Rivers Nina and the Neurons: Earth Explorers

# 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 scents 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

-Yeah!

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

# Oh, yeah! #

Oh-ho-ho! Stop it!

Oh, it's tickling! Oh-ho-ho! Hello there.

Look at my new snake. Oh, I love him. Hee-hee!

And he's got some friends. Ooh!

Ah, they're all wiggly!

BEEPING

Oh! I hear a beep, I see a flash!

I wonder what they're going to ask. Bye.

-Hi, Nina!

-Hi!

We've got a question for you.

There's a river near our house and it wiggles.

Why are rivers wiggly?

That's a great question. Why are rivers wiggly?

This will be interesting to explore.

Why don't you come down to my workshop and we'll investigate.

See you soon, Nina. Bye!

Bye! Well, 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 why are rivers wiggly?

Which Neuron do you think will be most useful

in helping us find the answer?

-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 Felix and Belle!

Go Felix! Go Belle! Go Felix! Go Belle!

Go Felix! Go Felix! Go Belle!

Today's question is why are rivers wiggly?

Because we can feel and hear water flowing in rivers,

Felix and Belle will be helping us today.

But stand by, Neurons, I have a feeling I may need help

from all of you. Right, I need to get the workshop ready

before the Explorers arrive.

Amelia loves ice cream,

Patrick loves water fights and Radia loves to read.

But they all want to know why are rivers wiggly?

-There's a river near where we live.

-It wiggles about.

Why does it wiggle like that?

So today, for one day only, Amelia, Patrick and Radia

become the Explorers.

-Hi, guys!

-Hi, Nina!

Welcome to my workshop and thank you for your great question,

why are rivers wiggly?

To find out the answer, let's start by using our senses.

Whoo-whoo! A senses experiment! We're ready, Nina!

First, let's have a think about rivers. What are they like?

Moving water.

Yes. A river is a lot of water that flows or moves.

And rivers always flow in one direction - downhill.

It's like a slide.

If you were at the top of a slide, you would slide down to the bottom.

But if you were at the bottom, you wouldn't slide uphill to the top.

Just like a river.

And some rivers have flat parts as well as downhill parts,

but the water always flows in one direction.

Here we have some pictures of rivers.

And as you can see, some are straight and flat,

some are hilly, and some are wiggly.

Oh! I like that one!

It's extra wiggly!

Yes, it's very wiggly. Whoo!

Ha-ha-ha!

The ground at the side of a river is called a riverbank.

And you should always be with an adult when you're near a river,

-and you shouldn't go too near to the edge.

-Very wise, Nina.

Rivers start as small streams high up in the hills and the mountains,

and they flow downhill and join up with other streams and rivers.

Rivers keep flowing on and on until they reach the sea or a lake.

And rivers are part of nature, like mountains or trees.

-So who wants to make a river?

-ALL: Me!

-NEURONS:

-We do, Nina!

-OK, let's go!

Here's our big hill, and it's made of sand and different sized stones.

We're going to make a river using our watering cans.

We're going to pour the water onto the big hill

and watch what happens to the sand and stones.

OK, let's get pouring.

It's raining, it's pouring!

What's the water doing to the sand?

Look, Nina, the water is washing the sand down the hill.

That's right, Felix.

And did you see that some of the smaller stones

were moved by the water, too?

But what did the water do to the big stones?

-It didn't move them.

-That's right.

The water can't move the big stones, so it goes around them.

But it can move the sand and some of the smaller stones.

And this is what happens in a real river, too.

They pick up small stones and move them.

Sometimes just a little way, and sometimes a long way.

Ooh!

Now we're going to pretend that this glass of water is a river.

And look, here's the sand at the bottom of the river.

But because the water's not moving, the sand is just sitting there.

But water moves in a river,

so I'm going to give it a little stir to move the water.

Whoo! What's happening?

-The water's moving the sand.

-That's right.

The sand is being picked up by the moving water, just like in a river.

We know that rivers flow in one direction.

Sometimes rivers can carry stones or sand or mud with them in the water.

I love how they rush along very fast. Whoosh!

They do rush along, don't they?

And I think we need to go somewhere where there's lots of rushing

to find out more.

Hmm! Where do you think we're going today?

