King Edward Terrace Canberra ACT
PO Box 5322 Kingston ACT 2604
t +61 2 6270 2800 f +61 2 6270 2808
www.questacon.edu.au
Transcription of the Questacon Science Squad Activity Video –
Squiddy – The Cartesian Diver
The video for this transcript can be found on the Questacon Science Squad website at:
http://sciencesquad.questacon.edu.au/activities
Transcription from video:
(Sound of bubbles popping)
Lang:
Hi, I’m Lang from the Questacon Science Squad. Today I’m going to teach
you how to become a squid trainer in a few simple steps.
You need:
 a cup of water
 an eye dropper
 a permanent marker
 a balloon
 a rubber band
 some scissors and,
 a plastic bottle full of water, just like this one
(Lang shows the plastic bottle full of water)
First we need to ‘squid-ify’ our eye dropper. So, using your permanent
marker, you can draw some eyes on it, just like I have done here.
(Lang shows a completed example)
Next, using the scissors, you want to cut off the neck of the balloon, just
like so.
(Lang cuts the neck off a yellow balloon)
Now using the scissors you want to cut some strips into the neck of the
balloon, just like I’m doing here.
(Lang cuts strips into the yellow balloon)
These strips are going to be your squid’s tentacles. The next thing we need
to do is attach the tentacles to your Squiddy. Place the balloon neck over
the eye dropper and attach it using an elastic band.
(Lang secures the balloon to the eye dropper with an elastic band)
Perfect. Now place your Squiddy into the cup of water. What you need to do
is squeeze out all of the air from the eye dropper, but keep enough air in
there so that Squiddy remains floating on top of the water.
Making science fun and relevant for everyone
King Edward Terrace Canberra ACT
PO Box 5322 Kingston ACT 2604
t +61 2 6270 2800 f +61 2 6270 2808
www.questacon.edu.au
(Lang is pressing on the eye dropper to release the air)
I think that’s just about right. Let’s see if he still floats.
(Lang taps on Squiddy in the cup of water)
Perfect.
Place your Squiddy into the bottle of water and fill the bottle right to the
very top with water. Add the lid and I think we’re ready to become squid
trainers. Let’s see how we go.
Go down Squiddy!
(Lang shouts at Squiddy in the bottle of water)
As I squeeze the bottle Squiddy sinks down.
(Lang is squeezing the bottle and Squiddy is sinking down)
Go up Squiddy!
(Lang shouts at Squiddy in the bottle of water)
And as I let it go, it floats back up to the top.
(Lang lets go of the bottle and Squiddy floats back up to the top of bottle)
To find out why Squiddy floats and sinks, head to the Questacon Science
Squad website. See you next time.
Making science fun and relevant for everyone