1. The Activities
   1. How does a skater get spinning so fast?
   2. Which way should I skewer an object to make it spin the fastest?
   3. Do skaters slow down because of wind resistance?
   4. What happens inside a spinning can?
   5. What are some other experiments to do?

2. The Games
   1. Skater Simulation
   2. Spin It!

3. The Prizes

4. The Hall of Brains

5. The Geek Speak Lounge

Our first question at the Spin Lab is from Lexi Bicos, a 6th grader from Huntington Beach. To see what Dr. Leila had to say about this, read the Los Angeles Times article. It's available right here in Whyville, at the Times Building just down the street.

Discover the answer to this question yourself by playing with the skater simulation here in the Spin Lab. Don't forget to try out Dr. Leila's other suggestions at home or in your classroom, too!

Instead of spinning something on a surface like a table, you could also skewer it (well, sometimes!) with a stick, and spin your object by rotating the stick. Some ways of skewering an object works better than others. What does that depend on? Check out our "Spin It" simulation, and see if you get any ideas. That's the spinning nose on the floor of the lab. Yes, you can skewer and spin a nose too - but only when it's just a simulation!

There's more on what makes things spin and keep on spinning in Dr. Leila's second article on spinning. It has to do with conservation of momentum, and there are fun things you can do at home to experience this first hand.

That's a great question, and you can try to discover your own answer with an experiment involving cans of fruit cocktail. Intrigued? Dr. Leila tells you how in this article.

Since you'll be doing this on your own, there won't be any prizes to win, but you might discuss your results with fellow Whyvillians.

Maybe we'll be able to figure out the answer if we can actually see inside a can while it rolls. Instead of using fruit cocktail, we used jelly beans because they were easier to see. And instead of rolling the can down a ramp, we spun it with a record play because this was easier to film. Check out the video!

Does the video give you any ideas? Do you think using jelly beans and a record player was a good idea?

It might help to get a little technical about angular momentum and rotational inertia. Check out Dr. Leila's article on these two serious-sounding terms. If you're in the mood for some serious geek notes, this is what Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize Winner in Physics had to say.

Dr. Leila asked four physicists what they thought the fruit cocktail can experiment. They weren't too happy, but that's even better, because now they've suggested four more experiments for us to do.

To play, drag the colored dots on the skater (on the left-hand side of your screen) to move her limbs. Watch the right-hand image carefully to see how this affects her speed in competition (the judges in the back will rank her performance). Be careful -- if you move her into unstable positions, she'll fall!

When you have the fastest skater you can make, write down the Secret Code number and click "QUIT" to come back into the lab. When you enter your Secret Code into the Data Machine, you just might get a prize!

For more instructions on the Skater Simulation, look for the "Click here for instructions" link underneath the simulation ap plet.

When you've worked your way through all 5 objects, be sure you write down the Secret Code and click "QUIT" to come back into the lab. Enter the Secret Code into the Data Machine, together with your thoughts and observations, and hold your breath to see if you win a prize.

For more instructions for the Spin It! game, look for the "Click here for instructions " link underneath the applet.

Click on the door to the Hall of Brains to enter, and beware -- it just might make your head spin!