Thames & Kosmos 567011 User manual

Story and Instructions

› › › IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Dear Parents,
Engineering is an extremely exciting and vast field. This kit,
along with its illustrated storybook and instruction manual,
provides an engaging way to teach simple engineering
concepts to preschool-age kids.
Read the story with your child and build the simple boat
models that the main characters build in the story. Along their
journey, the characters must build different boats to solve
problems and complete tasks. As you follow the story, your
child can build models of the ten boats that appear in the
story with your help. The primary functional components of
the boat models are floating hull pieces. Your child will be
introduced to the scientific concepts of buoyancy,
displacement, volume, and weight while building the models.
They will also learn about different types of boats. Large,
colorful plastic building pieces make it easy for small hands to
put the models together.
The models are assembled step by step using a construction
system. It will require a little practice and patience at first.
Please assist your children when they need your help, but also
let them try to build the models by themselves. Your children
will be happy to have your help with the models or assembly
steps that pose particular difficulties.
We wish you and your child lots of fun building, discovering,
and learning!
Safety Information
WARNING:
CHOKING HAZARD — Small parts.
Not for children under 3 yrs.
››› Warning! Not suitable for children under 3
years. Choking hazard — small parts may be
swallowed or inhaled.
››› Keep the packaging and instructions as they
contain important information.
››› Store the experiment material and assembled
models out of the reach of small children.
››› Warning! Only to be used in water in which
the child is within its depth and under adult
supervision.
After completing an experiment, dry all parts
completely and return them to the box for
storage.

Story by
Dan Freitas and Ted McGuire
Illustrations by
Dan Freitas and Ashley Greenleaf
567011-02-140217

› › › KIT CONTENTS
What’s inside your kit:
Checklist: Find – Inspect – Check off
No. Description Qty. Item No.
-hole panel 7330-W85-C1O
-hole rod 7330-W85-H1K
Dowel,  cm 7268-W85-B1O
Dowel,  cm 7330-W85-A1O
-hole end track 7330-W85-P1O
Flat triangle with peg 7330-W85-U1G
Convex block 880-W10-R1G4
Cube block 880-W10-A1YG
Cube block with peg 7331-W10-D3G1
 Dowel block with side hole 7331-W10-M1G1
 Dowel block with top hole 7331-W10-D1G1
 Dowel connector 7331-W10-E1O1
 Eye 7261-W85-A
 Bow 7269-W10-A1B
 Stern 7269-W10-A2B
 Hull 7269-W10-B1B


 
  






 
GOOD TO KNOW !
If you are missing any
parts, please contact
Thames  Kosmos
customer service.
4 cm 8 cmActual Length:

Boat Engineer


NOTE !
The two lengths of short dowels
can be difficult to tell apart in
the building instructions. They
are numbered in the instructions
so you know which one to use.


Ty and Karlie Omega are siblings. They live in a small city
called Makersville. Ty and Karlie’s dad is a writer. He writes
science fiction stories. Their mom is a mechanical engineer.
She designs big machines used in factories.
They live in an awesome warehouse filled with tools,
equipment, and building materials. There are
always a number of projects going on
in the warehouse.
Ty loves figuring out how
things work. Karlie loves
building things.
When Ty and Karlie were lile, Ms. O designed Huxley, a
robot that can build just about anything. For one of his first
projects Huxley converted Karlie’s teddy bear, Remus, into a
walking, talking science bear. Now Huxley and Remus are
like members of the Omega family.
Meet the
Omega
Family!


Huxley and Remus’ Unexpected Boat Adventure Begins . . .
On a sunny summer day, Ty, Karlie, and their parents took
a trip to the beach. Huxley and Remus decided to stay at
home. They wanted to surprise the kids by puing the
finishing touches on Ty and Karlie’s latest robotic creation:
Randy the Robot Fish.
“I think the robot fish is finished!” said Huxley triumphantly.
“Let’s bring him down to the river for a quick test swim.”
Remus and Huxley brought the fish down to the river near
their house, and gently placed Randy into the water for a
trial swim.
As soon as Randy hit the water, his mechanical fins started
flapping wildly. He dove under the surface of the water and
swam rapidly away from Huxley and Remus.
“Wow! That’s one fast fish,” cried Remus, “but I think he’s
malfunctioning. He’s not coming back. We need to help him!
And we need to get him home before Ty and Karlie get back.”
“Have no fear,” said Huxley, “I installed a tracker on the fish
for this very reason. He’s headed down the river toward the
swamp. Help me build a canoe and we will go pick him up.”


  



Done!
KIMMY THE CANOE
x



Huxley and Remus hurriedly built the
canoe.
“Hi, I’m Kimmy the Canoe. Grab your
paddles and let’s get going!”
A canoe is a long, narrow boat with two
pointed ends. The front of a boat is called
the bow and the back is called the stern.
A boat’s hull is heavier than water, but it does not sink.
Because of its shape, the boat displaces (or pushes
away) an amount of water greater than its own weight.
Therefore, it floats on the water.
Try floating the canoe model in a sink or tub filled with
water. Put heavy objects into the boat. What do you
notice about the height of the boat in the water when
you add more weight to the boat?
Boat Engineer


Huxley and Remus paddled down the river in the
canoe. They were able to follow Randy thanks to
Huxley’s handy fish tracker.
“According to the tracker, Randy swam into that
swamp,” Huxley said pointing ahead.
“Paddling through a swamp will be tough,” said
Remus. “Maybe we should build another type
of boat that can move through the swamp more
easily.”
“Great idea,” said Huxley. “Let’s build a swamp boat
with a fan that will push us across the surface of the
swamp!”



