Why did the various wildlife species cross the road? To test the new heathland bridge!
It may look like a bridge that’s just unfinished, but the dirt and grass butting up against the pavement is very intentional.
This heathland bridge separating two commons is the first of its kind to include a network of natural routes that encourage species to reunite for the first time in over 40 years. Man, we would not remember ANYONE’S names! The bridge is home to mosses and vegetative grounds, as well as sand that could be a habitat to species like sand lizards, adders, foxes, deer, and bugs. Lots of bugs.
The bridge connects the heathland on either side, which the Wildlife Trusts are working to restore, so the aim of the bridge is to let wildlife move from side to side, building up the population and their resilience. But, it wasn’t as simple as leaving the bridge half-paved. Crews had to create the heathland by distributing acidic sand before adding areas of ground taken directly from larger heathland sites.
When it comes to gathering water data, the “employee of the month” may look a little on the “green and cubical” side. Alongside Yorkshire rivers, there are multiple green boxes working hard to gather data on river quality that should, in a couple years, be available for river users and potential swimmers to access through an app that tracks pollution.
Though there are currently apps that show pollution data, that information is old and outdated. This upcoming app is special, because it will use live data from an on-site sensor to provide real-time pollution levels in the water. It’s not meant to tell people “safe” or “not safe” or “swim” or “don’t swim,” but it can give people what they need to make an informed decision... mostly.
The green boxes have a big shortcoming: they’re unable to detect some really nasty bacteria like E.coli, which can only be measured in a lab. But don’t worry, old-school scientists are on the case, manually taking samples to send away for analysis. These findings will be used to build a data set that will be combined with green box data, and AI learning will infer when E.coli (and other bugs) are present in the river.
So, today, we celebrate a beautiful marriage — one of traditional testing, new technology, and AI. It may not be the pairing you’re rooting for on Love Island, but it shows great promise for water safety!
Phonics fun on your fingertips! Cut along the dashed lines. (Ask your grown-up to help.) Roll each shape
around a finger and tape the ends together. Pop them onto your fingers and thumbs and have fun making
word magic!
Make these words with your Alphablocks: pen, pet, hen, bat, bug, cat, dog, dig, pop, sub, pig, peg, pen, pin, pan, pal, cot, pot, pup, can, cup, man, hat, cab, bag, lots, band. Use the extra S to make plurals.
Watch full episodes of Alphablocks on their official YouTube channel!
Color in the picture or color in Fred the alien if it's not a real word. Is b-u-g a real word? What about j-u-k? Finally, write a letter on Fred to finish the word. Read your word. Is it real or not?
Watch full episodes of Alphablocks on their official YouTube channel!
Bug inspectors! Bingo and Lila are keeping an eye on the bugs on their water slide. They need to make sure Dad doesn’t squish them with his bum! Can you find five leaf bugs, shiny bugs, grasshoppers, ants, caterpillars, rainbowy bugs, and ladybugs?
Inspired by Season 3, Episode 46 "Slide": Bingo and Lila are excited to play on their new waterslide, but first they have to make sure they don’t squish any bugs.
Aw, look at these little critters. Just snip, roll and stick to make a butterfly, dragonfly, or a ladybug. Too easy! You'll need your own popsicles sticks. Here's what you'll do:
- Cut out the bits on the page. Glue the wings to the sticks first! Then roll and stick on the bodies. Make sure to leave a gap at the top of each stick for the head.
- Roll the heads into smaller loops and tape shut. Then curl the antennae (feelers!) around a pencil and glue them on top of the heads.
- Tape the heads at the top of the sticks. Ding ching! Say hello to your bug friends!
In Bees in Decline, visit a collection of bee specimens at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. There are more than 250 species of bees, and they help pollinate everything from apples to flowers. But bees are in decline, and one reason is the varroa mite, a tiny bug that causes a big problem.
In Sarah and Duck Trick-or-Treat, Sarah and her friends, Duck and Bug, dress up for Boo Night. Will their costumes scare people, earning them Boo Sweets? This video is excerpted from BBC’s Sarah & Duck, a kids' show about the adventures between 7-year-old Sarah and her quacky, flappy best friend, Duck.
Discover the amazing hunting techniques of cave glow worms, witness the transformation of lake fly midges, and delve into the mysteries of bioluminescence in the jungle night. Prepare for a close-up look at the miniature marvels all around us!
Fill this journal with lovely nature things. Start by circling the weather. Is it sunny, cloudy, rainy, or rainbow-y? Next, finish coloring a beautiful rainbow. Name and draw your favorite bug and then circle all the things you like to do in nature. Ask a grown-up to help you make a fruity rainbow with strawberries, mandarins, bananas, sliced grapes, and blueberries.
Join Bluey and Bingo in the great outdoors. Match close-ups to the right bug (walking leaf, dragonfly, and ladybug), put leeches in size order from smallest and biggest, and fill out a fun spotting chart on your next nature walk. Can you find a plant, creature, bird, and stick or pinecone? Draw them!
