Earwax Nina and the Neurons: Brilliant Bodies

# 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! #

Oh, hello.

It was my birthday yesterday and I had such a lovely time,

with balloons and presents.

And this beautiful birthday cake.

I should have blown out the candles quicker.

I spent so long making a wish,

that the candle wax melted onto the cake. Oops!

ELECTRONIC BEEPS

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

ALL: Hello, Nina!

Hi, guys.

-We've got a question for you.

-What is earwax for?

That's a great question.

What is earwax for?

Our brilliant bodies make a wax in our ears, but what's it doing there?

Why don't you come to my lab

and do some experiments to investigate?

ALL: See you soon, Nina. Bye!

I'm going to need some help to answer this one

and I know just who to ask. OK, Neurons. Time to get to work.

ALL: Neurons at the ready, Nina.

OK. Today's question is, "What is earwax for?"

Which Neuron will be most useful to help find the answer?

ALL: Me! Me! Me! Oh, 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 Belle.

-Yes!

ALL: Go, Belle! Go, Belle! Go, Belle!

Go, Belle! Go, Belle! Go, Belle!

-Go, Belle!

-Brilliant! I'm all ears, Nina.

Today's question is, "What is earwax for?"

It's all about our ears, so Belle is helping us.

Stand by, Neurons. I've a feeling I'll need help from you all.

I need to get the lab ready for the experimenters.

Evie likes riding her bike, Josh likes painting

and Xanthe loves jam sandwiches.

But they all want to know what earwax is for.

So today, Evie, Josh and Xanthe become The Experimenters!

-Hi, guys.

-ALL: Hi, Nina.

Welcome to my science lab. Come in.

Now, your question is, "What is earwax for?"

A great question! Why do you want to know?

It's a bit strange having wax in our ears.

Why's it there?

It does seem a funny thing for our brilliant bodies to make.

But remember, never put your fingers in your ears to feel it.

No. That would make our ears very sore.

It certainly would, Belle.

But earwax must be there for a reason.

We need to investigate and find out more.

For our first experiment, we use our senses.

ALL: Whoop-woo! A senses experiment! We're ready, Nina.

There are lots of different types of wax in the world.

Now, these candles are made of a type of wax.

So let's touch them and tell me what they feel like.

-Hard.

-Smooth.

They feel sort of slippery and greasy.

Greasy? That's just what they feel like.

OK, now pop your finger in there. What does that feel like?

-Gooey.

-Slimy.

Well, this is called styling wax. Hey, and you're right.

It is gooey and slimy.

So, we know that wax can be hard and greasy

and it can be soft, like this styling wax.

Ah! Who recognises these?

-Colouring crayons.

-That's right.

Crayons are made of a type of wax too.

I'd like you to pick a crayon and colour in your shapes.

Well done, guys. That was some great colouring in.

Now, what does the crayon on the paper look like?

Colourful and shiny.

Yes, and it's also waterproof.

-What does waterproof mean?

-Well, it means that it keeps water out.

Let me show you. Now, I've got a dropper here with some water in it

and I'm going to put it onto this sheet of paper.

Ooh, it's getting all wet.

The water is soaking into the paper and making it really wet.

Try putting some water onto your crayon pictures.

And, squeeze!

So what can you see?

The water's sitting on top of the wax.

Yes.

So we know that wax can be hard and greasy and soft and squidgy.

And it's waterproof.

But we still don't know why we have wax in our ears.

I think for our next experiment,

we need to go in search of some rub-a-dub-dub.

-Let's go, experimenters.

-ALL: Yay!

Off we go for another adventure.

What does Nina mean by rub-a-dub-dub?

Look! Horses! Maybe they need some rub-a-dub, Luke.

No, you don't rub horses, Bud. You brush them.

Sharpen your sense, Neurons. I have a feeling

that this will be fun.

-Hello, officers.

-BOTH: Hello, Nina.

Policemen and women on horses are called mounted police.

There are lots of police horses at these stables,

but do you have any idea why I brought you here?

