Science Experiments on Pitara Kids Network

What is the Secret of the Windmill?

Thu, 03 Oct 2002 17:16:10 +0000

It was a particularly windy day in late July when my cousin and I sat down to make a pinwheel. The paper was folded into a wheel, the pin inserted at the heart of it and the entire structure fixed to the broomstick.

As our pinwheel took shape we ran out braving the sun and the hot wind. The pinwheel caught the wind and rotated. Seeing it, our hearts pin-wheeled as well.

Energy from wind
A few days later we happened to see the photograph of a windmill in a magazine. “Don’t these windmills look exactly like the pinwheels we made?” my cousin shouted. And what did we find? That they are actually similar! Like the pinwheel, the windmill also uses the wind’s energy to turn the blades on a large wheel. This movement of the blades is used to pump water, generate electricity or pound grain.

The Magnetic Fish Bowl

Thu, 11 Nov 1999 02:05:16 +0000

This unusual fishing game is simple to assemble and great fun to play. And you won’t have to worry about pulling poor live fish out of the water.

Items required:

The Magnetic Fish Bowl []

Four to six magnets (one for each player; magnets can be found at any hardware shop),
paper clips, stickytape, four to six thin nine-inch sticks (one for each player; unsharpened pencil work really well), a large bowl of water, aluminium foil, string and scissors.

The Magnetic Fish Bowl

Wed, 05 Nov 1997 02:35:34 +0000

This unusual fishing game is simple to assemble and great fun to play. And you won’t have to worry about pulling poor live fish out of the water.

Items required:

How to prepare the game:

The Magnetic Knife

Mon, 08 Jan 2001 11:35:47 +0000

The Magnetic Knife [Illustrations by Shiju George]

A knife magnetically clings to your hands!

All you need is:

One table knife.

Step 1: Interweave your fingers as in Figure 1, but don’t pick up the knife yet.

Step 2: When you interweave your fingers, secretly leave the middle finger of one hand loose (Figure 2). If you arrange your fingers right, no one will be able to tell one finger is loose when looking at your hands from the other side!