Eyelashes Nina and the Neurons: Brilliant Bodies

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# If you've got a question and you don't know where to go

# Ask Nina for some help Cos she's got a science show

# She makes sense of her senses While helping all her fans

# By doing her experiments with potions and with bangs

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue!

-# Fingers

-Fingers!

-# Eyes.

-Eyes!

-Ears.

-Ears!

-Nose.

-Nose!

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Luke, he helps us with our eyes and Felix with our touch

# Ollie sniffs out smells And Belle, she hears so much

# Bud is Ollie's brother He helps us with our taste

# They're Nina's little Neurons And they're coming to your place!

-# Touch your tongue

-Tongue!

-# Fingers

-Fingers!

-# Eyes.

-Eyes!

-Ears.

-Ears!

-Nose.

-Nose!

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Nina and the Neurons find out what you need to know

# Oh yeah! #

Ooh, ooh! Ah-ha! There it is. Hee-hee! Oh, hello, there.

You may have heard the saying that if you lose an eyelash,

you should make a wish. Well, here goes.

SHE BLOWS

BEEPING

I hear a beep, I see a flash, I wonder what they're going to ask.

-ALL: Hi, Nina.

-Hello!

-We've got a question for you.

-Why do we have eyelashes?

-What a coincidence!

I wished for a great question to answer and it came true.

Why do we have eyelashes? Come to my lab and we'll investigate.

-ALL: See you soon, Nina. Bye!

-Bye!

I'll need some help with this one. I know just who to ask.

OK, Neurons, time to get to work!

ALL: Neurons at the ready, Nina.

OK. Today's question is - why do we have eyelashes?

-Which neuron will help us find the answer?

-ALL: Me! Me! Me!

Will it be fabulous Felix?

I can help so very much if you need the sense of touch.

-Will it be beautiful Belle?

-I send messages to brain from ear.

-If there's a sound, I'll help you hear.

-Will it be lovely Luke?

For looking and seeing, day or night,

I'll help you with your sense of sight.

-Will it be awesome Ollie?

-If it's pongy or whiffy but you can't tell,

my messages help your sense of smell.

Or will it be baby Bud?

Sour, salty, bitter or sweet, I'm your taste buddy whenever you eat.

-It's Luke!

-Yes!

CHEERING

ALL: Go, Luke! Go, Luke! Go, Luke! Go, Luke!

Cool, Nina. I'll be looking out to help you!

Today's question is, why do we have eyelashes? And I bet Luke,

our sight Neuron, knows about those.

So, he will help me today but, Neurons,

I'll need help from all of you.

I need to get the lab ready before the experimenters arrive.

Rebecca likes red pandas, Nicholas likes skipping,

Maisie loves strawberries.

They all want to know why we have eyelashes.

So, today, Rebecca, Nicholas and Maisie become the experimenters!

-Hi, guys.

-ALL: Hi, Nina.

-Welcome to my science lab. Come on in.

Now, you asked - Why do we have eyelashes? It's a great question.

-Why do you want to know?

-Cos we know we have eyelashes.

But we don't know what they do.

Well, eyelashes look lovely, but there must be a reason for them.

We need to investigate to find out more.

For our first experiment, we'll use our senses.

ALL: Wooh! Wooh! A senses experiment. We're ready, Nina.

So, why don't you start by looking at your own eyelashes.

Eyelashes are a type of hair,

like the hair that grows on our head.

If you look closely, you can see eyelashes grow out of our eyelids.

Some are joined to the top and some are joined to the bottom one.

-And how many eyelashes do you think you've got?

-Lots and lots.

-Yes.

And the number changes because they fall out

and grow back again.

So, eyelashes are joined to our eyelids but what do our eyelids do?

-They blink.

-They close over our eyes.

Yes, they're like little shields that protect our eyes.

If we look at this model, we can see our eye is shaped like a ball.

That's why we call them eyeballs.

Of course, we can only ever see a little bit of our eyeball

as the rest is inside our head.

Have you ever been in sunlight

and put your hand here to shield them?

-I have, once.

-You have?

-So have I.

-Our eyelashes help shield our eyes, too.

Let's pretend that this lamp is the sun.

-So, where's the light going?

-In the eye.

That's right, which isn't good for it.

We must never look straight at the sun or any kind of light

because it can do a lot of damage to our eyes.

Now, what happens if I put these pretend lashes onto our eye model?

What can you see happening?

-It's stopping the light from going in the eye.

-That's right.

The pretend lashes are helping to shade the eye from this light.

If we're in really bright light, and our eyelashes aren't enough,

we have to wear sunglasses or a hat on a really sunny day.

