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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 457–480

Every topic

#457 Earth & weather How do floods develop? Add rainfall to a model watershed and compare absorption, runoff, and river levels. #458 Earth & weather How do droughts develop? Follow rainfall, evaporation, soil moisture, and stored water through a dry period. #459 Earth & weather How do ocean currents move water? Explore wind, temperature, salinity, and Earth's rotation in a simplified ocean model. #460 Earth & weather How do ocean waves form and reach the shore? Add wind and follow wave energy toward shallower water. #461 Earth & weather How do tsunamis form? Displace a model seafloor and follow waves across deep and shallow water. #462 Earth & weather How do aquifers store groundwater? Send water through soil and rock layers and explore storage and movement underground. #463 Earth & weather How do natural springs bring water to the surface? Follow groundwater until rock layers and terrain direct it above ground. #464 Earth & weather How do sinkholes form? Explore dissolving rock and underground cavities beneath a model landscape. #465 Earth & weather How do landslides happen? Change slope, water content, and vegetation and compare ground stability. #466 Earth & weather How does soil form? Follow rock weathering, organic matter, organisms, and time into layered soil. #467 Earth & weather How do waves change coastlines? Compare erosion and sediment movement around beaches, cliffs, and headlands. #468 Earth & weather How does air pollution form and spread? Trace model emissions, particles, wind, and atmospheric reactions across a town. #469 Earth & weather How do greenhouse gases warm the planet? Compare incoming sunlight and outgoing heat in a simplified atmospheric model. #470 Earth & weather How does carbon move through the environment? Follow carbon between air, plants, animals, soil, oceans, and fuels. #471 Space & astronomy How does the Sun produce energy? Explore a simplified fusion model and follow energy from the Sun toward Earth. #472 Space & astronomy How do auroras appear in the sky? Follow charged particles, Earth's magnetic field, and light emitted high in the atmosphere. #473 Space & astronomy How do spacesuits support astronauts? Explore pressure, oxygen, cooling, communication, and protective layers inside a suit. #474 Space & astronomy How do weather satellites observe Earth? Compare visible and infrared views and track clouds across successive images. #475 Space & astronomy How do communication satellites relay signals? Route a message through ground stations and a satellite to a distant receiver. #476 Measuring & instruments How do atomic clocks keep accurate time? Use an atomic transition frequency to regulate a model clock and compare drift. #477 Space & astronomy How do spacecraft return through the atmosphere? Follow heating, shielding, slowing, and landing during a simulated return. #478 Space & astronomy How do reusable rockets land upright? Adjust a model rocket's thrust and orientation to control its descent. #479 Measuring & instruments How does a magnetic compass find north? Rotate a compass in a model magnetic field and compare its direction with a map. #480 Measuring & instruments How do time zones work? Compare local clock readings around a globe and explore coordinated standard times.

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