♪♪♪ (Jessice Russell) Hi, everyone.

My name is Jessica.

Welcome to Vegas PBS STEAM Camp.

"STEAM" stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

And while it may sound like these are just subjects we learn in school, it's way more than that.

STEAM helps improve our lives and our community.

Today with the help of experts, we're going to learn about the STEAM that's all around us in Southern Nevada, which you might have never noticed before.

Then I'm going to show you fun activities you can do at home to learn more.

You can even send me pictures or videos of your results, but we'll talk a little bit more about that later.

Now we just need a question to investigate.

(ringing sound) That sound means I'm getting my first video call of the day from my friend Andrea.

Hi, Andrea.

-Hey, Jessica.

-What question would you like to explore on today's show?

-I was wondering, what's the science behind hockey equipment?

-That's a wonderful question.

Let's visit my friend Tyler at City National Arena to help us find an answer.

-What's up, everyone?

My name is Tyler Kasch.

Welcome to City National Arena where we're going to talk a little bit about the science of hockey equipment.

Let's go inside and check it out.

♪♪♪ See, here we are at City National Arena in Summerlin, Nevada where the Vegas Golden Knights practice.

♪♪♪ We're here today to talk a little bit about science and safety regarding the sport of hockey.

A lot has changed since the original six entered the league in 1917.

Can you believe there wasn't even a helmet mandate until 1974?

The first goaltender in the NHL to even wear a helmet wasn't until 1959, almost 40 years after the league's inception.

But you know one thing that hasn't changed?

This little rubber puck right here.

One thing that has changed though, hockey sticks, like this one right here.

There's a lot of science that goes into the design of today's hockey sticks such as flex and curve, and we're going to talk about both of those.

The first aspect of a hockey stick is the curve.

Original hockey sticks were made of wood and straight as an arrow, and this stick is made of composite.

As you can see here, there's a curve and that's what controls the puck and elevates a player's shot.

The most common shot in hockey is the wrist shot, and that's where flex is most important.

♪♪♪ First, a player uses their body weight to flex the stick.

That weight allows the energy to build up into the stick.

That energy transfers from the stick to the puck and propels it towards the net.

♪♪♪ Here we have a goaltender's stick, otherwise known as a paddle.

Notice any difference between the two?

As you can see here, there are some similarities, but its biggest difference is its size.

The surface area is much bigger, allowing the goaltender to block more shots.

♪♪♪ It wouldn't be hockey without ice skates, so let's get behind the science of the blades.

It's important that hockey players well maintain and sharpen their skates.

Right here we have a common ice hockey skate that you would see today.

The bottom of the blade is actually not flat, it's curved and shaped like the letter "U" with two sharp edges and a hollow center.

When I sharpen a skate, the deeper the hollow, the more grip and control a player has.

The more shallow allows a player more speed and an easier glide.

Fun fact: The most common requested sharpening depth is 1/2, but out here in the desert, we use 5/8 because of how soft the ice is, and we don't want our blades to cut in as deep.

Now that we've learned about the science behind sharpening skates, let's get into the process and I'll show you how it's done.

♪♪♪ Thank you so much for visiting City National Arena to talk a little bit about the science in hockey with me today.

I hope next time you're watching a Vegas Golden Knights game, you pick up a little bit of what we talked about.

Take care.

♪♪♪ Thanks, Tyler.

Let's review what we learned.

Hockey stick blades have a curve, which helps the player control the puck.

Hockey sticks also bend easily; this is called flex.

During a wrist shot, the player builds up energy in the stick by flexing it with their body weight.

When the player takes a shot, this energy transfers from the stick to the puck to propel it toward the net.

Hockey skates have a hollow or curve carved into the bottom of the blade using a sharpener.

A deeper hollow increases the skate's grip and control.

A shallow hollow increases its speed and glide.

Wow!

That was amazing.

I never realized there was so much science involved in hockey equipment.

I noticed that a hockey stick works a lot like a catapult.

That's because they're both simple machines called levers.

A lever helps us move objects or lift heavy things, and levers have four parts: A beam, which is a long bar or plank; a fulcrum, which is the pivot or turning point; effort, which is the force you place on the lever, and load, or the object you want to move.

