Cat Flap and Woolly Hat Do You Know?

# There are lots of things All around us

# Exciting things That surround us

# But how does it work?

# Do you know?

# How is it made?

# Do you know?

# Things that go up Things that go down

# Things that go pop! Things that go round

# With special cameras To show you inside

# It's going to be A big surprise

# But how does it work?

# Do you know?

# How is it made?

# Do you know?

# Do you know?

# Let's find out! #

Hello, I'm Maddie. And today, I'm looking in the garden for two cats.

Have you seen them anywhere?

They're not under the tree.

And they're not on their favourite spot, on the fence.

I know how we can find them! I wonder if they're hungry.

Cats make great pets, don't they?

The cats like to be outside in the garden, hiding and exploring,

but there is something else they like...

lunch.

What's this? Ready, steady... What's that?

This is Madison.

And this is Malaika.

And there's something really clever that

means the cats can come in and out of the house

whenever they like. Do you know what it is?

That's right, it's a cat flap.

It's like a little door just for cats.

But do you know how a cat flap works?

Let's find out.

To show you how a cat flap works, let's see if we can get

Madison and Malaika to use it.

They like to sneak in and out throughout the day,

so I'm going to set up two special cameras.

One on the inside...

and one outside.

They like to come out to play after they've had their lunch.

Watch what happens.

Our cameras are all set up.

Oh, look - here's Madison.

Is she going to get through?

Yes! She's in.

Oh, that was fast, wasn't it?

I tell you what, let's watch it again, this time in slow motion.

Watch how Madison pushes it open with her nose!

Did you hear the sound that the cat flap made when the

door opened and closed?

Listen again.

CLICK!

It sounds like a click, doesn't it?

CLICK!

The cat flap opens - like that - for Madison and Malaika,

but look what happens if I try to open it. Does it work?

No. Why do you think that is?

That's because this cat flap will only work for Madison and Malaika.

But how does the cat flap know who they are?

It's because of this. It's called a microchip.

And this - a sensor on the cat flap.

Let's see how it works.

Both Madison and Malaika had a microchip put underneath

their fur by the vet.

It didn't hurt them and it's very small, so they can't feel it at all.

Their microchips have the same special number on them.

This number is also on the sensor inside the cat flap. So, they match.

When one of the cats goes up to their cat flap,

the sensor inside scans the microchip by their neck,

just like we scan our shopping at the supermarket checkout.

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! When it sees there is a match,

a small lock inside the cat flap is unlocked.

So when they push the flap with their head,

the flap swings open to let them through.

The same happens when they want to come home.

But the cat flaps only opens for Madison and Malaika.

If any other cats come along, they can't get in,

because they don't have the same matching number.

The microchip is tiny. It's only a bit bigger than a grain of rice.

In fact, it's so small, I've got a special camera with me,

a microscope, which will let us see it in close up.

Oh, look at that.

Isn't it incredible that something so tiny can open and close

a cat flap.

To show you what the microchip looks like inside a cat,

I have a special photo called an X-ray.

An X-ray is a special picture that lets us see what we look like

under our skin. And this is an X-ray of a cat.

Look - you can see under the you can see under the cat's skin.

Look at all of its bones. And can you see that white blob there?

That is the microchip. It's tiny, isn't it?

Madison and Malaika love their cat flap.

They're in and out all day.

What was your favourite bit about seeing how a cat flap worked?

Do you remember what you called the special device that goes

under Madison and Malaika's fur and let's them in the cat flap?

That's right - it's a microchip.

Did you hear the sound the cat flap made when it opened?

CLICK!

And did you see the X-ray showing the microchip in the cat's body?

So, next time you see a cat use a cat flap,

you'll know just how it works.

Awww, her fur is so lovely and soft.

The fur helps keep the cat warm when it's outside,

but we don't have fur, do we? So, how do we stay warm?

I like to wear a woolly hat.

But do you know where wool comes from?

How is a woolly hat made?

Let's find out.

Your woolly hat starts off in a place like this - a sheep farm.

SHEEP BLEAT AND BAA

And that's the wool that makes your woolly hat actually comes

from a sheep's coat.

And there are a lot of sheep here.

Here we go.

