The Turn-over Turtle

Sometimes, by accident, a turtle gets turned upside down. It seems helpless as it wiggles its legs and moves its head from side-to-side, but it isn’t. All of a sudden, the turtle flips over and walks away. What did it do to make itself turn right-side up?

You can find out the secret by making your own turnover model turtle.

What You Need: Making the Turtle

1. Ask the adult to slice the ball in half. You will use one half to make the turtle's "shell."

2. Set the half-ball on the cardboard, and draw around the edge to make a circle. The circle will be the turtle and its bottom shell. Take away the ball, and draw a head, tail, and legs on the edges of the circle like in the illustration. Make sure the feet face forward and back, as shown.

3. Glue the coin to the cardboard so that it is at the edge, between the feet on one side.

• a Styrofoam ball about 1-1/2" to 2" in diameter

• a piece of cardboard

• a coin, such as a penny or a nickel

• scissors, glue, and a pencil

• an adult with a sharp knife to help you

4. Put glue all over the circle, and glue the half-ball to it. Let the glue dry thoroughly.

If you wish, you can use markers to draw eyes, claws, and decorate the top of the shell.

Make the Turtle Turn Over

Place the turtle upside down on a table or the floor. As long as you hold it, it will stay upside down, but the moment you let go, it will flip right-side up!

How Does the Turtle Do It?

The way the turtle flips looks like a magic trick, but it isn't. The science secret is GRAVITY. The coin makes the turtle heavier on that side, so when you set it on its back, the weight of the coin moves that side down. Because the shell is curved, it rolls easily and flips over.

How Do Real Turtles Do It?

When a real turtle finds itself on its back, it wiggles its feet and moves its head back and forth. This shifts its weight from side-to-side. When its head and its feet point to the same side, that side becomes heavier. The turtle then turns over, just like your turn-over turtle!

Cowboy Clark was teaching Larry how to spit, but Larry wasn’t getting the hang of it. He just couldn’t make the same cool spit stream that Cowboy Clark was able to make fly from the side of his mouth. If anything, Larry looked like he was drooling.

“That’s disgusting,” Mrs. Whiskers hissed, slipping out from underneath a bush.

“We don’t need you messing with us today,” Cowboy Clark warned.

Mrs. Whiskers turned to Larry. “Why learn a disgusting habit?”

“It’s cool,” Larry said.

“It’s not cool. It’s repulsive. Look, it’s not as if you need to spit to survive, like an archer fish. Now that is one skilled spitter,” said Mrs. Whiskers, taking a seat to deliver her lesson. “Do you know anything about the archer fish?”

“A fish that spits?” Cowboy Clark laughed. “Oh, this ought to be good.”

Ignoring him, Mrs. Whiskers explained. “An archer fish turns its tongue into the shape of a tube, sticks its snout out of the water, and spits at insects to knock them into the water. That’s how it gets its food. It’s such a skilled spitter, it can jet spit down an insect five feet away!” Mrs. Whiskers licked her paw, removing a pebble that had gotten stuck between her pads. “Now, you two? You don’t need to spit to survive.”

“You know what’s disgusting?” asked Cowboy Clark. “You, licking your dirty paw.” “Oh, really?” Mrs. Whiskers sighed, then sauntered off with her tail in the air. “Cats are one of the cleanest animals on this planet. While you’re looking up information on the archer fish, look that up too.”

Larry turned to Cowboy Clark. “Think we’ll ever be able to spit five feet, like that archer fish?”

“No harm in trying. Right, partner?” Cowboy Clark grinned.