(upbeat music) - [Mister C] What time is it?

- [Crew] It's science time!

♪ Oh, it's science, science, science time ♪ ♪ Let's all stop and just unwind ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four, here we go ♪ ♪ Learn so much your brain explodes ♪ ♪ Lessons so cool, so fresh ♪ ♪ It's so great, you'll lose your breath ♪ ♪ Learning facts and real cool stuff ♪ ♪ Scream for more, can't get enough ♪ ♪ It's, it's science time ♪ ♪ It's fun, you best believe ♪ ♪ Explore and learn new things ♪ ♪ Come and join me, please ♪ - I'm Mister C, and this super smart group is my science crew.

Working together with my crew makes learning so much fun!

Actually, you should join us.

Let's give science a try with a simple DIY.

Today, we're DIY makers.

What time is it?

- [Crew] It's science time!

Tube, scissors, cardboard, cups.

(Mister C gibbers) Whoa!

I didn't see you there.

(laughs) Welcome back to "DIY Science Time".

My name is Mister C, and I'm so excited that you're here to be part of our science crew.

(whip cracks) Today, we are putting the DIY into "DIY Science Time".

That's right, we're talking about maker spaces and us being makers.

Well, think about it.

Everything on the show is about making stuff so we can learn about the science, so we can take notes and then become more familiar with science concepts.

Isn't that pretty awesome?

I mean, we've been makers for a long time together, but today I've been challenged by the crew to make a game for our upcoming game night.

(noisemakers buzzing) And I've got a couple ideas.

See, the thing is, when a scientist, like us, when we have a problem, we have a dilemma that we're trying to solve.

And scientists and engineers use a thing called the engineering design process to come up with solutions to those problems.

So, we're gonna focus on the engineering design process while we build games and have lots of fun today.

So, gather these materials and let's get started.

- It's time to zoom through the room (upbeat music) and build a zip line racer.

For this speedy activity, you'll need the following materials.

Craft sticks, construction paper, rubber bands, skewers, paper clips, glue gun, scissors, string or fishing line, propellers.

And of course, you'll need your zip-zappity science notebook.

- A science notebook is a tool that every scientist should have because it gives us a place to record all of our learning.

Taking notes and being organized allows us to be better scientists.

A science notebook allows us to go back and review all of the data and information we've gathered during our experiments.

Plus, it allows us to share results with other scientists who might be interested in learning more about what we've discovered.

Whenever you see the notebook pop up on a screen, (bell ringing) like this, it's a reminder that this is a good place for us to jot down new information during the show.

I've already added a title and a list of materials for today's activity, but our crew is still going to have lots of information to collect and organize as we go through our experiments.

Most importantly, the more you use a science notebook, the better you'll get at taking notes and recording data.

If you don't have a science notebook already, download a copy of Mister C's science notebook from the website.

- All aboard!

(train horn blares) Welcome to the "DIY Science Time" Express!

Today, we're taking all engineers and scientists on a wonderful trip to learn about the engineering design process.

(train horn blares) (upbeat music) The engineering design process typically starts with a dilemma, which is the focus for each part of the process.

Our first stop is to ask questions.

Questions help us find information that can help us solve a dilemma.

These questions take us to our next stop, where we will create a list of possible ideas to help solve the problem.

We then take our best idea to create a plan.

Planning is a critical step and can include drawings, procedures, and materials you plan to use and follow to solve the dilemma.

(train horn blares) Next, it's time to create and design our prototype.

This is where our plan comes to life and we're putting our ideas into action.

And finally, it's time to stop and test.

(bell rings) (train hisses) If it works, we've found a solution!

If it doesn't work, we can redesign and test again.

(bell rings) (train hisses) Using the engineering design process puts us on the right track for success and allows us to follow a structured path to find a solution to a dilemma.

What are you waiting for?

Next stop, success!

(train horn blares) The first game I wanna make are zip line racers.

