Super Slimy Slugs Nina and the Neurons

# 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 our senses By helping all her fans

# By doing her experiments With potions and with bangs. #

Touch your tongue!

Fingers!

Eyes! Ears!

Nose!

# Every day we use our senses

# Wherever we may go. #

Tongue.

Fingers.

Eyes. Ears

Nose.

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

# Luke helps us with our eyes And Felix with our touch

# Ollie sniffs out smells and scents Belle hears so much

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

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

Touch your tongue!

Fingers!

Eyes! Ears!

Nose!

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

# Oh, yeah! #

-Hi, everyone!

-ALL: Hi, Nina!

I have an exciting experiment to show you.

I'm going to try and move water from one glass to another

without touching any of the glasses.

Do you think I can do it?

ALL: No!

It does sound tricky, doesn't it?

Watch carefully!

First, I'm going to pop some green food colouring into the water

just so we can see it better.

Great, I'll give that a wee stir.

Now, I'm going to take this long piece of kitchen paper

and sit it over both glasses,

and let's see what happens.

Look! The water's soaking into the paper,

heading to the other glass!

Ho-ho! But, what do you think will happen

when the water gets to the edge of the paper?

Do you think it will stop or will it drip?

THEY SHOUT ANSWERS

Oh, not sure? We're about to find out.

Oh! It's dripping.

Yay! I managed to move water from one glass to another

without touching any of the glasses

When we put the paper in,

the water climbed all the way along into the other glass.

This climbing of the water is called capillary action

and it's very useful in nature.

It's how trees get water from the ground.

BEEP! BEEP!

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

Hello, Nina. My name's Tyla and I've got a question.

Why do we have slugs in our garden?

That's a great question, Tyla. Why do we have slugs in our garden?

We'll have lots of fun with this. Thanks, Tyla. I'll be over soon.

-See you soon, Nina. Bye.

-Bye!

Well, I'm going to need help to answer this one

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

BUZZING

ALL: Neurons at the ready, Nina.

OK, today's question is - why do we have slugs in our garden?

Which Neuron do you think will be most useful in finding the answer?

-Me, 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?

Looking or 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 when you eat!

It's Luke!

ALL: Go Luke, go Luke, go Luke!

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

Today's question is - why do we have slugs in our garden?

Slugs are something we SEE in a garden so Luke is helping.

But standby Neurons, I'll need all of you today!

OK...

Let's go!

Tyla will be finding out all about slugs.

Little tiny slimy slugs, great big hungry slugs and shiny slugs

of all shapes and sizes!

Today, for one day only, Tyla, Dad and cousin Jenai become...

..The Experimenters!

-Hi, everyone!

-ALL: Hi, Nina!

-You look busy!

-We're putting food out for the birds.

You'll have loads of birds in the garden today

and speaking of having things in the garden, Tyla, your question is -

why do we have slugs in our garden?

-Why slugs?

-I don't like slugs

because Dad gets annoyed cos they eat his plants.

We should find out more about them

and work out why they're in the garden.

Are you ready for a slug search?!

BOTH: Yeah!

OK, Tyla, to answer your question -

why do we have slugs in our garden? -

we're going to try and find out where the slugs live.

-Are you up for the challenge?

-Yes, Nina!

Let's get searching!

Nina, there's a slug on that cabbage leaf!

Ooh. Good work, Tyla. Let's have a closer look.

Oh! It's an enormous slug!

Calm down, Felix, man.

It just looks that way because Nina's using a magnifying glass.

That makes things look much bigger, so we can see them better.

So we don't forget where this slug is,

let's mark the spot with one of these flags.

Excellent.

There's one, Nina!

Oh, so there is. Well done, Jenai.

Let's have a closer look.

Oooh!

Ooh, Nina, that compost heap is really whiffy! Yuck!

I agree, Ollie, but a compost heap is a great place for recycling.

You can put lots of garden waste in it,

like grass cuttings or even old vegetable peelings.

Over time it rots away to become compost,

which you can then use to put in the garden to feed the plants.

But a compost heap can be a bit smelly.

But this slug doesn't seem to mind. He's pretty happy living in it.

So, let's pop a flag in and go and find some more slugs.

Hey, look at that, Nina. It's a slimy trail.

Something tells me you might find something in there if you look.

