(gentle acoustic music)
- Hey there scientists!
I'm so glad you decided
to join me today to learn
about the world around you.
My name is Mrs. Newby.
Can you say Mrs. Newby?
Yeah, kinda like if
you're new at something,
someone might call
you a newby at it.
Well, that's me, and
I am a scientist.
But I'm not a newby scientist,
because I've been a
scientist all my life.
And guess what, so
have you! How, you ask?
Well, we all are able to learn
about the world around us.
We can always ask
questions, we can study,
we can research, we can
talk to other scientists.
There's so many different
ways that we can learn
about the world around us.
And another reason why
we are all scientists is
because we all have
an important job
to take care of this Earth.
I have an important
job and so do you
to keep it healthy
and to keep it pretty.
So that's what
makes us scientists!
It's pretty neat that we all
are scientists here together.
Well, today we're
gonna learn two things.
Are you ready to learn
two things with me?
The first thing
we're gonna learn is
how animals and
especially birds use
and change their
environment to help them
to find food and
also build homes.
Now you're probably thinking,
what in the world
does that mean?
Well, have you ever
seen any animals
in grocery stores
shopping for food
that they need for that night?
Or have you seen any
animals in Target shopping
for clothes or
different furniture
for their house to decorate?
Probably not, right?
At least I hope not.
That would be so silly.
Well, animals don't
use grocery stores.
They actually use nature
and we're gonna find
out how they use nature
to build their homes
and to get food.
Another thing we're
gonna learn today is
about a special kind of
scientist called engineers.
We're gonna learn that
we can all be engineers
and every animal on this Earth
are also considered engineers
and we're gonna
study how that is.
I'm so excited
you're here with me
so that we can
learn this together.
And I wanna teach you this by
showing you an awesome picture
that I was able to
take of a creation
that an animal did
all by themself.
Are you ready to join with
me? Come on, let's go!
So this is the picture
that I was able
to take not too long ago
right above my front porch.
I was so excited when I
saw that a bird decided
to build its nest right
above our front porch.
Now a lot of the times
whenever you see a picture,
as a scientist you need to
put that scientist brain on.
And you need to think
about two things.
What do I notice
about this picture
and what do I wonder
about this picture?
And a lot of
scientists take notes
of these things so that
they don't forget them
and they can add
to their thinking.
So if you are a scientist,
which everyone is,
get out your notebooks,
get out your pencil,
and let's start taking notes.
So what is the first thing
you notice about this picture?
Exactly, that's the
first thing I noticed.
These eggs are blue!
Isn't that exciting?
Blue eggs. I've seen
white eggs, have you?
I've seen brown eggs.
But I haven't seen
blue eggs in real life
until I got to see these
right here, pretty awesome.
What else do you notice
about this picture?
Yeah, so it looks
like these eggs,
they're not falling out.
It looks to me like there's
a bunch of dead grass here.
This bird just picked up a bunch
of dead grass off the
ground, put it together,
and the eggs are just sitting
in there nice and pretty, right?
So the eggs are not falling out.
Now if you notice other things,
be sure to jot those things
down too as a scientist, okay?
So these are the two
things that I'm noticing
about this bird's nest.
Now what do we wonder,
what kinds of questions
can we ask ourselves
when we see this picture?
Now for me, whenever I see
this noticing right here,
the eggs are not falling
out, I also start
to ask myself how, right?
So any time you
notice something,
you can always ask a
question after that.
Well how is that even
happening, right?
How did the mama bird
build this bird's nest
so that the eggs
didn't fall out?
That's a question I wonder.
What do you wonder about
this picture? Jot them down!
Now you probably are
asking other questions
like what did the mama
bird use to build the nest?
Or why did the mama bird
decide to build the nest
this way and not a
different way, right?
A lot of scientists can come up
with so many different
wondering questions.
And after scientists
come up with questions
about something
they wonder about,
they go and they research
and they find out
how to get to the
answer to that.
Are you ready to find
out how this mama bird
built this nest for their eggs?
Well, in order to do
that, I wanna show you
what an engineer is because
this bird is exactly that.
This mama bird is an engineer
because she build this
nest for her babies.
So this is what we call an
engineering design cycle.
Can you say engineering
design cycle?
Exactly, so a lot of engineers,
actually all of
the engineers use
this cycle when they
want to solve a problem.
And engineers are a special kind
of scientists that see a problem
in this world and
they invent things
or make things better
to solve those problems.
And that's what
that mama bird did.
She had the problem
of needing a home
for her eggs and she solved
it by building a bird's nest.
So the first thing that you need
to do as an engineer
is to find a problem.
And after engineers
find a problem,
they have to learn more
about certain things.
They research and
they brainstorm
or think really hard how
they can solve that problem.
And then they choose
that best idea.