Think back to that hockey stick.

It has all four parts of a lever.

The beam is the hockey stick.

The fulcrum is the hockey player's hand at the top of the stick that makes the stick flex.

The hockey player adds the effort using their muscles, and what is the load?

If you guessed the puck, you're right.

Now it's your turn to think like an engineer.

You are going to build a catapult to explore how levers work.

To achieve this goal, you are going to use the engineering design process.

There are many ways to build a catapult, so first you will have to imagine possibilities and draw a plan.

What material are you going to use as a beam?

A craft stick, plastic utensils, chopstick, pencil, ruler or something else?

Be creative.

Next, think about what you can use as a fulcrum.

What can your beam pivot on?

Maybe you could use craft sticks for that too, or something else like a marker.

You will also need to plan how to hold your design together, maybe with rubber bands, paper clips, clothes pins, pipe cleaners, binder clips or tape.

Then think about the really fun part, what load do you want to launch?

Cotton balls and marshmallows are really good options, and I'll give you a hint.

If you have a tough time keeping your load on the catapult, attach a bottle cap to hold it in place.

After you have identified all the materials you want to use, sketch a plan of your design.

The next step is to create a catapult.

Take your time and test the pieces as you go.

Testing your design as you go is a good way to save time and fix mistakes if you realize something isn't working.

And then after you've created your catapult, launch your object and see what happens.

Does it travel as far as you hoped?

If so, great job!

Maybe you can adjust the position of your fulcrum to launch it even farther.

Try it and see what happens.

But if you tested your catapult and it didn't work, it's okay.

Think about what you can do to improve your design and test it again.

Now let's check in with Andrea to see how she designed her catapult.

-Hey, Jessica.

I'm going to be talking about my catapult.

So basically I made it out of craft sticks, rubber bands and a spoon.

I made this catapult because I think it would be easier than making one of those hold-back catapults.

So basically I would like to add something to it.

I would like to add cardboard on so it can face back and it can hold back, and it will look very cool.

Now I'm going to show you how I built-- how I use my catapult.

So you just hold it, you just hold the spoon or you can hold the craft sticks back and you point to it and then you-- boom!

It will go far, but it will not go that far.

Bye!

-Now let's check in with Abigail to learn how she designed her catapult.

♪♪♪ So today I am going to be making a catapult.

I am using a plastic spoon because plastic spoons are very bendy, and metal spoons are not.

Like if I try and bend it, it won't bend because it's a solid.

The plastic spoon is more flexible and it's more bendable.

So I'm also going to use rubber bands to hold these popsicle sticks together.

I'm also going to need a cotton ball to launch.

So first I'm going to get this-- so first I need to put four popsicle sticks here and then put the spoon there.

I think I'm going to need more popsicle sticks, and I always keep extras around because you might need more things or littler things.

So now I'm going to do that and then go around the rubber band, and then putting the rubber band-- like this side, it isn't really with it so it will actually hold.

♪♪♪ You do want to tilt it over to the side and then you just put it back a bit.

♪♪♪ Perfect launcher!

-Great job on your catapult design.

I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

An important part of being an engineer is sharing your work with others.

Visit our website at vegaspbs.org/steamcamp to submit videos or pictures of your results to us at Vegas PBS with your grown-up's permission, or ask your grown-up to share it with us on social media by tagging @vegaspbs.

Keep in mind if you're submitting a video, make sure we can see what you're doing and hear what you're saying.

Also, you'll want to keep your video to one minute or less.

We will post some of your projects on our website and if yours is selected, we will mail you this cool PBS Kids bag and a new book.

When you visit the website, you'll also find the steps of the engineering design process that you will follow to build your catapult and links to PBS Kids shows and activities to learn more about the science of hockey and levers.

Now let's visit my friend Shana at the library to discover a book you can check out to help you learn more about this topic.

♪♪♪ Hello, my name is Shana Harrington.

I'm the youth services manager for the Las Vegas Clark County Library District, and I heard that you learned about a very important part of ice hockey, which is the protective equipment, the gear that our hockey players wear, and it is a lot of gear.

I can't imagine wearing something like that for a whole game.

So we're going to talk about all the things they wear, and it is a lot.