Why did the various wildlife species cross the road? To test the new heathland bridge!
It may look like a bridge that’s just unfinished, but the dirt and grass butting up against the pavement is very intentional.
This heathland bridge separating two commons is the first of its kind to include a network of natural routes that encourage species to reunite for the first time in over 40 years. Man, we would not remember ANYONE’S names! The bridge is home to mosses and vegetative grounds, as well as sand that could be a habitat to species like sand lizards, adders, foxes, deer, and bugs. Lots of bugs.
The bridge connects the heathland on either side, which the Wildlife Trusts are working to restore, so the aim of the bridge is to let wildlife move from side to side, building up the population and their resilience. But, it wasn’t as simple as leaving the bridge half-paved. Crews had to create the heathland by distributing acidic sand before adding areas of ground taken directly from larger heathland sites.
When it comes to gathering water data, the “employee of the month” may look a little on the “green and cubical” side. Alongside Yorkshire rivers, there are multiple green boxes working hard to gather data on river quality that should, in a couple years, be available for river users and potential swimmers to access through an app that tracks pollution.
Though there are currently apps that show pollution data, that information is old and outdated. This upcoming app is special, because it will use live data from an on-site sensor to provide real-time pollution levels in the water. It’s not meant to tell people “safe” or “not safe” or “swim” or “don’t swim,” but it can give people what they need to make an informed decision... mostly.
The green boxes have a big shortcoming: they’re unable to detect some really nasty bacteria like E.coli, which can only be measured in a lab. But don’t worry, old-school scientists are on the case, manually taking samples to send away for analysis. These findings will be used to build a data set that will be combined with green box data, and AI learning will infer when E.coli (and other bugs) are present in the river.
So, today, we celebrate a beautiful marriage — one of traditional testing, new technology, and AI. It may not be the pairing you’re rooting for on Love Island, but it shows great promise for water safety!
Phonics fun on your fingertips! Cut along the dashed lines. (Ask your grown-up to help.) Roll each shape
around a finger and tape the ends together. Pop them onto your fingers and thumbs and have fun making
word magic!
Make these words with your Alphablocks: pen, pet, hen, bat, bug, cat, dog, dig, pop, sub, pig, peg, pen, pin, pan, pal, cot, pot, pup, can, cup, man, hat, cab, bag, lots, band. Use the extra S to make plurals.
Watch full episodes of Alphablocks on their official YouTube channel!
Color in the picture or color in Fred the alien if it's not a real word. Is b-u-g a real word? What about j-u-k? Finally, write a letter on Fred to finish the word. Read your word. Is it real or not?
Watch full episodes of Alphablocks on their official YouTube channel!
Bug inspectors! Bingo and Lila are keeping an eye on the bugs on their water slide. They need to make sure Dad doesn’t squish them with his bum! Can you find five leaf bugs, shiny bugs, grasshoppers, ants, caterpillars, rainbowy bugs, and ladybugs?
Inspired by Season 3, Episode 46 "Slide": Bingo and Lila are excited to play on their new waterslide, but first they have to make sure they don’t squish any bugs.
Aw, look at these little critters. Just snip, roll and stick to make a butterfly, dragonfly, or a ladybug. Too easy! You'll need your own popsicles sticks. Here's what you'll do:
- Cut out the bits on the page. Glue the wings to the sticks first! Then roll and stick on the bodies. Make sure to leave a gap at the top of each stick for the head.
- Roll the heads into smaller loops and tape shut. Then curl the antennae (feelers!) around a pencil and glue them on top of the heads.
- Tape the heads at the top of the sticks. Ding ching! Say hello to your bug friends!
In Bees in Decline, visit a collection of bee specimens at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. There are more than 250 species of bees, and they help pollinate everything from apples to flowers. But bees are in decline, and one reason is the varroa mite, a tiny bug that causes a big problem.
In Sarah and Duck Trick-or-Treat, Sarah and her friends, Duck and Bug, dress up for Boo Night. Will their costumes scare people, earning them Boo Sweets? This video is excerpted from BBC’s Sarah & Duck, a kids' show about the adventures between 7-year-old Sarah and her quacky, flappy best friend, Duck.
Discover the amazing hunting techniques of cave glow worms, witness the transformation of lake fly midges, and delve into the mysteries of bioluminescence in the jungle night. Prepare for a close-up look at the miniature marvels all around us!
Fill this journal with lovely nature things. Start by circling the weather. Is it sunny, cloudy, rainy, or rainbow-y? Next, finish coloring a beautiful rainbow. Name and draw your favorite bug and then circle all the things you like to do in nature. Ask a grown-up to help you make a fruity rainbow with strawberries, mandarins, bananas, sliced grapes, and blueberries.
Join Bluey and Bingo in the great outdoors. Match close-ups to the right bug (walking leaf, dragonfly, and ladybug), put leeches in size order from smallest and biggest, and fill out a fun spotting chart on your next nature walk. Can you find a plant, creature, bird, and stick or pinecone? Draw them!