In Telecommunications, a visiting inventor investigating a stream of flying boulders discovers the islanders’ primitive communication system and decides to help them upgrade to one that is more efficient and less dangerous. The inventor introduces the telephone -- a device that uses electricity, light and radio waves to transmit sound messages. The islanders discover that fiber-optic systems make communicating over long distances even easier than phone lines. They learn how fax machines work and how cell phones make it possible to talk to anyone almost anywhere in the world!
In Sensors, Olive and her cousin, Troy, help their family remodel a quaint old lodge in the mountains. They decide that the old building could use some modernization. A visiting inventor suggests some sensors that would help. Sensors are devices that respond to heat, light, sound, pressure, magnetism or motion. The inventor explains the principles behind different types of sensors that can detect the presence of something, such as smoke detectors, automatic doors and security alarms.
In Light, young Olive and her cousin, Troy, learn all about the properties of light with the help of a visiting inventor and a room full of his crystal trophies. They discover that light behaves in different ways to change the way we see things. When light waves hit something, three things can happen: the light can bounce, it can pass through or it can be absorbed. Troy, Olive and the inventor also examine a variety of devices, which use lenses to bend light and help us see images correctly, such as telescopes, periscopes and binoculars.
In Musical Instruments, inhabitants of Mammoth Island invite a visiting inventor to a concert of mammoth proportions! Instead of playing instruments, the islanders rely on musical mammoths for entertainment. After the performance, which includes a rather dangerous stampede, the inventor shares what he knows about musical instruments with a young islander named Olive and her friends. Sound waves of different frequencies result in different pitches, and instruments of those different pitches are combined to produce music.