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 Floating, inhabitants of Mammoth Island attempt to rescue an islander and his mammoths from the middle of a lake. They are stranded on a small island after a wooden bridge collapses. Olive, a bright young islander, notices that the wood from the broken bridge is floating on the surface of the lake. With the help of a visiting inventor, she discovers the principle of buoyancy. Every object exerts a downward force on the water, and the water pushes back with an upward force on the object. When the buoyant force is greater than an object’s weight, the object floats!
In Belts & Gears, inhabitants of Mammoth Island are getting ready for their annual fair and are determined to make this year's event better than ever. Olive, a young islander, enlists the help of a visiting inventor to design exciting new rides, and together they decide that using belts and gears will help make the fair a success. While belts and gears don't increase the amount of force applied, they can transfer the force to change direction or speed.
In Levers, inhabitants of Mammoth Island have decided to enter their mammoth in a "heaviest mammoth" competition. To do so, they need to find the best method to weigh a mammoth. After observing some children playing on a see-saw, Olive, a young islander, is inspired to try a simple machine called a lever to get the job done. The Islanders then explore the properties of the three classes of levers and discover that scissors, nail clippers and tweezers are just a few examples of useful inventions based on the principle of the lever!
In Screws, inhabitants of Mammoth Island are in the process of building a new observation tower out of stone blocks when one of the islanders gets trapped at the top of the tower. With the help of a visiting gallant knight and his trusty mammoth, they are able to build a ramp around the circular structure and create a giant simple machine known as a screw. Turning the tower into a giant screw allows the islanders to spin the tower down into the soil, bringing the trapped inhabitant of Mammoth Island close to the ground -- and saving the day!