Players wear helmets and padded gear, mouth guards protect their teeth, goalies wear a mask and thicker pads.

Players wear skates too.

They will block shots with their skates.

So there's a lot that they wear, and you can find all about this in books that you can check out at our library or online.

I recommend coming to any one of our 25 branches to learn more about all the protective equipment that hockey players have to wear.

It's important that you protect yourself when you're playing sports.

So check it out today.

♪♪♪ Welcome back to the Vegas PBS STEAM Camp science lab.

We've already learned so much today, and we still have time left to investigate another question about hockey.

(ringing sound) Here's another caller.

Oh, it's Abigail.

Hi, Abigail.

-Hi, Jessica.

-What question would you like to explore on this half of the program?

-So I was wondering how the ice is made.

The ice is crucial to playing the game, right?

-That's a great question.

I actually know the perfect person to talk to at City National Arena to help us explain this.

His name is Richie.

-Hey, my name is Richie Crossley, operations supervisor at City National Arena, and I'm going to show you why I have the most important job in hockey.

♪♪♪ So here we are standing on the ice.

How thick do you think the ice is?

One foot, six inches, four inches, or an inch and a half?

♪♪♪ So the ice is only an inch and a half thick, and the reason being the thicker the ice is, the more energy that's used.

Think of it as a refrigerator.

Underneath my feet right now, it's a mile and a half long of plastic piping going back and forth.

Inside these plastic tubes is called brine.

It's a very salty water that has a lower temperature freeze point than regular water.

So while regular water freezes at 32 degrees, brine doesn't.

It actually could drop all the way down to 10 degrees without freezing.

While the super-cold brine is getting pumped through the pipes underneath my feet, it freezes the ice sheet on which I'm standing.

So you may be wondering, how do we cool the brine down?

Well, it's a chemical called ammonia which is in our refrigeration room.

The ammonia runs through a pipe that goes to a compressor, which the brine also goes to a compressor, circulates through which pulls the brine down.

So the ice I'm standing on is built in layers.

The first layer is the concrete slab.

The second layer is a very thin sheet of clear water.

The third layer is white paint.

You want to know why we use white paint?

So the hockey players can see the puck better.

Then after that, it's 12,000 gallons of water that we build in thin layers.

So creating the ice roughly takes a day, and we do it about once a year.

That's not the only job I do.

I also drive the Zamboni and keep the ice surface clean.

Come check it out.

♪♪♪ So this is the Zamboni, and not much has changed since 1949 when the first one was created.

So the first thing I'm doing when I'm out there is I drop the blade, which is very sharp that is cutting a very thin layer of ice which we call snow, and augers then pick it up and put it in the bin up front.

And third is the water.

So the water in the Zamboni that smooths the ice, what do you think the temperature is?

45 degrees, 85 degrees, 100 degrees or 155 degrees?

If you said 155 degrees, you were right, the reason being is because it helps melt the top layer and smoothes the ice even more.

So after we're done cleaning the ice, the snow gets dumped into a trough which then gets recycled back into our system.

(snow splashing in water) Fun fact: These tires have metal studs on them that help prevent the Zamboni from sliding all over the ice.

♪♪♪ Thanks for stopping by City National Arena.

I hope you learned a lot on how we keep ice frozen in the desert.

Next time you're at a Knights game, don't forget to come stop on by and say hi.

♪♪♪ So there's not that many Zamboni drivers out there in the world and you're probably wondering, how did I get this job?

Well, I grew up playing hockey, and my first job was at a local rink.

Unfortunately for me I didn't make the NHL as a player, but I got one of the most important jobs, and that's taking care of the ice.

♪♪♪ Thanks, Richie.

Let's review what we learned.

The ice in a hockey rink is frozen with the help of brine.

Brine is a very salty water that freezes at a lower temperature than plain water.

This super-cold brine is pumped through miles of pipe under the rink.

The brine is cooled with the help of ammonia.

Ammonia is a gas that gets extremely cold when pumped through a machine called a compressor.

A Zamboni is a machine that cleans the surface of the ice.

Its sharp blade scrapes off a thin layer of ice, and its auger spins to collect the snow.

