Grass Stains 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 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

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

# Oh yeah! #

Oh, hello!

I'm testing invisible ink I bought today.

Oh, but it's not very invisible, I can still see it!

Hey, look! Something's happening.

Oh, hold on...

it's gone!

Ha-ha! It must work after all.

ALARM BEEPS

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

ALL: Hi, Nina!

Hi, guys!

-We've got a question for you.

-Why does grass stain our shorts?

That's a great question - why does the grass stain our shorts?

Why not come to the lab? We'll do experiments to investigate.

ALL: See you soon, Nina!

Bye!

I'll need help to answer this 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 does the grass stain our shorts?

Which Neuron will be most useful to help 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!

NEURONS: Go, Luke! Go, Luke! Go, Luke!

Go, Luke! Go, Luke! Go, Luke!

Go, Luke! Go, Luke!

Cool, Nina.

I'll be looking out to help ya!

Today's question is why does grass stain our shorts?

Because stains are something we see, Luke, our seeing neuron will help.

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

Sam likes science, Scarlet loves drama and Leah loves musicals,

but they want to know why the grass stains their shorts?

So, for one day only, Sam, Scarlet and Leah become the experimenters!

ALL: Hi, Nina!

Welcome to my science lab!

Lovely to see you all!

Now, you asked, "Why does the grass stain our shorts?"

Why do you want to know?

When I'm outside playing, the grass stains my shorts,

and my mum gets cross because it's hard to get the stains out.

Oh-ho-ho-ho!

Oh, that is a bad grass stain!

I think we need to investigate to find out more.

For our first experiment, we're going to use our senses

and your shorts, Sam!

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

First of all, does the stain smell of anything?

ALL: No.

So the stain doesn't smell. What about if we touch it?

Feel the stain.

-ALL: No.

-No?

They're right. You can't feel the stain at all.

If we can't smell it and feel it, how do we know the stain is there?

Cos you can see it.

That's right! Because you can see it. What colour is the stain?

-Green!

-Yeah! It's green, just like the grass that made it.

Now it's time for the tricky bit - trying to get the stain out.

Over to the sink!

OK, experimenters, pick up your scrubbing brushes

Let's get washing!

Good!

OK, scrubbing brushes down.

Oh, that was hard work!

And after all that - oh.

-SHE LAUGHS

-The stain's still there!

You need a really, really good washing-up powder to get that out!

So, we found out that the grass stain is green, just like the grass,

and, like all stains, doesn't come out easily.

We still don't know why the grass stained your shorts.

It's time for another experiment.

For this experiment, I'm going to mix things up.

I'll just put a little bit more wet grass into the blending machine.

Here we go...

Ugh! Nina's making a milk shake using grass!

She's making a grass shake! Urgh!

Is something wrong, Bud?

-You're looking a bit green?

-HE LAUGHS

And watch this.

Ho ho!

-SHE LAUGHS

-So, all this green liquid has come out of the grass

in the blending machine. Now, let's have a look at these two beakers.

What colour are they?

Orange and pink.

That's right! Do you think they came from grass?

ALL: No!

NINA LAUGHS

These juices actually come from some of these fruit and vegetables.

Let's play a game. Looking at the colour of liquid in this beaker,

can you guess which one of these it comes from?

-Carrots!

-The carrot, that's right!

The carrot is orange so it makes a lovely orange juice.

What about the dark pink juice?

-Beetroot.

-That's absolutely right.

It's the beetroot down here.

All these coloured juices, from the grass, beetroot and carrot,

are called pigments.

Pig what?!

Pigments, Bud. In science,

the coloured juice from plants is called a pigment.

The colours that plants make in their flowers

and leaves are called pigments.

Pigments. I like the sound of that!

From our experiment, we found out that grass

and other plants like this contain colours called pigments!

I know somewhere exciting where we can see pigments making good stains!

Let's go, experimenters!

Oh, goody! I love this bit. I wonder where Nina is taking us!

Nina said it was somewhere where you can see stains being made.