So we know our eyes are delicate and that our eyelashes

help to protect our eyes from bright light like the sun.

But what else do eyelashes do?

I have friends who may know the answer.

But watch out, I think they've got the hump. Let's go, experimenters!

ALL: Yeah!

Off we go on another adventure.

What does Nina mean, her friends have the hump?

-It means they're a bit grumpy, Bud.

-But look, it's a wildlife park.

Who could possibly be grumpy in here?

I don't know, Luke, but I've got a feeling we're about to find out.

-Hi, Morag.

-Hi, Nina.

-Morag is one of the keepers here.

She's taking us to those friends I was telling you about. Let's go.

There! I told you my friends had the hump! They're camels. Ha-ha-ha!

So, what do you know about camels?

-They have humps and live in deserts.

-Deserts are hot,

dry places where there's very little food.

And camels sometimes have to go a whole month without eating.

They're able to survive because their humps are full of fat.

They can live off this while they search for more food.

But it's not just the humps that help them to live in the desert.

They have something else.

Morag has brought in some camels for a feed

so that we can get a good look at their eyes.

-What do you see?

-The eyelashes are gigantic.

-Yeah, they are big.

And camels have two sets of eyelashes on each eyelid. But why?

-Where did we say camels usually live?

-In the desert.

-What's it like in the desert?

-Really hot and sunny.

-That's right.

And we know that eyelashes help keep bright sunlight out of our eyes.

-But what else is there in the desert?

-There's lots of sand.

-Yes!

It's like a huge sandy beach that goes on as far as you can see.

-And if it's windy, what happens to the sand?

-It gets blown around.

That's right, and it can get in the camels' eyes.

Oh, we definitely don't want sand in our eyes.

No, no, that would really hurt.

And this is why the camel has such long eyelashes -

to stop the sand from getting into its eyes.

But how do their eyelashes keep sand out?

-We need to go back to the lab for one final experiment.

-ALL: Yeah!

Now, this very strange-looking plant is called a Venus flytrap.

-The flowers look a bit like mouths, Nina.

-They do.

And the Venus flytraps use these to eat little flies and other insects.

-Ooh, I wouldn't like to taste a fly. Yuk!

-Oh, me neither, Bud!

The flytraps are open, waiting for a fly or bug to land inside them.

Let's use our magnifying glasses to investigate.

Oh.

-What can you see?

-Lots of tiny little hairs.

Let's use the Ninacam to get an even closer look.

Wow, look at that!

Tiny, tiny little hairs inside.

OK, experimenters, put down your magnifying glasses

and pick up your sticks. Let's see what happens

if you very gently touch the little hairs inside the traps.

-What happened?

-The traps closed over the sticks.

Right. When something touches the hairs inside the Venus flytrap,

like a bug or a fly, the little hairs tell the trap to close.

And our eyelashes are a bit like those little hairs.

If something nasty, like a grain of sand,

is moving towards our delicate eyeball,

our lashes feel it

and tell our eyelids to close really quickly

before the sand gets into our eye.

This happens without us thinking about it

because it's something called a reflex.

Sneezing is a reflex too. We don't think about it. We just do it.

Your question was why do we have eyelashes? We've answered it.

Eyelashes are special hairs that grow out of our eyelids.

They protect our delicate eyes by shading them from bright light.

And if anything is coming towards our eyes,

our eyelashes sense the danger and send a message to our eyelids

to shut tight before our eyes are harmed.

This happens really quickly without us even thinking about it

because it's a reflex -

something our brilliant bodies just do all on their own.

-So, I hope that's answered you question.

-ALL: Thanks, Nina. Bye.

Bye.

Want to find out more about the science all around us?

Go to the Nina section on the CBeebies website. Have fun!

-Hearts beating.

-Lungs breathing.

-Fingers feeling.

-Mouths eating.

And don't forget your brain.

# Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies

# Inside and ou-ou-out

# Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies

# Come on, let's find out about

# Our happy hands and bendy knees

# Stretchy backs And noses that sneeze

-# We all have brilliant bodies

-Brilliant bodies!

# Every part has a job to do

# Even scabs and ear wax too

-# We all have brilliant bodies

-Brilliant bodies

# Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies

# Lashes to protect our eyes

# Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies

# And don't forget to exercise. #

Oh, I've had a brilliant day

hearing all about how eyelashes help shade the eyes from bright light.

I really enjoyed myself today.

The camels whiffed a bit, but they had lovely long eyelashes.

Oh, it's been such a great day, man.

Seeing the little hairs inside the Venus flytrap before it shut tight.

Remember, everyone's body is different but they're all brilliant.

-See you again soon. Bye.

-ALL: Bye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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