Then the Zamboni puts down hot water to melt the ice surface and make it clean and smooth.

Thanks for showing us how the ice rink and Zamboni work, Richie.

Now it's time for us to think like scientists to learn more about how salt affects ice.

Richie said that salty brine water freezes at a lower temperature than pure water.

That makes me wonder, which will freeze faster, water with a lot of salt, water with a little salt, or water with no salt, or will they freeze at the same speed?

To investigate this you will need salt, a measuring cup, a tablespoon, marker, labels, three plastic cups, water, a thermometer, a small towel and a data collection chart.

If you don't have a thermometer, it's okay.

You can still do this investigation by making observations.

Now you're ready to get started.

Add one cup of water to each plastic cup.

♪♪♪ Next add one tablespoon of salt to the first cup of water and stir until it's completely dissolved.

Label this cup "one tablespoon of salt."

Wipe your tablespoon dry and add two tablespoons of salt to the next cup of water and stir.

When you're done, make sure you label it.

Don't add any salt to the third cup and label it "no salt."

Place each cup next to each other in the freezer, then make a prediction.

How long do you think it will take for the water in each cup to freeze?

Now investigate and collect data.

Check your cups every 30 minutes for three hours and record your observations.

Is the water frozen, partly frozen, slushy, or still liquid?

If you have a thermometer, record the temperature of the water in each solution, and be sure to wipe your thermometer clean with your towel after each temperature check so you don't accidentally transfer salt between cups.

This might skew your results.

After three hours, analyze your data.

Were your predictions correct?

Which froze first and which froze last?

Compare and contrast the temperatures you recorded too.

Were they the same or different each time you checked?

What conclusions can you make based on all of your data?

Now let's check in with Abigail who has started her investigation at home.

-So today I actually did a little experiment with some water.

So I put one teaspoon of salt in here, two teaspoons in here, but none in here.

So this one froze; it's kind of melting now.

This one like kind of got some ice, like I can stir it around a bit because it's kind of melting.

But then the two teaspoons of salt didn't freeze.

So I noticed that this one froze faster because it had way less salt, because I didn't put any in here.

This one froze the second fastest, because I only put in one teaspoon.

This one didn't freeze at all, but it got to a very cold temperature.

And I am not even going to touch the water because I might get hyperthermia, which is not good for you.

Anyways, I'm thinking I'll try three or four teaspoons maybe for longer.

See you later!

-Excellent job describing your observations.

An important part of being a scientist is sharing your work with others, and I want you to share your investigations with me.

You can submit a picture or video of your ice investigation through our website at vegaspbs.org/steamcamp with your grown-up's permission, or ask your grown-up to share it with us on social media by tagging @vegaspbs.

And remember if you are submitting a video, make sure we can see what you're doing and hear what you're saying.

Also, try to keep your video to one minute or less.

We will select some projects for our website, and if we choose yours, you will get this cool PBS Kids bag and a new book.

You can also download the data collection chart for this investigation on our website and explore links to PBS Kids shows and activities to learn more about ice and hockey rinks.

Now let's visit Shana at the library one more time to discover a book you can check out to help you learn more about this topic.

♪♪♪ Hi, folks.

I'm Shana Harrington.

I'm the youth services manager for the Las Vegas Clark County Library District, and I work right here at the awesome Windmill Library.

I heard that you learned all about ice rinks today, and if you'd like to learn a little bit more, you can check out one of our cool books.

This one is called I'm Cool by Kate and Jim McMullan, and this is all about the Zamboni, one of the amazing machines that maintains an ice rink.

This makes sure the ice is nice and smooth and perfect for our hockey players, specifically our amazing Golden Knights, and this makes sure that the ice is perfect for them to skate on so they don't trip or fall and everything goes perfect for our hockey players.

So there's some great tips and tricks to make sure there are no blips or anything that they can get hurt on, and it goes in at intermission and it goes between scoring goals.

So this is told from the point of view of the Zamboni machine, and you might have seen other books by Kate and Jim McMullan.

They've talked about garbage trucks and all the things that help make everything go well in our community.

So please stop by one of our local libraries and check out one of these amazing books.

We would love to have you in.

Thank you so much.

We'd love to see you very soon.

♪♪♪