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16/01/2013

Mel Giedroyc presents part 3 of Jacqueline Wilson's 'Dustbin Baby' and the Inheritance Tracks of Frances de la Tour, plus Dick and Dom ask How Dangerous Is Your Garden.

1 hour

Last on

Wed 16 Jan 2013 16:00

Clip

Chapters

  • How Dangerous Is Your Garden 鈥 Part 3

    Dick and Dom explore the science of creepy crawlies.

    Duration: 13:54

  • Dame Jacqueline Wilson - My Life In Five Books 鈥 Part 3

    The former children's laureate discusses her favourite reference book Henry Mayhew鈥檚 London Labour and the London Poor.

    Duration: 02:28

  • Inheritance Books 鈥 Frances De La Tour

    The Rising Damp actress discusses the track she inherited as a child and the song she would pass on to future generations.

    Duration: 07:17

  • Daydreams and Diaries 鈥 The Jacqueline Wilson Exhibition

    Kirsten O鈥橞rien walks round a special touring exhibition of the celebrated children鈥檚 author.

    Duration: 04:06

  • Magical Mystery Tour 鈥 South Pole

    Chef Gerard Baker describes life cooking for Antarctic explorers.

    Duration: 04:34

  • Dustbin Baby 鈥 Part 3

    The third episode of Dame Jacqueline Wilson鈥檚 story about April, the child abandoned in a dumpster as a child.

    Duration: 21:54

Activity 1. Meet the woodlice

Try looking under any pot plants or big stones, and you鈥檙e likely to uncover woodlice, (also known as 鈥渟laters鈥 in Scotland). Woodlice like dark and damp conditions so look in areas that are out of direct sunshine. Dick and Dom and the team found masses when they turned over a plank of wood lying under a trampoline.

Woodlice help gardeners by munching through dead leaves and other organic matter to create compost. They are quite far down the food chain, having many predators, so they stay hidden away as much as they can.听 They need to live in moist conditions because they breathe through gills, and if they鈥檙e left in the sunshine for too long they will die.

If you find a few woodlice, you can create a race track for them and watch them scurry into the dark. All you need is a baking tray, with partitions for lanes made from modelling clay or cardboard. At the finishing line, create a darkened area and fill it with leaves. In theory, the woodlice will run to get into the dark end 鈥 although the race may be rather chaotic, as Dick and Dom and the boys discovered! It will certainly work better on a brighter day.

Whether you try racing your woodlice or not, make sure you return all of them (and any other creatures you find in the garden) to the place you found them in.

Activity 2. Explore a leaf pile

Another way to see what鈥檚 in your garden, is to rake up a large pile of leaves, and leave it undisturbed for a few days. Then spread a bedsheet out on the grass next to the leaf pile (ask first before you do this!) and push the leaves over onto it. Quickly spread them out, and have a look to see if there鈥檚 anything moving鈥

Activity 3. Investigate moths

At night, moths visit your garden. This happens throughout the year, although the summer months are the busiest. There are 2500 varieties of moth in the UK, and they vary widely in appearance, so they鈥檙e well worth a look.

Moths are attracted to light, so the simplest way to find some moths to examine is to hang a white sheet up in the garden (or inside, if you open the windows), and shine a bright torch on it for a while. Be patient! If moths or other flying insects appear, you can capture them in a jar or bug-box for a short time and inspect them up close. Remember to let them go once you鈥檝e finished.

Broadcast

  • Wed 16 Jan 2013 16:00