And after you have
an idea of how
to solve that problem
then you construct it.
So you actually build or invent
whatever you have in mind.
After engineers do that,
they have to test it out.
They have to make sure
that it actually works
the way they want it to work.
So they have to test it before
they say they're all done.
And if it doesn't
work out very well
and if things need
to be different
or things need to be changed,
then they talk to other
scientists to get some help
and then they redesign it.
So they actually go
back and they try
to fix the problems to
make it even better.
They don't just give
up, they say oh,
there's a problem
with my invention.
Let me fix it so I
can make it better
to solve this
problem that I need.
And that's exactly
what animals do
and that's exactly
what me and you can do
and any scientist can do that.
Are you ready to
do that? Let's go!
So now that we know that
that mama bird built her nest
like an engineer, and
she used the things
around her environment
or in nature
to help build that bird's nest
to help keep her baby eggs safe,
we are going to try
to be an engineer also
and build this bird's
nest the same way
that the mama bird did, okay?
So we know what
an engineer does.
They have a problem and
they want to solve it.
So whenever that mama
bird had that problem,
she had to go all around outside
to find things that will work
to help make her home
for her baby eggs.
So I have here some
pretend dead grass
and just some other things
that maybe will be outside
for that mama bird
to be able to use.
Do you wanna help me
build this bird's nest
to see if we can actually
test it out like an engineer?
Now remember, engineers
don't just give up.
They always have to have
that growth mindset, right?
So any time they work
to build something
and it doesn't work
their way, they go back
and they try it again
so that's something
super important to remember.
So I know that bird's
nests are usually round.
That one looked round
and it has an opening.
In the inside, kinda
like a little pocket.
It's kinda hard to keep
this stuff together, right?
Make it nice, now this
is a little bit different
because if I were a
bird, I would have
to use my little beak and
fly all around looking
for dead grass and other
stuff on the ground.
And then I'd have to just
pick it up bit by bit.
So I would probably
be traveling back
and forth, back and
forth so many times.
Oh, we got some yarn in here.
Maybe there was some yarn
that was flying in the wind.
And you know what
that reminds me of?
When I look closer
at this picture,
I notice that there's
a blue streamer.
Do you see that?
That's not part
of nature, is it?
That probably was flying around
in the environment and
maybe the bird saw it laying
on the ground and decided to
use it to make her home, right?
And that also reminds
us the importance
of making sure to clean
up the ground and outside
to make sure that
it's nice and clean
and we don't throw
our trash out there.
Because animals
and birds might get
to it and sometimes
it might hurt them.
So luckily that
didn't hurt the bird.
It actually helped
the bird but maybe
in the future there
might be something
that will harm or
hurt the animal.
So it's super
important as scientists
to take care of this Earth
and to throw our
trash in the garbage.
Okay, so I have
this beautiful nest.
It looks so pretty,
I have an opening
to lay my eggs down
if I wanted to.
I'm a little nervous
though because I feel like
if I pick it up it
might fall apart, right?
I wonder if this egg here
that the mama bird built
is the same way, I don't know.
So I act have some pretend eggs.
I'm going to pretend these
are my little baby eggs.
I'm gonna choose three.
I'm gonna lay three eggs.
And I'm gonna put
them in my nest
and I'm gonna see if
this nest will hold
these eggs just like this
mama bird's nest does, okay?
So here it is, I'm
gonna put them in here.
Drop, drop, drop.
They're laying there
nice and pretty.
Now let's see what happens if
I pick up this bird's nest.
Oh no! They just fell right out!
Let's try to see if
I can do it again.
(gasps)
(egg clatters on table)
Oh man, I give up!
What? Don't give up, why?
Oh, because I'm an engineer
and engineers don't give up.
Oh my goodness, I needed
to solve a problem
and my solution did not work
so I need to try again, right?
You know what I'm thinking?
I'm thinking we might need
to study a little bit more
about how this bird built
its nest because guess what?
I don't think this bird
only used dead grass.
That's what I used only, right?
If you look closer,
guess what I notice
at the very bottom,
what do you see there?
I see a bunch of mud. Have
you ever played in mud?
Doesn't it get really thick,
and it just sticks together
and smooshes things?
Oh my goodness, this mama
bird was smart, right?
This mama bird knew that
just only dead grass
would not help,
it's falling apart!
She collected all
kinds of dead grass
and then she collected
mud, isn't that amazing?
She probably used her
beak and scooped up mud
and put it and
used it like glue.
Have you used glue to
glue things to paper?
Yeah, that's what
this mama bird did!
So if you look closely,
I'm seeing a lot of mud.
Wow! That is so interesting.
It's super important
as engineers
to study and look closely
and see what we missed.
And I totally missed that!
I didn't even see that
mud until just now.
So I might need to redesign.
Remember the engineering
design cycle?