I've got this huge piece of fishing wire (chimes ringing) that's going to be the track.

And this track is going to allow our zip lines to race through the room!

And what that means is we have a dilemma.

We need to build something that can move across the zip line quickly and fast.

So, this is the design I came up with, and I wanna show you what I'm chasing.

(upbeat music) My frame design will look like this, and then I'll use paper clips to connect my racer to the fishing line.

Oh, I forgot to say.

Our propeller is going to be connected to the bottom, here, and connected to the other side, just like that.

First, we're going to put some glue across this.

I'm gonna come over here.

I'm gonna glue this craft stick here.

And I'm gonna glue it in a little bit so that I have enough space here to connect my hook for the rubber band.

(upbeat music continues) And I'm just gonna flip it over.

The red craft sticks will hopefully provide my racer with some additional stability.

(upbeat music continues) All right, now we're gonna add our paper clips, because that's gonna be what hooks up to the zip line.

And for the paper clip, we're going to open it up all the way.

(upbeat music continues) Then, we'll glue the skinny end of the paper clip and reinforce it with tape on both sides.

(upbeat music continues) And wrap it up.

Seal everything in there.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) There we go.

And now, let's see if it works and we can hang it up just to see how everything is working.

Look at that!

(Mister C imitates motors whirring) So, right now, it can't go anywhere.

It can just hang there.

It has no engine.

And that is what we're going to do, here, we're going to actually clip on the engine.

(upbeat music continues) This is the propeller, clips on.

And then the back (upbeat music continues) goes like that.

I'm going to take two rubber bands and I'm going to bind them together, and I'm going to bring it up and then connect it.

(upbeat music continues) (bell rings) Let's add the sail that I designed earlier.

(upbeat music continues) Here we go.

We've got our drawing, and now we wind it up.

So, I got a joke for you.

- [Crew] Ooh!

- What do you call a hen that stares at lettuce?

- [Crew] What?

- Chicken sees a salad!

(cackles) (mixed laughter and groaning) All right, we've got it wound up, and now it's time to race it the entire line.

Here we go!

In three, two, one!

(racer whirring) Oh, that was so cool!

(racer whirring) Oh, that was so cool!

It went so far, so quickly!

And here's the thing.

I think that is the perfect racer to have at our game night.

That's gonna be so much fun.

Everyone can build one.

They can design it their own way.

They can improve it.

We could even challenge ourselves to have it carry a load, like it has to carry a mass or a weight across the room.

Give it a try.

Build a racer with your friends and family at home and see which one of your crew members can make it go the fastest and the farthest.

(upbeat music) - The first 3D printer was invented in the 1980s by engineer Chuck Hull.

He created a way to make solid objects by building them one thin layer at a time.

This process is called additive, or 3D printing.

The technology was originally used to help engineers test ideas quickly.

But today, 3D printers are used to make toys, tools, and even parts for use by doctors to help patients.

(party horns blare) - Career connections!

- Hi, my name is Mark Huffman.

I'm an application engineer at AddUp in the additive manufacturing industry.

Additive manufacturing is taking small amounts of material and making a part or parts out of that material, instead of taking bulk material and making a part out of that.

So, where it would be traditionally made out of a big piece of, whether it be steel, aluminum, or even plastic, we're taking very minimal parts of material, like powder, and making parts out of it.

Almost like growing a part instead of making it traditionally.

My job as an application engineer is to listen to the customer's needs.

So, understanding what they wanna get out of their parts and what they wanna get out of their production and seeing if it matches, and strategizing to see the best way to have a good deployment of our technology for the customer.

(upbeat music) This is a printed part on our powder bed fusion machines for a knee replacement.

You can see these features here that kind of look like a hollow screen are actually for what we call osseointegration, for human tissue to adhere to the part itself so it's more of a natural growth once it's inserted.

(upbeat music) The two additive manufacturing technologies that we use here often are direct energy deposition, or DED, or powder bed fusion technology, or PBF.

