Part 20 of 33
Tech explained
Tech explained, in the menu under Competition Prep, takes the big stories in technology and explains how they really work, from Grade 3 to high school. It is free in full, with no sign-in.
There are twenty-eight topics, each a poster on the page, newest first. Among them: how rockets reach space, how airplanes fly, how a map app finds the way, what is inside a phone and a computer chip, how a chatbot writes an answer, how solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and the power grid work, and how drones, 3D printers and microwaves do what they do.
Watch the film
Most topics open with Watch the film: a narrated film of a few minutes, full of moving pictures, one idea at a time. It never plays by itself. It has captions, chapters, a bar to move through it, and full screen.
Three levels
Under the film, How hard should it be? has three buttons. Each changes every word on the page, and Pip’s voice with it.
- Starter, for Grades 3 to 5: everyday words.
- Explorer, for Grades 6 to 8: adds the scientific names.
- Expert, for Grades 9 to 12: adds the formula or the number.
The choice is kept on that device.
A chapter at a time
After the film, the topic goes a chapter at a time. Each chapter has a moving picture, words to read (each with a speaker button), words to know, and a Think about it question. Most chapters have a box headed Try it: a small thing to change and watch, such as the tilt of a wing or the fuel in a rocket. Next chapter goes on, and the last one opens What I learned.
Pip is quiet when a topic opens. Its words show beside the page, and it speaks only after Listen to Pip is pressed.
Claims, reports and estimates
Every number on a topic carries a small badge saying where it comes from, because a child should learn to ask that.
- Reported: a figure published by someone who measured it, such as a government agency.
- Our estimate: a round number we worked out ourselves, and say so.
- A claim: what a company says about its own product. The badge names who said it.
For grown-ups
Each topic has a folded For grown-ups box and a list headed Where this comes from, with links to the sources. The toys in the Try it boxes are said to be toys: they show the idea, not a real product’s numbers.