ALL: No, Nina.

Well, if you follow me, I'll show you. This way!

Ooh, I just love it here!

Those horses make lovely neighing, snorty noises.

These are the saddles and bridles mounted police use in their work,

and they're all made of shiny leather.

What does it feel like?

Smooth and soft.

Yes, it is. It's lovely and soft.

But look at this one.

This saddle doesn't good, does it?

And it feels different too.

It feels hard and rough.

Yeah, that's because the leather is cracked and dry.

It needs some looking after, and I have just the thing here.

This is beeswax.

It's a type of wax made by bees.

OLLIE SNIFFS It smells wonderful!

The more wax we put on the leather, the softer

and shinier it will become.

And the wax will also protect the saddle from the rain,

because as we discovered earlier, wax is waterproof.

Come on, experimenters. Time for rub-a-dub-dub!

There! That's looking great.

And it's feeling soft too. Well done.

But, Nina, what's this got to do with our ears?

Well, Xanthe, although we can't see it, there's skin inside our ears

which must be kept nice and soft, like this leather saddle.

And that's what our earwax does.

It softens the skin inside our ears and stops it getting itchy and sore.

But there's one more thing wax does to protect us.

-Let's go back to the lab for one final experiment.

-ALL: Yay!

OK, now here I have a big model of an ear.

This part is called the auricle.

-What-icle?

-Auricle, Bud.

It's the part of the ear we can see.

And the part inside is called the ear canal.

That's where earwax is made.

We're going to pretend that these cones are our ears.

And you guys are going to put some of that sticky stuff

all around the inside of that cone. Go for it!

Excellent! Nice and sticky.

This is like the wax inside our ears.

What about the other cone, Nina?

Ah, well we're going to leave that one as it is.

It's like an ear with no wax.

We have shakers here with glittery bits in

that we're going to sprinkle onto the inside of the cones.

These are like bits of dust and dirt that get into our ears

from the air around us.

Remember, you should never put anything in your ear,

as it might damage it.

That's right, Belle. We must never pour anything into our real ears.

OK. One, two, three, get shaking!

OK, we can stop sprinkling. Let's a have a look.

Which one of our pretend ears

has the most glittery bits in the bottom?

This one.

The dry cone with no sticky stuff

has definitely got more glittery bits down the bottom.

Why do you think that is?

Because there was nothing to stop it going down.

That's right! The sticky stuff

on the other cone trapped all the glittery bits

and stopped it from going down into the bottom.

What happens to the dirty wax, Nina?

Well, our ears have a clever way of moving wax, along with trapped dirt,

out of our ears.

So they can be washed away in a bath or a shower.

Your question was, "What is earwax for?"

And I think we've answered it.

Earwax is a shiny, sticky substance that is made inside our ears.

It keeps the skin inside our ears soft and healthy.

It also traps the dirt and dust that could be bad for our ears

and helps our body to get rid of it.

Remember, we must never put anything inside our ears,

because they don't like it.

And thanks to our clever earwax, our brilliant ears

can look after themselves.

I hope that's answered your question.

ALL: Thanks, Nina! Bye!

Bye!

NINA LAUGHS

If you want to find out more about science all around us,

go to the Nina section of 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 o-o-out

# Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies

# Come on, let's find out about

# Our handy hands and bendy knees

# Stretchy backs and noses that sneeze

# We all have brilliant bodies... #

ALL: Brilliant bodies!

# Every part has a job to do

# Even scabs and earwax too

# We all have brilliant bodies... #

ALL: Brilliant bodies!

# Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies

# Lashes to protect our eyes

# Brilliant bodies, brilliant bodies

# And don't forget to exercise. #

It's been a marvellous day.

We've discovered that wax can be hard and shiny,

and soft and squidgy too.

I really enjoyed myself today.

The smell of all those polished leather saddles was brilliant.

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

I loved seeing all that shiny glitter.

Remember, everyone's body is different,

but they're all brilliant. See you again soon! Bye!

ALL: Bye!

E-mail: [email protected]