I know, I know! Maybe it's a cafe! And we're going to see

a big, messy stain from some yummy baked beans!

We can stop guessing, we're here!

Hi, Helen!

Hi, Nina! Hi, everyone!

We've come to visit Helen

because she makes every colour of wool you can think of!

She makes all these colours using pigments from plants.

-Shall we see how it's done?

-ALL: Yeah!

We're going to help Helen pick flowers.

Helen is happy for us to pick these flowers,

but it's not good to pick flowers without permission.

Good choice, Nina! That's a very bright colour!

OK, so we've got our flowers,

let's see what happens now!

Now we're going to put some of these flowers in here,

and push them down.

And then we're going to take some of this wool...

Why's she putting everything into a big pot, Nina?

Well, Bud, Helen's putting the flowers and wool into the pot

along with a special chemical, which helps the pigments

mix with the wool and stain it forever.

When this is done, it's hung up to dry.

Do you see how the pigment has mixed with the wool

-and made it change colour?

-Yes, it's really pretty.

Once this is dry, it'll be spun together

to make different-coloured balls of wool.

Then the wool can be used to make big woolly jumpers.

So, red wool doesn't come from a red sheep,

it comes from a pigment!

Yes, Bud! Plant pigments can be all different colours,

they can stain cloth, and when they're used

to deliberately stain materials, they're called dyes.

We know how pigments stain wool,

but we still don't know how the grass stained your shorts!

I think we need to do one final experiment!

So, your question was, why does the grass stain our shorts?

We've found out that plants make pigments of different colours

that stain our clothes. But we don't know

how the stain got into Sam's shorts.

How did you get the stain?

-I was sliding around, playing football on the grass.

-Ah, I see.

Well, we've been kneeling on this grass for a while,

let's stand up and see if we've got any grass stains.

Hmm, let me see.

No, there are no grass stains at all.

-There's nothing there, is there?

-No, it's clean.

So, just sitting on the grass doesn't make a stain.

What about if we slide and roll on the grass?

-Shall we give it a go?

-ALL: Yeah!

SHE LAUGHS

Woo-hoo!

I'm a bit dizzy after all that rolling! Now for the important part.

Let's see if we've got grass stains!

-I've got one here!

-And me!

-Me too!

We're covered in grass stains! And that's because,

to let the green pigment out of the grass,

you need to break the little blades of grass!

That only happens when you slide against them!

Your question was, why does the grass stain our shorts?

I think we've answered it.

We found out that grass contains a green pigment that stains cloth

and that plants make different-coloured pigments,

and these can dye wool. Then we discovered that,

if you sit carefully on the grass, that doesn't make a stain,

but rubbing on grass does.

So, the grass stained your shorts

because you rubbed hard against it, letting the pigment out. I hope

-that's answered your question!

-ALL: Yes, thanks, Nina!

Today's experiments were loads of fun!

But I've got some washing to do!

If you want to know more about the science around us,

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

Lab coat on, Nina?

Lab coat on, Ollie!

Safety gloves on, Nina?

Safety gloves on, Felix!

Don't forget your goggles, Nina!

Goggles are on, Luke! I think we're ready!

# We do experiments in the lab

# Shooby-dooby, in the lab

# Bubbling experiments in the lab

# In the lab!

# Go, Nina, in the lab

# Fizzing and popping Steam and smoke

# We need protection Don't we, folks?

# We always put our safety first

# Shooby-dooby, dooby-dooby

# We do experiments in the lab

# In the lab!

# Go, Nina! #

Oh, I've had a brilliant day.

Especially when Nina was mixing up all the grass in the blender!

I really enjoyed myself today.

The smell of those flowers in the garden was lovely.

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

Who'd have though that wool could be dyed so many different colours?!

I've had a fabby day!

I loved when everyone was rolling down the hill!

Getting grass stains is loads of fun!

Our day's been bursting with sensational experiments.

I hope you've enjoyed it. Bye!

ALL: Bye!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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