Episode 39 Green Balloon Club

# Gather round, one and all

# You gotta answer the call

# Listen up look around you, there's a magical world

# To explore

# There's a major adventure coming your way soon

# So come and join us

# In this green balloon

# And when we fly we're higher than the moon

# So join us...

# In our green balloon. #

Hello! Come inside!

Ant's got something interesting to show you!

-Hello!

-Welcome to the Green Balloon Club!

So what is it, Ant?

Ssh, we mustn't disturb them.

They look interesting, Ant.

But what are they?

Some kind of bugs?

Perhaps you can show them to us after you do the register!

I'll do it!

Can we do it quickly so we can find out?

Sure, first up, Lily-Rose.

Two, four, six, eight! Lily-Rose can't wait!

Now, Ant.

Two, four, six, eight! Ant really can't wait!

Good, now it's Cat.

Two, four, six, eight! Cat really can't wait!

Great! How about you, Skipper?

Two, four, six, eight! Skipper really can't wait!

Right. Now it's me!

Two, four, six eight ten! Let's do it all again!

NO!!

Only joking! I'm here!

What about you, Nature Chris?

Two, four, six, eight! Nature Chris can't wait!

Right, nearly done! Now it's you!

Two, four, six, eight! We really can't wait!

That's everyone present and correct!

Now can we look at Ant's bugs?

They're not bugs!

-What about the Green Balloon Club chant? Shall we do it?

-Yay!

# We love animals, plants and birds!

# We love snails and slugs!

# Large and small we love them all

# And we never, ever step on bugs

# Cos we are the Green Balloon Club! #

Come on, Ant, show us your bugs!

-They're not bugs!

-Well, what are they?

They're pupas!

Wow, they're beautiful!

I found a bunch of caterpillars around October,

and fed them, and then they turned into pupas.

It looks like a sleeping bag.

They've made a cobweb for themselves.

Look, some of them have hatched.

-Oh, some of them...

-Yes

They turn into cabbage white butterflies.

Let's have a look, Ant.

Woah, they're beautiful.

Can I stick it in the scrapbook?

I don't see why not.

So, why did only some hatch, Ant?

I think it's because the weather got colder.

You're right, Ant. If they feel it's cold

when they're in these sleeping bags,

they'll stay like that all winter.

Hopefully in spring, they hatch into cabbage white butterflies.

But what if they're dead?

I think that one's dead, it's gone black.

If they're green, it's a good sign.

-Look! I think that one moved!

-Well, that one's alive!

BEEPING

Sounds like we've got a report!

Hello! Hello! Hello!

Yes! There's Maisy, Christopher and Jada down there! Hello!

-Hello!

-We went looking for frogs today.

Today we've come to Lavender Park Nature Reserve.

There's a big pond here

and a few days ago, the frogs that live here came out of hibernation.

To lay their eggs.

That's the bubbly stuff you can see in the water.

It looks really slimy.

How could a mother just leave their babies just like that?

Something might eat it.

EVERYONE: Yeah.

Like big fish.

I think they're safe because they're all together in a group.

Yeah.

-The eggs might cling together and stick together.

-Yeah.

Hey, two of them are moving with the wind! They want to get out!

The black dot in the middle will grow into a tadpole.

What d'you think grows first?

-Um, the legs?

-No, the tail, and then the legs.

What legs? The front legs or the back legs?

Front legs.

Let's go and look for some frogs.

I found snails!

Hey, there's a newt!

I found this newt. It has a long tail.

It moves a lot and has really tiny eyes.

Come on!

Frogs! Lift it up!

-You've got a toad?

-A baby toad!

I wanna touch it!

It really tickles my hand when it moves.

And its eyes are orange and it's browny-black.

I just heard it croak!

-Aww!

-Did you hear that?

When I pick it up it goes "croak croak!"

I like animals. I really like animals.

-I could hold it all day.

-Me too.

I found this frog, and it's very slimy and very jumpy!

Huh. Aah! Get it!

Why don't you have a look where you live to see if there are any frogs?

They might lay their frogspawn any day soon.

Goodbye!

So frogspawn is like seeds that grow into frogs?

Well, frogspawn is eggs really.

Eggs? Like birds have?

Yes, that's right!

Look at our beans, I thought they were like frogs.

What?

Well, first they start off in a seed, just like frogspawn.

Then they start growing, just like tadpoles grow.

Then they grow into plants, just like tadpoles grow into frogs!

Oh, I see what you mean! Then, the plant gets beans, we can plant them

and the cycle starts all over again like frogspawn and frogs!

That's a bit like a circle!

Yes, it is. It's called the life cycle!

The life cyle, I must remember that.

Hey, I think my kidney bean's growing a bit bigger than yours!

Look, my kidney bean's got roots as well!

Oh, yes!

My runner bean isn't doing as well as yours.

Your runner bean looks a bit fatter than mine!