One is a powder bed and the other one is powder fed.

The DED process is a very precise welding procedure, if you think of it that way, where powder goes through a nozzle and it's melted at a focal point of a laser.

The powder and inert gas is actually flowing through the nozzle, and the laser melts it at the focal point of a lens.

So, that way it's at a very precise melting, what we call a melt pool.

So, instead of a traditional five-axis CNC machine, this is a five-axis machine with a DED nozzle on it so you can use five-axis motions to actually create a melt pool along this geometry and build a very thin-walled part.

(upbeat music continues) Additive manufacturing, especially with powder bed fusion, is very important for parts that can't traditionally be manufactured.

So, features that have internal chambers or internal features, a high-surface finish in areas that you can't machine.

(smooth music) I'm really excited that desktop printers like this, the filament or the FDM machines that have a polymer filament that's being extruded and built is, they're being more readily available.

I know my kids like to use ours at home.

And it's because it creates a mindset that's not the traditional form of manufacturing where you have to actually machine something to get it that gets your final part.

You can actually grow it from, basically, the raw material itself.

And I think it's a really good way for kids to get into the industry.

- Check this out!

I 3D-printed these little clips so that I could build a game out of cardboard boxes.

These are awesome, and they were so easy to print on my 3D printer.

They basically just come together and it allows me to clip cardboard together and hold it firmly in place.

I have the perfect idea, because I'm gonna use these to hold my legs on my next game.

We're calling it Stem-O.

- Stem-O!

(noisemakers buzzing) (upbeat music) - First things first, we're gonna take a box that I have, and I'm going to punch a hole in the side so I can connect my cardboard.

And I also 3D printed this little, like, screw so that I can make a hole in the cardboard so that I can connect my leg.

I need a nice, long leg, here that's about the length of the board.

And now I'm gonna poke a hole through this one, just like that.

And now, I'm going to use my connector.

This is so cool!

I'm gonna use my connector that I printed.

Push that through there.

It's gonna go into this hole, here.

And now I have to bring it together and lock it in.

(upbeat music continues) And on the side of this, it also has, like, a little screw, flathead, and I can tighten up my little connector.

And now, look at this!

One connector down.

(upbeat music continues) And it's already holding up my board.

I need another leg, obviously.

(bell rings) That is so cool!

You can print these on a 3D printer!

All right, so now that we have our box, we can actually start working on the game.

(noisemakers buzzing) - Stem-O!

- First, I am building an open box that can catch the falling ball.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) And I'm gonna cut off extra long string so that we have string to work with.

We're gonna tie a knot on the backside, or on the inside of the bucket, and we're gonna tape this on the inside.

And as you can see, we can move our bucket back and forth.

The board is going to use a ping pong ball, like I said, and it's gonna roll down.

And we wanna kind of make an obstacle course for the ping pong ball.

So, I'm going to use these little teeny-tiny cups, but I'm gonna chop them in half.

So, I have to do that a whole bunch of times (upbeat music) because I'm going to use it like that.

Now, we have to do one more thing.

So, we're gonna build our board, but we have to build it from the bottom up.

And we wanna do that because this is gonna be sitting on the bottom of the game, and it's gonna be sliding back and forth to catch the ping pong ball.

So, I know I need this much space before the first row.

So, I'm gonna set it up like this.

I think I have it set up where it's going to work.

Now, we're gonna glue it down and see if we can play the game.

(upbeat music continues) We can place this into our board.

(upbeat music continues) Just for a test.

(Mister C growls) (Mister C laughs) Okay, okay, that was cool.

So, it's getting stuck.

So, we've gotta figure out possibly how to fix that.

It did it again, it got stuck on the same spot!

All right, so I have an idea.

We have to engineer, right?

We have to figure out the dilemma, find a solution to the dilemma, and then, hopefully, it works.

So, I'm thinking if I put, like, a little piece of diagonal, just like that.

(upbeat music continues) That's so cool!

Now, here's the thing.

I actually wanna cut a hole in the top, here, so I have a place to start the bucket.

And then, I'm going to take a large cup and just tape it here.

(upbeat music continues) Oh, that's so cool!

And it works, it works!

Now, here's the thing.

We need to get our bucket in there so we can catch it and pull it side to side.

So, I've gotta put two little holes here on the side.

I'm gonna use my little drill tool.

(upbeat music continues) This is where you need a second set of hands to play the game, because in order to do this, I have to drop the ball in and then try to figure out how to pull the string really quickly.

Hold on, we're gonna try it.

I think I can do it.

(Mister C exhales) Round 1, three, two, one.

Yeah, I got it!

(laughs) That's so much fun!

(laughs) That's so much fun!

For all of the marbles!

I mean, ping pong balls!

Three, two, one.

(Mister C growling) (electronic beeping) Next time, ping pong ball!

Next time!

- The Super Soaker was invented by Lonnie Johnson, a brilliant engineer from Mobile, Alabama.

Surprisingly, he wasn't even trying to make a toy at first.

While working on another project, he noticed that water could be sprayed with a strong force.

This gave him the inspiration to create a powerful water blasting toy.

Lonnie Johnson also worked on important projects for NASA and the US Air Force.

He showed us smart thinking plus creativity can lead to some really fun ideas.

His invention became one of the most popular water toys ever, and it all started with a curious mind.

(buzzer buzzing) - It works!

My buzzer works!

(bell rings) And now we're gonna be making a DIY quiz board.

That's what we're gonna be taking to the game night, because I'm gonna build a quiz to see if my science crew knows the engineering design process.

(wheel whirring) See, this circuit, it's going to be used to actually identify whether or not the questions on our quiz board are accurate.

When the circuit closes, the light goes off and the buzzer buzzes.

So, you might be saying, "How does this thing work?"

When we close the circuit with the aluminum foil, (upbeat music) (buzzer buzzing) we know it's closed, we know it's working.

And that's going to be the indicator to tell us whether or not the question is correct.

Now, as we know, the engineering design process has multiple steps.

So, let's get our paper divided accurately so that we can actually put all the steps on here with correlating answers.

So, we're gonna give our quiz board a title.

We're gonna call it EDP, and that stands for Engineering Design Process.

Now, we know we have multiple parts to the engineering design process, so let's get those labeled.

Dilemma, question/brainstorm our plan, design, test, and our redesign.

(upbeat music continues) And now we have to make a brief description.

Now, because it's a quiz board, we don't wanna put the answer directly on the other side.

We want people to have to try to figure out where they are.

We're going to tape a piece of black construction paper to the back of this, and then we're gonna punch holes in it again.

And this is going to allow us to put the aluminum foil on the back so you can't see it through the white paper.

So, we know our redesign is here on the bottom.

We're gonna connect those two dots here on the bottom with this small piece of foil.

So, I'm just gonna cut a piece of foil.

(upbeat music continues) And I folded it really small, and that's because I'm gonna cover it with a piece of tape.

So, I'm gonna connect this to here like this, so that's gonna fit there from there to there.

We're just gonna put a small piece of tape on this end here to hold it down.

(upbeat music continues) I'm gonna fold this over.

You can cut it or you can just fold it over.

So, this to this should close the circuit and sound the alarm so that we know it's right.

(buzzer buzzing) It works, isn't that awesome?

Now, the thing is, we need to cover up this entire piece of foil so that no other foil can connect it, because that can disrupt the flow of electricity and mess up our board.

That's why we use this tape.

(upbeat music continues) And we're gonna cover up the entire piece, like that.

And we're gonna rip off the extra.

And the reason this works is tape is an insulator.

It doesn't let current flow through it.

So, now we do the rest of them.

And you'll see, they'll cross one another, so, that's why we have to tape it off every layer.