STEVIE THE SWAMP BOAT

  
Continued >>>




Boat Engineer

Boat Engineer





Done!

x
Boat Engineer

“Hi there fellas,” Stevie the Swamp Boat said
to Remus and Huxley. “I’m a special type of
fan-propelled boat called a swamp boat, or
airboat. I have a flat boom so I can glide over
shallow and marshy areas. And my propeller
doesn’t stick down into the water like on a
normal boat, so it can’t get caught in the mud
or swamp plants. Instead, my propeller spins
very fast like a fan and blows air backward.
The force of the air blowing backward pushes
me forward. And that’s how I glide across the
swamp. But don’t forget your earplugs — my
fan is really loud!”

Flying above the surface of the swamp on Stevie the
Swamp Boat, Huxley and Remus started catching up
to Randy. All the plants in the swamp made it hard for
Randy to swim fast. When Randy was almost within
Huxley’s reach, he jumped into a small stream that fed
into another, larger river.
“Oh no,” Remus cried. “What are we going to do now,
Huxley? My arms are still tired from all the paddling.”
The wind had picked up while they were in the swamp,
and this gave Huxley an idea.
“If we build a sailboat, we can use the wind to push us
down the river and we’ll catch up to Randy in no time!”


SAMMY THE SAILBOAT
Done!
  
 




Boat Engineer

Huxley and Remus built the
sailboat.
“Hi, I’m Sammy the Sailboat.
The wind’s blowin’, let’s get
goin’,” he said.
Sailboats are pushed through the
water by their sails. There are many
types of sailboats, from small single-person
sailboats with just one sail, to huge sailing ships
with many masts and many sails. Before steam
engines and gasoline motors, sails were the
primary means of powering boats.

Sammy’s sail caught the wind and they were off!
Huxley and Remus sped down the river in the
sailboat, once again hot on the trail of Randy the
runaway robot fish.
The powerful wind brought them within feet of
catching Randy. But before they could catch him,
the wind suddenly died down. The sailboat came to
a standstill in the water.
“Without the wind, we can’t move,” sighed Huxley.
“We were so close. What can we do now?”
“Why don’t we build a riverboat with a paddle
wheel?” Remus suggested. “We are on a river after
all!”
Huxley agreed and the two got to work.




 


RUBY THE RIVERBOAT
Boat Engineer


  
 
Done!




ADAM THE ROBOTIC ARM
Boat Engineer

“Ruby the Riverboat, at your service,” Ruby said
to Remus and Huxley. “I have a large wheel on
my stern with many paddles, or blades, on it.
My steam engine makes the wheel turn, and one
after the other, the paddles push into the water.
They push backward against the water which
pushes me forward through the water.”

Huxley and Remus steamed down the river at a
steady pace, propelled by Ruby the Riverboat’s
stern paddle wheel.
They were back on Randy’s trail. Huxley glanced
down at his fish tracker and noticed that Randy
was geing farther away from them.
“I think we need a faster boat!” Huxley called
down to Remus. “We’ll never catch Randy at
this pace.”
“If we need more speed, why don’t we
build a speedboat?” Remus asked.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” laughed
Huxley. “Let’s hurry. We can’t lose this
fish!”



 



Done!






STU THE SPEEDBOAT
Boat Engineer

“Let’s go!” shouted
Stu the Speedboat
excitedly. “I’m one of
the fastest boats around.
Speedboats like me are
designed for speed. We can’t
carry too much weight and we
aren’t the biggest boats, but we can race
through the water at tremendous speeds.
We have propellers in the back that spin
very fast and push large volumes of
water out behind us, sometimes creating
waves called wakes. So, let’s motor!”

The group followed the conveyor belt into
another room where they heard a buzzing
sound.
“I think there’s a bee in the room,” said Karlie.
“That’s just Fiona up there. She’s flying above
the chocolates to drop sugar and sprinkles on
to get sprinkled on!”
It was too late. Remus was covered in colorful
candy sprinkles.
Stu sure was speedy. Huxley and Remus
were once again tight on Randy’s heels — or
rather, his fins! And it was not a moment too
soon, for the river had flowed into a canal,
which would soon lead Randy out to sea if
they didn’t catch him first.
As they sped into the canal, they passed
a freighter docked in the port. They were
shocked to see that there was a fire on board.
“Oh no! Look over there,” shouted Remus.
“We have to help them!”
Huxley was worried about losing Randy, but
he knew Remus was right.
“Let’s convert this speedboat to a fire rescue
boat and see if we can help put out some of
those flames,” Huxley said.


Continued >>>








FRANNIE THE FIRE RESCUE BOAT
Boat Engineer


Done!
  
 






Frannie the Fire Rescue Boat
didn’t waste any time introducing
herself. She immediately motored
over to the blazing freighter and started
blasting the fire with powerful streams of water
from her nozzles. Fireboats have pumps that
can take up water and spray it onto shoreline
or shipboard fires. They can go where firetrucks
can’t go, and they never run out of water!
Boat Engineer

Boat Engineer