But look at Cat's and Ant's! His is getting really big!

Ant's is really fat, isn't it?

Yes, but look at his kidney bean, it's got a bit like a tail.

So has Cat's. But it's sideways instead.

-I do hope they grow into plants!

-Me too!

OK, then guys, today I've got a puzzle for you!

This is a puzzle about life cycles. On the table are two different

life cycles that we're gonna work out.

What do you think the things might be?

A frog and a butterfly.

That's right, a frog and a butterfly. Which shall we do first?

-Frog.

-Frog? OK.

There's the adult frog, isn't it? How does the frog start its life?

Frogspawn.

Yeah? You think so, Cat? Right, let's put that one over here then.

So, the frog lays the frogspawn, doesn't it?

Then what happens?

It comes out of legs and goes into a tadpole.

That's right, have we got a tadpole?

-There.

-Yeah.

There's a baby tadpole and that looks like a bigger tadpole.

That's right. When it comes out, it comes out like that, doesn't it?

What's the difference between the baby one and the bigger one?

-It's starting to grow feet.

-And it's starting to lose the tail.

That's right. It grows some nice feet and it loses the tail.

At this point, this guy has to stay in the water,

he can't breathe air till he becomes an adult frog.

So, we've got a complete life cycle, haven't we?

This frog lays spawn again and the whole thing happens once more.

So that's the frog. Let's do the same thing for the butterfly.

-Shall we put this one away?

-Yeah.

So, the butterfly.

What does the butterfly do?

It lays eggs as well.

It lays eggs, just like the frog.

So there you go. We've got our eggs, on a leaf...

that our butterfly has laid.

What happens after the eggs?

-They get bigger.

-They turn into a caterpillar.

What do caterpillars do?

-Eat loads of food.

-They eat leaves and things like that.

That's why they're laid on leaves. So they're on food when they hatch.

So what happens to the caterpillar after it's eaten?

It goes into a pupa.

That's right, so this picture is a caterpillar that has attached itself

to a stick and covered itself and gone to sleep as a pupa.

What happens to it in there?

Um, well, it's growing in there.

It's changing, isn't it?

I hope that happens to my pupas,

I hope they turn into butterflies,

and then lay eggs, and then turn into caterpillars,

then go into some pupas,

then there'll be more butterflies!

Hopefully the cycle keeps going on. That's the idea of life cycles.

Special report! Special report!

-It's Jelly with a special report!

-I wonder where she is today!

It's special reporter Jelly for Green Balloon Club!

Today I'm in Exmouth, to find out what an estuary is!

And hopefully we're gonna see some birds, too!

Hello, Nat, hello Lauren, hello, Ranger James!

-Hi, Jelly!

-Hi, Jelly!

Do you know where I can find an estuary?

This is it, Jelly!

No, but this is just the sea!

This is where the river meets the sea, that's an estuary!

It's a great place to find birds! Do you want to come and see some?

-Oh, yes, please! Come on!

-Come on then, follow me!

So, Jelly, most of these birds come from the Arctic for the winter.

The Arctic? But that is so far away!

-It is!

-But why do they come here?

It's too cold in the Arctic,

so they come here where it's warmer!

And the sea here is full of food.

Oh, but what do they eat?

I've brought some of their food for you to see, here in this bucket!

-Oh! What is it?

-Here we are!

What is it?

-It is a lugworm!

-It is a big fat worm!

That is the biggest worm I've ever seen!

It is big, isn't it?

And the wading birds here like to dig for these with their long beak.

They love the taste of them, they eat lots of them through the winter,

which gives them energy to fly home.

That big fat worm really will fill their tummies, won't it?

It would! So we've seen the food, do you want to see the birds now?

-Oh, yes, please!

-OK!

Have a look over here, guys!

Can you see those tiny birds that just flew in in a group?

Those are the smallest estuary waders. Those are dunlin.

They like to fly in a big flock for safety because they're so small.

So they are with their friends?

They're all friends!

Let's have a look at this black and white one down here.

That's an avocet.

I like its beak!

It's got a lovely beak, upturned at the end.

It's scoopy, isn't it?

-Scoopy! Good word for their beak.

-Can you see?

Yeah, it's got black and white patches.

It's got a white tummy and a black head.

Is it eating those lugworms, James?

The beak of an avocet is too fine and delicate for those big lugworms,

Jelly, so I think it's eating little baby shrimps.

But a lugworm-eating bird,

is like a godwit, and there, a little bit around that way.

Look up there. What's that doing, Lauren?

Sticking its beak into the mud.

It's bigger than the avocet and it's got a straight beak.

I think the birds' tummies are full now! We better get going.

I think we should.

Thank you very much, James, Lauren and Nat, for showing me

all the birds in the estuary. I had so much fun and I learned so much!

That's OK, Jelly!

I better fly off now! Bye!

Bye!

