sheet, press out water, dry it, and cut it in a miniature paper mill. #12 Making everyday things How are books made? Arrange words and pictures, print pages, fold sheets, bind them, and add a cover. Create a small digital book while exploring the manufacturing stages. #13 Making everyday things How are pencils made? Follow the graphite mixture and wooden pieces through shaping, assembly, painting, and sharpening. Look inside a pencil and test different writing cores. #14 Making everyday things How are crayons made? Mix virtual wax and pigments, fill molds, cool the crayons, and add wrappers. Use the finished colors to complete a drawing. #15 Making everyday things How is glass made? Follow raw materials through melting, shaping, and controlled cooling. Compare how a bottle, windowpane, and decorative glass object are formed. #16 Making everyday things How does cotton become clothing? Follow cotton from the plant through spinning, weaving or knitting, dyeing, cutting, and sewing. Design a shirt and inspect its fabric up close. #17 Making everyday things How are plastic toys made? Design a simple toy, explore an injection mold, and watch the material fill its shape. Cool, assemble, and decorate the finished pieces. #18 Making everyday things How are bricks made? Prepare virtual clay, shape bricks, dry them, and fire them in a kiln. Compare brick shapes and arrange them into different wall patterns. #19 Making everyday things How is pottery made? Shape clay on a virtual pottery wheel. Explore drying, kiln firing, and glazing, and see how each stage changes the object. #20 Making everyday things How does a 3D printer make an object? Turn a simple digital design into layers. Watch a filament printer build it layer by layer and explore why some shapes need temporary supports. #21 Food & farming How is bread made, and why does dough rise? Mix ingredients, zoom into dough as gas bubbles develop, and watch a loaf change during baking. Compare different rising times in a simulation. #22 Food & farming How is ice cream made? Follow mixing, chilling, and churning inside a transparent machine. Experiment with simulated churning conditions and explore how air and ice crystals affect texture. #23 Food & farming How is chocolate made? Follow cacao from pods through fermentation, drying, roasting, grinding, mixing, and molding. Run a miniature chocolate factory and design a finished shape. #24 Food & farming Why does popcorn pop? Look inside a kernel as it heats. Watch pressure build and the kernel expand, then compare what happens under different simulated heating conditions.

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