Nina & The Neurons

Nina investigates why chocolate melts in our hands - with the help of Bud and Ollie, her taste and scent neurons. Experimenters Bronte, Ruby and Sakshi visit Nina in her lab and use their senses to work out what melting is. Then Nina shows them a special metal that melts into a silvery liquid at room temperature. They find out that temperature means how hot or cold something is.

Nina investigates why we get sleepy dust in our eyes with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters Daniel and Luke visit Nina in her lab and use their senses to work out that sleepy dust feels gritty and hard. Nina does an experiment to show us that our tears aren't just plain water - they have special cleaning salts in them.

Nina investigates why the lid on a soup pan rattles - with the help of Belle, her hearing neuron. Experimenters Jake, Josh and Poppy visit Nina in her lab where she is heating some soup on her Bunsen burner. Using their senses, they notice that the rattling noise is caused by the lid moving up and down. But how does this happen?

Nina investigates why toast goes black when it burns - with the help of Bud and Ollie, her taste and scent neurons. Experimenters Cameron and Morgan visit Nina in her lab and discover that the black stuff on toast is something called carbon. Nina uses her Bunsen burner to prove that all foods go black when they burn - much to Bud's disgust!

Nina investigates why sugar is bad for our teeth, with the help of Bud, her taste neuron. Experimenters Holly, Nidhi and Slaley visit Nina in her lab, Using their senses, they discover that something called plaque forms on our teeth. Nina does an experiment to prove that when plaque mixes with sugar, an acid is formed. Then they all visit a print studio in Newcastle.

Nina investigates where the sand on the beach comes from, with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters Annessa, Emma and Renee visit Nina in her lab. Using their senses, they discover that sand is made of lots of tiny hard grains which look a bit like rocks under Nina's microscope.

Nina investigates what fire is - with the help of Felix, her touch neuron. Experimenters Diarmuid, Mia and Ronan visit Nina in her lab and, using their senses, discover that fire has colourful flames and that fire gives out heat and light. Then Nina does an experiment to show us that fire needs oxygen to burn.

Nina investigates why we have to use soap - with the help of Felix, her touch neuron. Experimenters Morven, Tia and Vidhi visit Nina in her lab and, using their senses, discover that greasy oil doesn't wash off with just water. Then Nina does an experiment to prove that oil won't mix with water unless we add soap.

Nina investigates why boats float with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters Harvey and Sonny visit Nina in her lab and test whether different things float or sink. Using their senses, they discover that things can weigh different amounts if they are made from different things, even if they look the same shape and size.

Nina investigates why grass stains our shorts - with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters, Sam, Scarlett and Leah visit Nina in her lab and use their senses find out just what causes grass stains, they discover that the stains are green like grass and that they are very difficult to get rid of.

Nina investigates why the sea is so salty - with the help of Bud, her taste neuron. Experimenters Lydia, Olivia and Ruan visit Nina in her lab and use their senses to work out what salty means! Nina explains that our bodies need some salt but that too much salt is bad for us.

Nina investigates why jelly wobbles - with the help of Bud and Ollie, her taste and scent neurons. Experimenters Lydia and Mo visit Nina in her lab and use their senses to decide that jelly isn't a runny liquid or a hard solid.... it's something in between! Nina does a magic trick and reveals that jelly is made from water and something special called a polymer.

Nina investigates why the mirror steams up when we have a bath, with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters Anna, Arman and Finn visit Nina in her lab and use their senses to discover that mirrors feel wet when they steam up. Nina makes swirly mist in a beaker using hot water and cold ice proving that water can be a runny liquid, a hard solid or a gas.

Nina investigates why flowers smell so nice - with the help of Ollie, her scent neuron. Experimenters Henry, Rosie and Nicola visit Nina in her science lab and use their senses to discover that not all flowers smell nice. Then they do an experiment to show that smells can be made by mixing things together, which is what flowers do. Then they visit a beautiful garden and meet some very busy bees.

Nina investigates why some food is noisy - with the help of Belle, her hearing neuron. Experimenters Emma, Bronwyn and Gemma visit Nina in her science lab and use their senses to discover that noisy foods feel hard and quiet foods feel soft. Nina does an experiment to see what happens when you break food and discovers that noisy foods are hard and crunchy and break with a snapping noise.

Nina investigates why popcorn pops- with the help of Belle, her hearing neuron. Experimenters Matthew, Mhirren and Mohammed visit Nina in her science lab and use their senses to examine some corn kernels before and after they are popped. They notice that the popped corn is much bigger.

Nina investigates how smells reach our noses - with the help of Ollie, her scent neuron. Experimenters Eliana, Eliza and Miranda visit Nina in her science lab and try to identify different things with just their sense of smell. Nina does an experiment with smelly cheese and some smoke to show how smells spread out or 'diffuse' in the air.

Nina investigates what metal is- with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters Cameron and Felix visit Nina in her science lab and use their senses to identify objects that are made of metal. Nina does an explosive experiment to show that different metals can behave differently in water or air.

Nina investigates why jam is so sticky - with the help of Felix, her touch neuron. Experimenters Ben, Nathan and Patricia visit Nina in her lab and get sticky with some jam. Then they have a food race and discover that some foods are runnier than others and that jam is too thick and sticky to be runny. They all go to jam factory to see jam being made from fruit and sugar.

Nina investigates why bubbles burst with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters Eve and Liam visit Nina in her lab and use their senses to work out that bubbles can burst when they touch something, or sometimes just burst in the air. Nina shows us that we can't blow bubbles with just water but that adding washing-up liquid to water can make it stretchy.

Nina investigates why onions sometimes make us cry- with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters Matthew and Tia visit Nina in her science lab and use their senses to work out that onions only make us cry when they are cut open. Under Nina's microscope, they see that an onion is made up of lots of tiny cells. Nina explains that these are full of onion juice.

Nina investigates why our fingers go wrinkly in the bath - with the help of Felix, her touch neuron. Experimenters Florence and Levi visit Nina in her lab and, using their senses, work out that soaking our fingers in water makes them go wrinkly. Nina does an experiment to show that some things soak up or 'absorb' water and when this happens, they get bigger.

Nina investigates how glow stars glow - with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters Jack, Mia and Razi visit Nina in her science lab and use their senses to work out that when something glows, it gives off light. But lamps and torches need electricity or batteries to make them glow. So what makes glow stars glow? Nina shows us how mixing certain chemicals together can make them glow.

Nina investigates why we have to wait for our paintings to dry - with the help of Felix, her touch neuron. Experimenters Katie, Lucy and Tia visit Nina in her lab and use their senses to work out that paint needs to be mixed with water. They also notice that felt tip pens feel a tiny bit wet but their colour dries really quickly on paper.

Nina investigates why we are told to drink milk- with the help of Bud, her taste neuron. Experimenters Kasey and Lily visit Nina in her science lab and use their senses to explore how milk looks, smells and tastes. Nina tells them that milk contains something called calcium that our body needs.