This is special reporter Jelly reporting for Green Balloon Club!

All about the wading birds having a big feast in the estuary!

Back to you in the green balloon, up up and away!

Joe, if you had one of these puzzles for birds,

what would their life cycle be?

It's really interesting,

birds only have two parts of their life cycle!

Whereas the frog has frogspawn, tadpole, froglet and adult frog,

the bird only has the egg and the bird.

The egg hatches into a bird, then the bird has an egg,

and then that egg hatches into a bird.

-And then that bird...

-OK!

It's really interesting. I've often wondered, what came first.

The bird or the egg?

Hmm...what do you think?

It's spring, and some very special birds are arriving on our shores.

What sort of bird is that?

I'm a puffin. Right now we're getting ready to come ashore.

You see, most of the year we live right out at sea.

But for a few months of the year

we come ashore to breed and raise a chick.

When we live right out at sea, we have dull faces.

At this time of year when we want to look our best,

we brighten up our faces.

Look at my painted beak of yellow and red.

I also have a chalk-white face, and eyes that look like tear drops.

Check out my bright orange feet!

Puffins have the same mate for life,

and that's exactly who I'm looking for now.

There he is, look! He's cleaning out our burrow.

Deep in the comfort of my burrow, I'm ready to lay my egg.

I lay just one egg, I've got to keep it nice and warm.

In summer, you know our chick has hatched

since Dad has got a full beak of fish to feed our new arrival.

Look how many fish he's caught.

Baby puffins are called pufflings.

We both take it in turns to feed our baby puffling.

He's one week old. He might be small, but he has a very big appetite!

We catch our fish by flying out to sea and then diving under water!

Look how I use my wings to both fly and glide beautifully under water!

By the time summer is nearly over, our chick has grown bigger.

The weather is turning cold,

and it's time for all of us to return

to the sea, where we live for the rest of the year.

Including our baby puffling, who has never flown before.

With all the puffins and babies gone, the show is over this year.

But next year, in spring, we'll be back for another season,

with our brightly-coloured beaks and our little black and white pufflings.

Hey, look, Skipper, that puffin's on our website.

Could it be this week's Secret Picture Password?

Or is it Ant's cabbage white butterfly?

Which do you think? The puffin or the butterfly?

The butterfly? OK, let's try it.

You were right! You're so clever.

Ant will be pleased with that.

So remember, if you want to get into our website,

this week's password is the cabbage white butterfly.

Great! And I hope these pupas hatch soon.

TRUMPET CALLS

I spy some Green Balloon Club members.

It must be time for the Spot Of The Week.

This week's spot is a centipede!

Let's get spotting!

Here's one! And here are some clues to help you find one.

Centipedes are insects with lots and lots of legs.

In fact, they usually have 30 legs.

They are long, thin and a reddy-brown colour.

At the front they have two long, pointy feelers.

And a pair of short legs that they use to eat food.

Centipedes live under stones in soil.

They feed on other insects, like spiders, and even other centipedes.

So, remember the clues!

Centipedes have long, thin, reddy-brown bodies.

They have lots of legs.

They live under rocks and in soil.

Why don't you see if you can spot one? Bye!

That was a great spot. I love centipedes.

If you can spot one, you can get a green star.

Definitely, I know where to find lots.

Do they have a life cycle, too?

Of course they do. All living things do.

They hatch out of an egg, don't they?

Yes, that's right, and then they... Well, I don't know.

Perhaps we could look it up?

I think we'll have to do that later, Cat,

cos right now we're coming in to land!

THUD!

-And whenever we land it's...

-Time for a song!

# I had a funny dream just the other night

# That me and all my friends were mini-bee size

# Like shepherds in a field on a big bug farm

# And a butterfly's antenna is as long as your arm

# What a world we can see...

# Underneath your feet

# The garden is a jungle full of wonderful beasts

# And marching past a twig that's as big as a tree

# Is a family of woodlice like nature's shrunk

# A herd of noisy elephants without their trunks

# I can't believe my eyes

# The spider's twice my size

# Mini-beast madness

# Mini-beast madness

# The garden is a crazy world with giant ants

# Far too big to crawl up inside your pants

# So should we just turn and run away?

# It looks like all they want to do is jump and play

# Was that a centipede? Run by at break-neck speed

# Mini-beast madness

# Mini-beast madness

# Walking in the cracks of this brand new world

# Listening to the wings of a ladybird

# In a world where everything seems so big

# While riding on the back of an earwig

# I wish that you could come

# And join in the fun

# Mini-beast madness

# Mini-beast madness

# Mini-beast madness

# Mini-beast madness... #

Hiya!

# Mini-beast madness. #

Time for The Green Balloon Club!

Thanks for coming to fly with us today!

Maybe you could find a centipede.

Or perhaps some frogspawn.

Or maybe you could spot some tadpoles.

-See you next week!

-Bye!

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