Step seven was to redesign
if it doesn't work.
I may need to redesign this
and maybe add some mud
to put it together.
Do you that might
be a good idea?
Yeah, I think so too.
So I actually have
an amazing book
that I wanna show you because
this book will teach us
a little bit more about
nests and it'll also teach us
a little bit more about animal
homes all around the world.
Are you ready to
find out? Come on!
Hey guys, I'm back!
So with the permission of
Crabtree Books Publishing,
we get to read this awesome book
called "How and Why Do
Animals Build Homes?"
by Bobbie Kalman and
we're gonna take a look
at how so many different animals
in the world use nature
to build their homes.
And I want you to
keep an eye out
for all the different ways
these animals are using nature
and maybe you can also
jot them down, okay?
So this is a nonfiction book.
Do you know what a
nonfiction book is?
Exactly! Nonfiction books
give us facts and information.
So we are going to only
pick and choose some
of these pages to read
so that we can find
certain information
we need because
with nonfiction books,
you don't have to read all
of the pages if
you don't want to.
If you're looking for
something very, very specific,
then you can choose the
chapters that you can read
and you can get that
information that way.
So we're only gonna read
just a few of these pages.
But let's start
with the first one
because it explains why
animals even build homes.
So whenever you see
these dark words
like these right
here, that means
that they're super
important words.
So be looking out
for those dark words
and be paying attention
so you can find
out what these words mean.
Some of them might
be really long.
Let's get started.
Homes protect us from bad
weather and keep us safe.
Animals also build
homes for shelter
and to keep safe from predators.
Predators are animals that hunt
and eat prey or other animals.
Many animals build homes
to lay eggs or have babies.
Some animals build homes for
long sleeps called hibernation.
Homes are also
places for animals
to make and store food.
So that's why
animals need homes!
They need to stay
safe from predators.
They need to find a place to
lay their eggs or have babies,
to be able to sleep,
and to store their food.
So it's important
that we understand
all animals have homes
and they need homes
so that they can
do those things.
So these foxes here
have a home called a den
where this little teeny
tiny hole is here.
So how do you think these
foxes are using nature
to build their home?
Exactly, they're digging a hole!
Now that hole
wasn't there before.
The mama fox and the
daddy fox probably had
to dig the whole for
these baby foxes.
So they're using nature
because they need
to dig holes in nature.
What do you think these
honeybees are using
that is part of nature to
help them with their beehive?
Yeah, if you look really close,
you'll notice that this
beehive is actually
on a tree branch, so
they need that tree
in order for their
honeybee hive to be lifted
up and not fall down, right?
What about this dormouse?
Yeah, I'm seeing lots of
leaves around this dormouse.
And it says here that
it's building a nest.
So it hibernates or sleeps
for a really long time
and it makes a nest with leaves.
And it's on the ground,
it's kinda cool!
So whenever it's autumn time,
the leaves are falling
down the trees.
Dormice, they
collect those leaves
and they build a
nice, comfy nest
and they sleep in it
for a really long time.
So they need nature
because they need
those leaves to
build their nests.
Now the same thing
with this prairie dog.
Kinda like these
foxes, this prairie dog
has a home called a burrow.
And a burrow is like
an underground tunnel
that these little prairie
dogs go in and live.
And they hide their
food in there also.
So they need nature
because they need
to find a place to dig burrows.
So so far we've learned
so many different animals
already use nature so much!
Let's take a look
and see what types
of birds use nature also.
So if you notice here,
these birds need nature
for two reasons,
they need nature
because of this tall tree.
They need to be able
to find tall trees
because they like to be
super high up in the sky.
And they also need
nature because
of the little twigs and sticks
that you see that the
nest is made out of.
So it's super
important that they go
around nature and
they find these things
to help them to
make their homes.
Now if you see here,
this is a pretty swan.
Now let's listen to
see what swans do
to use their environment.
Swan parents make their
nests on or near water
using plants called reeds.
The reed nest is safely hidden
by the tall trees all around it.
That's kinda cool, isn't it?
These swans need water so
that they can build their nest
on or near the water and
they also need a plant
called reeds so that
they can build their nest
and also hide their
nest so nature
is really important for swans.
Now another interesting
fact I learned recently is
that some birds use spiderwebs
to keep their nests together.
That's so awesome! This bird
here is called a sunbird.
Now this bird, and
also hummingbirds,
use spiderwebs to keep
their nests together
so it doesn't fall apart.
Do you remember
whenever we were looking
at this nest here that's
above my front porch?
We notice that
this bird used mud
to keep its nest together.
Well other birds
find other things
in nature to keep their nests
together like spiderwebs!
That was so interesting
when I learned that, right?
Remember when we tried
building our nest
and ours just kept
falling apart?
Well birds known that
they need something
to stick those things together.
