Weather and Frogs Our Planet

It's Our Planet!

It's Our Planet!

Through the year, the weather changes.

And as it changes, so do the seasons.

As the weather gets warmer, any snow and ice left over

from winter soon melts.

Plants and animals know that spring has arrived.

These flowers look as white as snow.

That's why they're called snowdrops.

And daffodils are spring plants too.

And bluebells cover the floors of the woods.

Spring is the season when everything starts to grow.

Trees start to get their leaves.

And birds start to sing to let everyone know

that spring has arrived.

In the summer, the weather turns very warm.

It still rains in summer, but not as much as in spring.

The fields are full of crops like wheat or corn, which we can eat.

This is harvested by the farmers at the end of the summer.

Autumn can be warm as well but it can also be wet.

The rain soon soaks everything right through,

even after a long dry summer.

These are toadstools and they love the warm wet weather

and come up in woods and forests all over the place.

Lots of fruit and vegetables

ripen in autumn before the weather gets cold again.

Autumn is a time for gathering the harvest,

to get through the colder weather.

Conkers ripen around this time as well.

And you might be able to find some under a horse chestnut tree.

At the end of autumn, the weather starts to turn cooler,

and it can be quite stormy.

As it turns cold, trees change colour and leaves start to fall.

Animals like squirrels bury nuts in a safe place to have enough food

to get them through the winter.

Soon the frost

and the mist appear again.

Some animals don't mind when the snow returns.

A warm coat of fur or wool can keep them warm through the winter.

Soon, the weather will get warmer and the seasons will start

all over again.

It's Our Planet!

Boing, boing, boing. I'm a bouncing rabbit.

Boing, boing, boing.

I'm a tall giraffe.

Can you be an animal too?

Boing, boing, boing.

I'm a bouncing rabbit. Boing, boing, boing.

I'm a tall giraffe.

What animal is this?

It's a blackbird.

And what's Tom?

He's a lion.

It's Our Planet!

There are more creatures for you to see.

Have you seen a frog before?

You might have seen one in gardens or ponds.

But it might not have been a frog.

They're smooth-skinned.

It might have been a toad.

Toads have lumps and bumps.

Which is this?

A frog or a toad?

It's a frog!

And here are lots of its friends.

In the spring, frogs and toads lay their eggs.

Frogs lay their eggs in clumps of jelly called frogspawn.

Toads lay their eggs in long strings of jelly.

Both frogs' eggs and toads' eggs grow up into tadpoles.

If you watch them everyday,

they grow and grow as they eat up plants in the bottom of the pond.

And when they're big enough, something amazing happens.

First, they grow arms in the front of their bodies.

Then, they grow legs on the backs of their bodies.

Their heads change shape.

And then, their tail slowly shrinks until it disappears.

And before you know it, they're froglets!

Frogs come in all different shapes

and sizes.

Some frogs from other countries are very colourful.

But this can also mean that they're poisonous.

Some frogs like to croak a lot.

CROAKING

It lets other frogs know they're close by.

Frogs are just as happy on land as they are in the water.

This means they're amphibious.

The next time you're near a pond, have a look and see if you can spot

any tadpoles or frogs.

It's Our Planet!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2006

E-mail: [email protected]