Building an Igloo
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Building an Igloo
Chris Bell
Download film (right-click)Adult , Award Nominees , Award Winners , Demonstration , Engineering , Explanation , Instruction , Make & Do , Physics
Snow + science technician + video camera = igloo! Obviously.
Director's Notes:
Film-maker Chris Bell writes:
I took the opportunity to build an igloo during the cold snap in january and to demonstrate some of the properties of snow.
What he doesn’t mention is his poor assistant, left holding the camera and shivering while he keep warm building the igloo. Listen carefully to the film, and you’ll occasionally hear a plaintive sniffle.
Apparently the igloo took three days to build, and melted in two.
Winner, Gratnells’ Best Film from a Science Technician, 2010
This category was sponsored by education storage supplier, Gratnells, as part of their support for science technicians. Find out more about the company at their website.
SciCast Notes:
I’m so glad somebody did this — with all the snow this year it seemed crazy not to, except that (a.) by definition, it’s freezing cold, and (b.) building an igloo is surprisingly difficult, as you’ll know if you’ve ever tried.
So the sheer effort involved in this film is impressive. I like Chris’ presenting style too, very matter-of-fact and direct, which is always engaging.
A lovely, simple, film of something you might only get one chance to do — wonderful. Thanks, Chris!
— Jonathan.
[note: the film published here is, technically, a little longer than allowed by the competition rules. The judges viewed a version edited slightly to bring it down to length, so no grouching from the back, please! I’ve published the full version here because it makes a little more sense than the short one did. It’s the better film, and come on — Chris built an igloo, we’ll cut him a little slack!]