SHE LAUGHS

This is Lewis, and he's going to show us how you

get wool from a sheep.

The first thing Lewis does is to clip the woolly coat off the sheep,

and to do that he uses this.

It's called a shear...to do something called shearing.

The sheep are sheared one by one.

The sheep is held very still,

and Lewis snips away quickly so that all the woolly coat is cut off.

A shear is a bit like a pair of scissors. Can you see?

Lewis is using it to cut the wool off the sheep.

But it doesn't hurt the sheep at all,

it's just like having your hair cut.

Can you hear the sound of the shears? What does it sound like?

BUZZZ!

I think it sounds just like a small engine.

And this is what we're left with.

The wool that comes off the sheep is called a fleece.

The sheep will grow a new woolly coat,

just like how you grow your hair back after you've had a haircut.

But this fleece doesn't look much like a woolly hat, does it?

To find out what happens next, I have to go somewhere else.

This is a mill, where they make all sorts of things from wool.

I've brought a fleece with me,

so let's go and find out what happens next.

When the fleeces arrive at the mill, they're weighed and then sorted.

Sue here is going through and sorting each fleece by hand.

She's picking out any mucky bits that got onto the sheep

whilst he was in the field.

This fleece here has a bit of blue spray paint on it.

That's from where the farmer has sprayed a number onto the

sheep so he didn't lose it in the field.

The wool is washed...

rinsed...

and then the water is squeezed out by rollers.

The wool is now clean. It just needs to be dried out in a tumble dryer.

You might have one at home, but this is a lot bigger.

After the fleece has had a really good wash,

it's put into this machine.

It's called a fearnought machine, and I think it looks

a bit like a green dinosaur with big teeth!

The teeth pull apart the fleece to get rid of any knots.

A bit like when you brush your hair.

On the next machine, the wool is fed through huge rollers,

which are covered in smaller teeth.

The teeth brush out the wool, and also make sure that any last

bits of hay or seeds from the field can be taken out.

But everything's happening so fast.

Let's use my special slow motion camera to slow everything

down and get a better look.

Look at the teeth brushing out the wool. Isn't it clever?

This is what the wool looks like when it comes off the rollers.

These are called slubbings,

which is my new favourite word!

It's beginning to look like the wool you might make a hat with, but it's

not ready yet, because it breaks too easily, it's not strong enough.

So, first, it has to be spun.

The wool is added to this big spinning frame,

and as each piece is pulled out, it's twisted round and round.

And at the other end we get this. It's called yarn.

The yarn is quite thin.

To give it extra strength and make it thicker,

four strands are twisted together.

When the wool comes off the twisting machine, it looks like this.

You can see how much stronger it and thicker it is.

This is called plied yarn, and it's what people use to knit with.

Things like jumpers, scarves, or woolly hats.

But not everything we wear is the same colour as a sheep.

So what we need is a bit of colour.

This is the part of the factory where the yarn can be turned

into lots of different colours. And this stage is called dying.

Blue liquid called dye is added to hot water to make it blue.

Now the yarn is being dipped into the blue water where it's

going to stay for three whole hours!

Three hours later, the wool is ready to come out.

And when it's finished, it looks like that.

What an amazing blue colour.

Here is lots of wool that has already been turned into

different colours and rolled into small balls.

Now, I think it's time to make a woolly hat.

But do you know what colour hat I usually wear?

That's right - a red hat! So, we need some red wool.

Paula is making me a woolly hat,

and she's doing something called knitting.

You might know someone who knits.

It's very clever, and Paula's very fast at it.

Here we are - a brand-new, bright red, woolly hat.

How do I look?

What did you like most about seeing how a woolly hat was made?

Do you remember what you call the wool when it's

been taken off the sheep?

That's right - it's called a fleece.

Did you hear the sound of the sheep being sheared?

BUZZZ!

And did you see the teeth brush out the wool on my slow motion camera?

So, the next time you wear a hat, scarf, or woolly jumper,

remember that it was made from yarn that came

from a sheep's woolly coat.

-Thank you, sheep!

-Baaaaa!

See you next time.

# There are lots of things All around us

# Exciting things

# That surround us

# But how does it work?

# Do you know?

# How is it made?

# Do you know?

# Do you know?

# Let's find out! #