engineering Engineering is the process of creating and building things Everything around you has been carefully designed by an engineer from the TV you watch to the building you live in Engineers solve problems by inventing new things Start by building yourself a super-secret garden laboratory so that you have a place to carry out your engineering experiments Learn about tensile structures by building a triangular bubble wand and impress your minions friends by using the power of air pressure to create a shiny new totally not deadly air cannon
scientist's secret outdoor lab Every outdoor scientist needs a lair lab to carry out their experiments But how can you build one that stays the perfect temperature inside With science that’s how YOU WILL NEED 24 12 inch sticks string lots of clothes pins scissors black cloth white pillowcase tinfoil plastic wrap 4 bowls 4 ice cubes stopwatch STEP 2 Use the string to tightly tie the tops of the sticks together STEP 1 Grab six of your sticks and set them out in a cone shape so they’re evenly spaced When they’re in position gently push them into the ground STEP 3 Wrap your white pillowcase around the outside of the frame Grab the clothes pins and clip them onto the sticks to hold the pillowcase in place STEP 4 Repeat steps 1 to 3 to create three more tents Cover one with black cloth one with foil and one with plastic wrap STEP 5 Put one ice cube in each bowl and place them inside the four mini labs Grab your stopwatch and time how long it takes for each ice cube to melt 8
How does it work plastic wrap black cloth Plastic wrap lets the sun’s rays travel through the plastic but the heat can’t escape back out This ice cube should have melted fastest Dark surfaces like your black sheet absorb light and heat As the sheet gets hot it warms up the air inside so this ice cube should have melted second fastest white pillowcase tinfoil Light rays tend to bounce off light-colored surfaces like this one so they don’t heat up the sheet or the air inside so much This should have been the third ice cube to melt That’s why people wear light colored clothes in the summer to help keep cool Shiny surfaces reflect light and heat really well Only small amounts get through the foil so it takes a lot longer for the space inside to heat up This ice cube should have melted last keep out what next Every scientist needs their own laboratory to conduct experiments and document their results so it’s time to build a full-size one Use a large white sheet some rope six garden canes and an adult to do all the hard work for you After all you wouldn’t want to exhaust yourself before you’ve even begun 9
