3.24 The Biology Badge
If you don’t over think it The Biology Badge is an excellent introduction to biology for pre-schoolers.
Badge Design
A heart shape with a brain, heart, DNA, mitochondria and a bone.
Episode Summary
Opening Squirrel
Norrie surrounded by woodland animals.
Start
Tag and Happy are playing with the cars, Roly has his spinning top and Betty and Norrie are having a tea party.
Set-Up
Duggee is organising his Biology equipment. The Squirrels are not sure what biology is but Duggee can explain, he has his Biology Badge.
Story
Biology is about how our bodies work. It can answer questions like why Tag is blue, why Roly is loud, why Happy loves water, why Betty is clever and why Enid is making that funny noise.
Duggee pulls out a diagram of Felis domestica, the common domestic cat. The Squirrel get a little confused by all the long biological words so Duggee comes up with a plan to explain to them better. He creates the biology bus and with all of the Squirrel club members inside he shrinks it down with a shrink ray.
The bus drives into Enid through her ear and they spot her brain ahead. Based on the fireworks going off in Enid’s head it seems she is doing something complex. She is trying to shake a piece of sticky tape from her paw. Next, they pass by Enid’s eyes. Cats have good eyesight for hunting prey. Enid is currently hunting a ball of wool. Cats also have good nasal receptors for smell. Enid sniffs a flower. She also has vocal chords for purring. She sits on top of Tortoise, purring loudly.
The next area is really dark. Duggee switches on the headlights to reveal they are in Enid’s blood. The blood carries oxygen around Enid’s body, pumped by the heart. When she is excited her heart pumps faster. At the moment, Enid is chasing the mice as they run away with some cheese. The Squirrels are thrown around the biology bus and Enid’s lungs work hard to get more oxygen into her body.
The Squirrels are having fun but they still don’t know what’s wrong with Enid. They might find the answer in her tummy. Up ahead they spot an enormous fur ball. Cats clean themselves by licking themselves and the fur collects in their tummy. When the furball gets too big she will cough it up and she starts to do so now.
Duggee puts his foot down and they are chased through Enid’s body by the furball. Betty directs him through the superior mesenteric artery. Norrie tells him to turn left through the aortic arch. Happy instructs him to follow the thoracic vertebrae. Tag and Roly tell Duggee to look for the trapezius muscle and go through the buccal cavity. Enid coughs out the furball and the biology bus. The size ray returns them to normal size.
Bridges
- Duggee cell dividing.
Close and Credits
The Squirrels have earned their Biology Badges.
The size ray makes Enid huge.
Outfits
Duggee has in his professor’s tweeds on throughout.