And that's why some
of them use spiderwebs
and some of them use mud, right?
Let's find out
about other homes.
Okay, let's study,
oh let's find out
what sea turtles
do to use nature.
I love sea turtles.
So sea turtles actually
use the sand on a beach!
Have you ever seen
a baby sea turtle
or maybe a grown sea
turtle on the beach?
Probably not because they
mostly live in water.
But sea turtles need the
sand to lay their eggs.
Let's find out. Adult sea
turtles live in the ocean.
A mother sea turtle makes a nest
only when she is
ready to lay eggs.
She swims back to the same beach
where she hatched
from as an egg.
She then crawls along
the sand looking
for a safe spot to
dig an egg chamber
or a nest for her eggs.
She lays a clutch or set of 100
to 150 eggs, usually at night.
Wow, that's some
interesting facts!
She goes back to the
place that she was born
and she finds a
really safe place
to dig a hole and then she
lays all 100 or 150 eggs.
And then she goes
back into the ocean.
Now it says after
laying her eggs,
the sea turtle will cover
them with sand and swim away.
If predators do not find
and eat the eggs first,
the hatchlings will
dig their way out
and crawl to the ocean.
And do you see this little
cute baby sea turtles
getting out of their little hole
and then going to the ocean?
That's so cute, so sea
turtles need nature
because first of all,
they live in the ocean.
So they need the ocean to live.
And second of all, the
mama needs the sand
or the beaches so that
she can dig a hole
and put her baby eggs in there.
So nature is so
important to all kinds
of different animals and
we can probably learn
about so many different animals
and how they use nature
but it's important
to know that nature
is important to us
and it's also
important to animals
because they need
it to build homes.
So we need to make sure
that we leave nature alone
so that animals can use
those things, right?
Whoa, we learned so
much today, didn't we?
And I had so much fun
learning this stuff with you.
Let's think about what we
all learned about today.
So I learned that
animals use nature
to build their homes
and they use it
in different ways
like digging holes
or collecting sticks or using
trees to put their homes in.
I also learned about engineers.
And engineers are a special kind
of scientist that
look for problems
in the world and
they invent things
to solve those problems.
And let's see what
else I learned.
I learned that animals
are also engineers.
Because they think of problems
that they have for themselves
and they use nature to
solve those problems!
Wow, that is (exhales
sharply) mind-blowing, right?
Man, my brain is overloaded
with all of this information.
I love to take breaks
to calm me down.
Do you wanna join me
in my break today?
So I like to use this
chime right here.
And what I do is I'm
gonna hit the chime
and I usually close my
eyes and I listen very,
very closely until I can
stop hearing that chime.
So I want you to
do that with me.
I want you to
listen very closely
and I want you to
put your finger up
as soon as you don't hear
the noise anymore, okay?
Let's see how long
we can hear it.
Okay, ready? Okay,
close your eyes.
(chime ringing)
Do you still hear it?
I think it went away.
Whoa, that was kinda
nice, being able
to relax and just close my eyes
and just listen to that sound.
Let's kinda shake
our bodies up, huh?
You know what I like
to do sometimes too?
I like to think about
what I learned about
and move my body to
help me remember that.
So since we learned about birds,
I want you guys to stretch
your arms like this
and we're going to flap them up.
Awesome! Keep flapping,
flapping, flapping up!
Now flap them down.
Let's see how fast you can go.
Go super, super, super fast!
Now I want you to move
your arms in a circle.
Whoa, my arms are getting
tired, are your arms?
Now I want you to
go the other way.
Wow!
Last thing, I want you
to flap them like a bird.
Up and down, up and down,
up and down really big!
Whoa!
And we land in our nest.
Wow, that was so fun!
That's exactly what
birds do all day.
I bet they get tired flapping
their wings like that.
Don't you think? I don't know.
I wonder if they get tired
flapping their wings so much.
Well, I had so much
fun with you today
and I want you to leave
here and I want you
to practice what we learned!
I want you to go out into nature
and I want you to explore
all the different ways
you see animals changing
the environment.
Or maybe you can even
research your favorite animal
and see how your favorite
animal changes the environment.
I know one of my favorite
animals is a polar bear.
And what polar bears do
is they actually use snow
and ice and they dig
a den for themselves
kinda like those
foxes in that book.
They dig in the snow and the ice
and they build a den for
themselves and their babies.
So they for sure
need lots of snow
in order to have a home, and
that's part of nature too.
How does your favorite
animal change the environment
to make its home?
I hope you have so
much fun finding
out all of that
cool information,
and I will see you
next time, bye!
(gentle acoustic music)
- [Narrator] Teaching in
Room Nine is made possible
with support of Bank of America,
Dana Brown Charitable
Trust, Emerson,
and viewers like you.
(gentle acoustic music)
