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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 73–96

Every topic

#73 Earth & weather How do earthquakes happen? Move sections of Earth's crust, watch a fault slip, and follow earthquake waves. Compare how different model buildings respond to shaking. #74 Earth & weather How does wind form? Explore uneven heating, air pressure, and moving air. Change land and water temperatures in a simplified coastal model to investigate sea breezes. #75 Earth & weather How do tornadoes form? Explore airflow inside a simplified rotating thunderstorm. Watch a tornado develop and follow its movement across a model landscape. #76 Earth & weather How do rivers shape the land? Guide flowing water across a landscape and watch erosion, sediment transport, and deposition. Change slope and flow to create bends, channels, and deltas. #77 Earth & weather 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. #78 Space & astronomy Why do we have day and night? Spin a globe beside the Sun and place characters around Earth. Watch sunrise, midday, sunset, and night from different locations. #79 Space & astronomy 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. #80 Space & astronomy Why does the Moon seem to change shape? Move the Moon around Earth and compare its sunlit half with the portion visible from the ground. Match positions to lunar phases. #81 Space & astronomy How do satellites stay in orbit? Explore gravity and sideways motion in a simplified orbital simulation. Adjust a satellite's starting speed and height to compare its path. #82 Space & astronomy How do solar and lunar eclipses happen? Align the Sun, Earth, and Moon. Compare the shadows in solar and lunar eclipses and investigate why an eclipse does not happen every month. #83 Space & astronomy How does a space station support astronauts? Explore air, water, food, power, exercise, and waste systems. Manage a small station and discover how astronauts live and work in orbit. #84 Human body How does the heart pump blood? Follow blood through the heart, lungs, and body. Explore chambers and valves, and compare a resting heartbeat with one during exercise. #85 Human body How do our lungs help us breathe? Move a virtual diaphragm and watch the lungs expand and contract. Zoom into a simplified animation of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. #86 Human body What happens to food after we eat it? Follow a bite through the mouth, stomach, and intestines. Explore how food is broken down and how nutrients enter the body. #87 Human body How do bones, muscles, and joints help us move? Activate muscles around a skeleton's joints to bend an arm, walk, or kick. Compare joint types and discover how muscles work together. #88 Human body How do our eyes see? Follow light through the pupil and lens to the retina, then trace signals toward the brain. Adjust focus for nearby and distant objects. #89 Human body How do our ears hear? Follow sound through the ear canal, eardrum, tiny bones, and inner ear. Compare how different pitches create different patterns of vibration. #90 Human body How does the brain send messages around the body? Follow simplified signals through nerves and the spinal cord. Touch a virtual fingertip or choose an action and watch messages travel. #91 Human body How does the immune system protect us? Explore protective barriers and different immune cells. Follow a simplified response to an invading microbe and learn how the body coordinates its defenses. #92 Human body How does a small cut heal? Use a non-graphic time slider to watch clotting, cleanup, new tissue growth, and repair. Arrange the healing stages in the correct sequence. #93 Plants & ecosystems How do plants grow and make their own food? Explore roots and leaves, adjust light and water, and follow a simplified photosynthesis animation showing the roles of water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight. #94 Animals How do bees make honey? Follow nectar from flowers to the hive. Explore how bees process it, remove water, and store the resulting honey in honeycomb cells. #95 Animals How does a caterpillar become a butterfly? Arrange the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly stages. Use a time slider and close-up animations to explore the changes during metamorphosis. #96 Animals How do fish breathe underwater? Follow water across a fish's gills and explore oxygen moving into its blood. Compare the structures and functions of gills and lungs.

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