Nina said somewhere with lots of rushing. Maybe it's a playground.

-Children rush about there a lot.

-I love playgrounds! Oh!

Do you think there'll be swings? Swings are my favourite!

Or a roundabout! I like roundabouts best.

Hey! This is much better than a playground! Look!

So, we found out that rivers flow in one direction,

and they can carry small stones and sand with them.

But now we're going to find out just how fast they can go. Look at that!

We should be careful around water, Nina.

You're right, Luke, water can be dangerous.

Oh! It's going very fast, Nina.

It is, Felix, and we're going to feel how fast it is.

This is a water rapids ride, and rapid means fast.

This ride has wiggly sides, just like a river.

And in our boat we are going to be just like little stones

getting swept along by the water.

Now, we're going to see if our boat goes faster and slower

at different times.

So if we go fast, we'll shout, "Fast,"

and if we go slow, we'll shout, "Slow." Let's go!

Hello. Thank you.

Yay!

-Hold on tight, everyone.

-Thank you.

ALL: Slow!

-NEURONS:

-Fast!

Whoo!

ALL: Fast!

-NEURONS:

-Slow!

ALL: Slow!

-NEURONS:

-Whoo!

ALL: Fast!

NEURONS: Fast!

ALL: Fast!

ALL: Slow!

Whoo!

That was you, that time!

-That was so much fun, wasn't it?

-It was great!

And when the water was going fast, were we going fast or slow?

-Fast!

-Yeah.

-And what happened when the water slowed down?

-We went slower.

We did. And real rivers do the same thing.

At some points, they go fast, and at some points, they go slow.

And when rivers move fast,

the little stones under the water move fast, too.

And when the river moves slowly, the little stones move slowly.

Sometimes when the river moves really slowly,

the little stones stop and drop to the bottom of the river.

-What makes the river wiggle, Nina?

-Ah-ha!

Well, let's find out, Explorers.

You asked why are rivers wiggly? And so far we've discovered that rivers

flow in one direction, and they sometimes pick up sand and stones.

We also found out that rivers go faster and slower

at different times. But what makes the river wiggle?

Well, we're here on a footbridge next to a real river.

-Can you see the wiggles?

-Yeah!

And we have our very own wiggly river in this tray of sand.

So let's see if we can spot the sand moving

when our river flows downhill.

-Look, Explorers, what's happening here?

-The water is moving the sand.

Yeah. When it moves fast, like here, it picks up bits of sand.

But when it moves slow, like at the edge here, it drops them.

The moving water changes the shape of the river.

Wiggle!

Moving the sand and tiny stones is what changes the shape of the river.

And you know, rivers are changing shape very slowly all the time.

Even this one is right now.

-Rivers are brilliant, aren't they?

-Yeah!

So your question was, why are rivers wiggly?

And I think we've answered it.

I love to hear the water whooshing, and it goes in one direction.

I liked it when we felt the water pick us up

and move us along in the boat.

When the water goes faster, it picks up sand and stones

and moves them along.

And when it goes slower, it drops them at the edge of the river.

This builds a riverbank and makes rivers wiggle!

They wiggle-wiggle-wiggle all the way to the sea! Yeah!

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

-Thanks, Nina. Bye!

You're welcome. Bye!

If you want to know more about the science that's all around us,

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

# Every day the sun comes up It brightens up the sky

# A brand-new day to understand

-# A chance to ask ourselves why

-Why?

-# There's a world of possibilities outside our front door

-Front door

# So every day take a look around and explore

-# Explore,

-explore,

-explore,

-explore

-# Exploring in the garden

-Grass

-# Exploring in the park

-Rivers

-# Exploring in the daytime

-Mountains

-# And even when it's dark

-Planets

# Look at the Earth Look at the sky

# Look at the world before us

-# Explore,

-explore,

-explore,

-explore

# We're always on the lookout

-# We're Earth explorers

-O-oh o-oh

-# We're Earth explorers

-O-oh o-oh

# We're Earth explorers. #

And remember, exploring is about looking at the world around us,

asking why and finding out the answer.

So, whether it's deep underground, at the end of your playground,

or way above the clouds, let's keep exploring our exciting world.

See you again soon. Bye.

ALL: Bye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd