Description
You can’t help but smile when you see these 3 cute dinosaurs moving down the slide!
Dinosaur Race is a classic retro style toy that features three sliding dinosaurs.
This toy links with Scientific Sue’s The Scientific Dilemmas of Dippy the Dinosaur.
Product details
Reimagined version of the classic Penguin Race novelty with a striking dinosaur design. Switch it on and the small dinosaur figures will automatically ascend the staircase towards the slide. When they reach the top, each dinosaur will then descend along the winding path, completing a circuit that leads them through an arch in the centre of the unit before they finish at the foot of the stairs, ready to repeat the process. This set includes three dinosaurs, each one a different colour.
- Dinosaur sliding novelty
- Dinosaurs climb the stairs and slide down the chute
- Includes three dinosaurs
- Easy to assemble
- Requires 3 x AA batteries
- 42cm wide
The Science
This toy consists of 3 dinosaurs, a slide and a motorised escalator that lifts the dinos to the top of the slide, so they can go back down again. Besides being fascinating to watch, this toy provides an excellent model for understanding how an electric circuit works. The dinosaurs are like the electrons, which account for the flow of electricity in a circuit. The escalator lifts them up to a place where they have enough energy (potential energy) to travel down the slide by gravity. It is like the battery in a circuit, which gives the electrons an “energy kick” that is enough for them to travel on their own through the rest of the circuit. While traveling down the slide, the dinosaurs speed up, but then stop when they hit the bottom. In a circuit, the electrons lose their energy in other ways: they may make a bulb light up, create a sound in a buzzer or make a motor turn.
Two basic circuit concepts are current and voltage. The amount of current counts the number of electrons that are flowing. In the toy model of a circuit, you could increase the current by adding more dinosaurs. If there were too many dinosaurs to fit in the track, you would have to make it wider to accommodate them. Similarly, a wire may need to be bigger to contain more current. The reason a cars jump lead is so fat is that it takes a lot of current to start a car.
