Here's How

Mouse and Orange Balloon are having a discussion about the possibility of Mouse being a ballplayer. Although Orange Balloon is skeptical of the idea, this gets the narrator talking about the history of balls. She talks about balls being an old tradition, with eventually someone inventing rules and various types of ball games beingt created. We go inside a factory where toy balls are made. There, we see how rubber is manipulated in various ways such as rolling, heating, and squeezing to create balls. We see how the rubber is rolled in talcum powder to keep from sticking and how it is that they're painted. Viewers also get a look at the special process of creating red, white and blue striped balls. This takes three days of work, as each color must be dipped and dried. Although Mouse decides on a preference for hide-and-seek, the narrator encourages viewers to go further, by doing such things as writing a story about a ball, or considering the differences of various sports.

After a debate about speed between Orange Balloon and Mouse gets Mouse claiming that a bike is the fastest thing on wheels, the narrator takes us for an in-depth look at bikes. We learn that bikes make sense as a vehicle because of the way they exercise our bodies and also are designed to fit us comfortably. We learn that early bikes were so rickety that they were called ""bone-shakers,"" but today's bicycle is a near perfect machine. We see that some bikes are hand-made, but these custom-built bikes cost three-four times the price of ordinary bikes. Most are built in factories on an assembly line and we're taken inside one to see how it works. Mouse then watches a bike-racing show, but the narrator changes the channel to a hockey game because it's time to learn about how hockey pucks are made. We visit another factory, where we see various materials being mixed into rubber. Afterwards, a machine called an extruder shapes the rubber into sticks, which are then cut into the shape of a puc

When Orange Balloon cracks a joke about how elephants never forget because they can't write and so they'd better not, it gets the narrator talking about how important drawing and writing are to us. We take a look back and see how cavemen communicated through drawing and also learn about the invention of the first writing tools, such as using sharpened goose feathers for pens. Nowadays, there are all sorts of tools for drawing, from crayons and markers to even using charcoal for sketches. We visit a factory which makes Crayola crayons and see they begin as sticky but not greasy wax. Colored powder is dumped into them, they're then shaped and set to cool and later a machine places wrappers on them. They are also all checked to make sure that they're not broken and that they all have a point. We also take a look at how markers are made, from the construction of the writing points called ""nibs"" to injecting the ink into the markers. After taking a look at a sketch of Mouse in full-color, t

One of our favorite characters is a balloon and in this episode we find out all about them, from simple party balloons to large balloon airships and even balloons used for safety. We find out the first ever balloon was a toy for a young Chinese emperor and that one of the first hot air balloons ever nearly crashed on the head of the King of Portugal. We learn that the French Montgolfier brothers were pioneers in ballooning, filling up bags of hot air and watching them rise and that from these experiments came balloons that could lift sheep, roosters, ducks and eventually humans. As more and more hot air balloons were created, crowds came to watch the beautiful balloons and the ""Balloon Age"" was born. We go inside a hot-air balloon factory, where we see how the ballons are constructed, from baskets being woven by hand to the installation of instruments that measure the height of the balloon. We learn that most hot-air balloonists take up a compass and a radio in case of an emergency and

After Orange Balloon gives an impressive demonstration of his gum-bubble blowing abilities, we learn that chewing gum has been around for over 3,000 years, helping everyone from the Egyptians to the ancient Romans to relax and concentrate. We check out the gum base used to make gum, a tasteless substance composed of chicle, waxes, fat and rubber and more. We go inside a gum factory and watch how gum base is turned into actual gum. We see that the base is turned into a hot strip, then glycerin, sugar/imitation sugar and coloring are added, then it's all mixed together. The batter looks a lot like bread batter and big rollers are used to turn it into a thin sheet that's cut into strips. It's all checked for size and weight and it has to be placed in a conditioning room to cool. After more sugar mix and coloring is added, then it's time for packaging. There are machines that package it all, from bubble gum to small chiclets and it all has to run very precisely, or it won't be packaged pro