(upbeat music continues) Finally, we're going to add another piece of dark construction paper on the back to hide all of the answer paths.

Are you ready to test it?

All right, science crew!

- Hiya!

- Hey!

- Let's see if you know what's going on.

(bell ringing) When I say this is often the start to the engineering design process, what do you think it is?

- Dilemma!

- Dilemma.

- Dilemma?

- The dilemma?

Let's test it.

(buzzer buzzing) Great job!

All right, what if I say this, this is what you do.

You make changes to your design to improve your idea.

What do you think that is?

- Redesign.

- Redesign.

- Redesign!

- Redesign, let's find out.

(buzzer buzzing) Great job, let's go!

Okay, what if you're checking and evaluating to see if your solution works?

What do you think that is?

- Test.

- Test?

- Test.

- Test?

(buzzer buzzing) My crew's so smart.

I'm going out of order and they're still getting it right!

(explosion booms) That's what I'm talking about.

Making stuff, having fun, making a quiz board for the game night.

Wouldn't this be awesome to make another quiz board with your friends and family, and have things like, "What's your favorite food?"

"What's your favorite meal?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"What's your favorite scientist?"

(bell ringing) (upbeat music) - Three, two, one, launch!

We're making a- - [Crew] Cotton ball launcher!

- Let's build one!

- Cut a paper towel roll in half so that you have two tubes.

Slice one tube down the center and roll the tube up so that it easily fits into the uncut tube.

Use tape to secure the rolled tube.

Take your hole puncher and punch a hole on each side of the tube directly across from each other.

Carefully slide your pencil through both holes in the tube and secure the pencil to the tube with tape.

Take the second roll and carefully cut two slits on each side.

(upbeat music continues) Take a rubber band and slide it into the cuts.

And then, apply tape to strengthen the roll and where you cut it.

Repeat this on both sides.

(upbeat music continues) Place your smaller tube into the larger tube, and then wrap the rubber band around the pencil.

(upbeat music continues) Now, it's time to launch some cotton balls!

What can you do to improve the aim or make it go farther?

Use the engineering design process and give it a try.

Pew!

Pew, pew, pew!

- The engineering design process has had us making and shaking and having lots of fun.

Being a maker is good for everyone!

Wowzers, we really did make some cool things today, zip line racers, board games, and quiz boards.

If you ever have a problem or dilemma, think about using the engineering design process and see how easily you can find a solution.

It really does make engineering so much easier.

All right, engineers, I need to zip back to the lab and help Mister C clean up all of those messes he's made.

I think the solution to that problem is going to start with a broom.

No engineering needed.

- Whoa!

That was so cool.

Wasn't today awesome?

Talking about maker spaces, making all sorts of cool stuff for our game night.

(noisemakers buzzing) It's so much fun when you have a dilemma that you have to try to solve.

We made some really cool games, whether it was our little board where the ball can roll down, and we try to catch it.

I need to work on that.

Or whether it was our quiz board where we can test with our friends and family whether they know the engineering design process.

For example, "Hey, everybody, what does the engineering design process always start with, typically?"

The dilemma!

Uh-oh, there is a dilemma.

My speaker's not working.

I have to look at that after the show.

But most importantly, you'll wanna download your "DIY Science Time" notebook where you can keep track of all the games, all the things that you make, and all the things you might need to actually fix in order to make 'em work again.

Probably gonna have to redesign and retest this.

Oh, what an awesome day.

Quiz boards, this.

Time was just zipping along, and we were having, whoa!

That was awesome.

Keep learning, keep exploring, keep having fun.

And remember, science is wherever you are.

Zip to it!

(upbeat music) Remember every step of engineering to, zap, pop!

(camera beeping) ♪ Don't knock over the camera ♪ ♪ I got to break the camera ♪ (camera beeping) Money, that was it!

I just was like, I know where I wanna go with it!

(mimics explosion)