You're right, Luke.

Slugs and snails can sometimes leave a slimy trail behind.

So, shall we follow it to see where it leads?

OK...

Oh, wow! We've found another one. Fantastic.

Ho-ho! He looks really comfy in these old rotting leaves.

Let's put the last flag in...

Ah, great work, Experimenters!

Let's take a look at where we've put the flags

and that'll tell us where all the slugs live.

-In the old rotten leaves.

-In the smelly compost heap.

And on the cabbages.

That's right and the reason we've found slugs in these places

is because they eat all of these things.

Slugs eat some things we don't want them to,

like your dad's cabbages,

but they also eat useful things, that we want rid of,

like old leaves and rotten vegetables.

Eugh! That would taste horrible!

Not to slugs, though, Bud.

That would be like a fancy dinner to them.

Through our slug search, we found out we have slugs in the garden

because there's lots for them to eat.

So, slugs can be very useful

and there's another reason why slugs are good to have around.

To explain why, we can play another game.

BOTH: Yay!

To find another reason that slugs are in the garden

we'll play a game called The Food Chain Game!

-Have you heard of a food chain before?

-No.

It's all about what animals eat.

Here I have some grain...

..and that's there.

I'm gonna sit this arrow here.

Now, which of these two animals do you think eats the grain?

The fox or the chicken?

BUD: Erm...um... Hold on a minute, I'm sure I know the answer...

The chicken.

BUD: Exactly what I would have said.

The chicken would eat the grain, so we'll sit the chicken there,

next to the arrow.

-So, who might eat the chicken?

-The fox.

The fox would eat the chicken, so we'll put the fox down here.

OK, let's try another one. For this one,

I'd like you guys to run around the garden to try and find the animals

and put them where they're meant to go.

Here we have a pile of leaves. Who do we know eats leaves?

Slugs.

BELLE: Well done, Tyla! They're doing really well.

Off you go!

Oh, you're getting hotter!

The leaves are eaten by the slugs.

OK, what type of animal do we think would like to eat the slug?

A bird!

Brilliant! Tyra, where do you think the bird goes?

Down here.

That's right! Birds like to eat slugs.

So, we can see that leaves provide food for the slug,

and the slug provides food for the bird.

This is a food chain and all the plants and animals in it are linked.

What would happen if one of these things was taken away,

like the slug?

-There wouldn't be food for the birds!

-The leaves would pile up!

Yes, almost all animals are part of a food chain.

If you take one thing away,

it effects everything else in a bad way.

So slugs are very important because they're part of a few food chains.

If you took slugs out of the garden,

animals that eat them like hedgehogs and frogs have less to eat

and might stop visiting.

What do you think about slugs now?

It's important to have slugs in your garden.

-Yeah, they are really important. Hi, Dad!

-Hi.

Another reason why slugs are in the garden

is because they're part of a food chain.

I still wish they wouldn't eat my plants.

OK, well, I've brought a present.

Eggshells and a plastic bottle?

Don't worry! These help protect the plants

but the slugs can still live happily in the garden.

-Shall we protect your dad's plants?

-Yeah!

The eggshells stop the slugs from coming too close

and the plastic bottle protects the plants.

The slugs can live here, but won't eat your dad's plants.

Everyone's happy. Tyla, you asked,

"Why do we have slugs in our garden?"

We have slugs because they do some important jobs.

They eat up lots of rotting stuff like old leaves and compost,

and they also provide food for other animals.

It all helps protect our planet!

-You'll take care of them now.

-Yes, Nina!

-We like slugs now.

-See you later, guys. Bye!

-BOTH: Bye, Nina!

# Help protect our planet

# Go eco!

# Go eco!

# Walk to school or cycle

# Go eco!

# Go eco!

# Turn off the tap Switch off the light

# Recycle what you can

# Help protect our planet

# Go eco!

# Go eco!

# Go eco! #

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

I loved the slug search in the garden!

It was great fun seeing the giant slug under the magnifying glass.

I really enjoyed myself today

although the compost heap was a bit whiffy!

I've had a fabby day! I really liked the food chain game. That was fun!

It's been a marvellous day.

Especially when everyone put eggshells and plastic bottles

round the plants.

We've had a sensational time. See you again soon. Bye!

ALL: Bye!

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