We begin our history of elevators by looking at ancient civilizations, learning that some early civilizations used animals or slaves to lift heavy objects and that the Egyptians had hoists to build the pyramids. We find out that originally, people didn't usually ride on elevators because the kept breaking and werevery dangerous, so until safety brakes were invented, buildings generally didn't get higher than five stories tall. Then, Elisha Otis invented the safety brake, a device that kicked in and stopped the elevator if the rope snapped. These days, elevators have allowed us to build huge skyscrapers and they've also made it easier for miners to work underground. When skyscrapers are built, one of the first things that they have to keep in mind is the elevator. They begin by creating the core, into which they have to carefully place openings where the doors for the elevators will be. Once the core is built, they can build the actual structure around it. We learn that before elevators

The episode starts out with Orange Balloon floating over a large map of streets, launching into a discussion about how cities are made up of hundreds of streets. Two hundred years ago, those very streets may have been forests or fields, but motorists got tired of breathing in dust and asks for roads that would take them places faster and more smoothly, an idea that stretches all the way back to Roman times. Back then, people had to use shovels and coal, but now there are machines that can take care of much of the work of building roads. Highway engineers are always looking for ways to make roads better and save money as well, as good roads are expensive to build and expensive to maintain: snow and rain can leave rust and potholes. Even the paint on the highways and roads must be tested to see how clean it will dry and if it'll come off the road too easily. With cities growing, more and more highways have to be built and constantly examined as well - there's a special truck that contain

Viewers learn about all sorts of tunnels, from road tunnels to tunnels that actually go underwater. We get to see actual construction of subway tunnels in Hong Kong.

When the narrator offers to grant Orange Balloon and Mouse one wish each and their wishes both focus around dress-up, we get into a discussion of how much fun dress-up can be and how dolls make dress-up easy. Nobody knows exactly when the first doll was made, but we do know that it was handmade. Today, there are factories that that mass-produce dolls. We visit one where we see dolls being created from molds - they look like roast chickens at first. We learn that they use vinyl, which is so strong that it can be greatly twisted and still ""spring back"" - it has a memory. We learn that most dolls are also stuffed so taht they can be cute and cuddly. Hair is added once the main construction is complete and then they pop in eyeballs and visit the make-up department, where a stencil is used. We learn that dolls really have been around for a long time and are built to last - one was found buried for 2,000 years.

When Mouse gets a little lesson in where her breakfast comes from, we launch into a lesson about trucks - special vehicles that are associated with just about anything that be delivered and work in all sorts of conditions from snow to sun. Back in older times, animals such as horses were used to pull carts carrying deliveries, but today trucks can be built quickly and easily to handle this work. We learn that in the early days, truck drivers generally didn't leave the city limits because the road conditions were terrible and they even had to watch out for ditches, as opposed to today's complex and generally well-maintained network of roads and highways. Today's trucks are also a lot bigger than the older trucks, oftentimes enjoyable to drive, perhaps while wearing a suit and tie. We go inside a factory to see the making of a truck and find out that the process actually only takes a few hours because the parts are already fully made and ready to go when they reach the assembly line. The

Orange Balloon is looking at some houses, saying that he likes old houses best, whereas Mouse would prefer something small and cozy like a nest. We learn that when it comes to houses, there are two things people can do: either build their own house or purchase one and that today's tendency is for people to live close together in groups of clustered houses, as opposed to the past when they were much more spread out. We learn that fifty years ago, many people still built their own houses, but in current times it has become a much more fast and streamlined process, with somewhat less attention to detail and more focus on fast building that take place in as little as a few months. Even then, there is still a set plan, with a house beginning as a model, perhaps even of an entire neighborhood. A foundation is laid, a process that was skipped in the old days, leading to slipping and cracking. After the foundation is built, the floor is laid, the walls go up, the plumbing and electricial wires

For this look at soup, viewers are taken straight to the source: an actual Campbell's factory. There, they see the production of vegetable soup in detail. Chopping vegetables to canning is all included in this tasty look at the process.