Frozen Stones

Hailstones are made when water in the air sticks to a falling ice crystal, and freezes. More and more water can stick to the crystal, until it finally reaches the ground. The more water freezes to it, the heavier it becomes, and the harder it falls to earth. Big hailstones hit the ground so hard that they will bounce back into the air again!

Squeaking Cold!

When you walk over snow, it makes a crunching or squeaking sound, and so does frost. You might notice that when you walk on it during the daytime, it makes a lower pitched crunch than it does at night, when it is colder. The colder the temperature, the higher pitched the noise is, until it becomes a nasty squeak instead of a crunch!

Looking at Snowflakes

We haven’t had much snow this year – but there is still time!

Snowflakes have been falling and fluttering to earth for BILLIONS of years. But, as far as we know, no two have ever been exactly the same! Each flake is made up of tiny crystals, and each crystal is a perfect geometric shape. The type of shape depends on the temperature of the air, and the amount of water vapour that is in it. If the crystal is formed very high in the air, where there is not much water vapour, then it will be a simple rod or needle shape. If it is formed nearer to earth, where the air is warmer and there is more water vapour, then it will be a much more interesting shape. As the tiny CRYSTALS fall nearer to earth, they begin to melt slightly in the warmer air, and stick together to make snow FLAKES. Look at a snow flake under a magnifying glass, and you will see all the tiny crystals that have joined together to make it.

Dolphins Around Britain

Two Bottle-nose Dolphins photographed by Vicki Murdoch

Dolphins are small whales with teeth. Some people think that they are as intelligent as we are, and men and dolphins have been friends for a very long time. Tjhere are lots of stories of dolphins playing in the waves before a speeding ship, and saving sailors from drowning.

Dolphins have a built-in sonar system that allows them to "see" in the dark to find their way and food. In their head is a melon - a fatty area that sends out clicks that will bounce back when they hit something. These echoes tell the dolphin where an object is, how large it is, how large it's moving and how dense it is - rather like bat's sonar system.

Dolphins feed on fish - a habit that sometimes makes them unpopular with fishermen. They have about 100 sharp teeth in a long snout, called a beak. The shape of that beak gives many species a "smile", which adds to the attraction that they have for man. Unlike most other mammals, they don't need to drink, all of the water that they need is found in the bodies of the fish and squid that they eat. Like all toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises have just one blowhole

Dolphins live in family groups called herds, with babies staying with their mothers for many years, learning to fish and stay safe from sharks.

Look out for both Bottle-nosed and Common dolphins around British shores at any time of the year. They are most commonly seen ariound the South and West coasts, and sometimes come into the sheltered waters of bays or estuaries. You will still be very lucky if you spot one though!

There is Just One Ocean on Our Planet

There There is Just one ocean on our planet.

All of the cleaning chemicals that you use in your house end up in it.

That means that my baby eats "Superclean toilet" flavoured fish.

And so does yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

All of the pesticides sprayed in field or garden end up in it.

That is why my baby eats fish containing DDT, 20 years after it’s ban.

And so could yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

All of the rubbish in landfill rots slowly down and dissolves into it.

That means it will poison my unborn relatives, a million years from now.

And also yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

Every coke can, crisp packet ‘dropped’ on the beach floats off in it.

A snare for every curious creature that looks inside it for food.

Don’t ‘drop’ yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

The rubbish that goes into it at one side of our big wide world

Can kill me in a multitude of different ways, even if I live on the other.

Be sure it’s not yours.

There is Just One Ocean on our planet.

Man is using it as a bottomless pit to hide all his sins beneath.

Toxic. Nuclear. Anything. Won’t you care that it’s killing my baby…

Until it kills yours?

Poem written by Simon Frogley, then aged 15 years.

Almost three quarters of the world is covered by oceans and seas, but although we think of there being five main oceans, it must be remembered that they are not separate - they all join to make one great ocean. So... whatever happens in one part of that ocean, sooner or later, has impact on the rest of it.

February 2007

If you've been outside enjoying the sunshine this February, perhaps you can remember what the weather was like last February? It was a little different - as you can see from this photograph taken a year ago!

WATER - Bottled or Tap?

Do you moan when your parents tell you to drink water from the tap? If so, then you need to read this!

Every year the British spend nearly 2 BILLION pounds on bottled water - even though they could get some that is just as healthy out of the tap! In shops, water often costs more than pure orange juice or milk! Which would you rather have?

Most important of all though, every time you open a bottle of water you are adding to the problems on our planet caused by plastic. It takes a lot of energy to make plastic, and if we recycle it, then it takes a lot of energy to collect it, clean and melt it, and then make it in to something else. I'm sure that you recycle YOUR bottles, but many people DON'T. Plastic bottles that get sent to landfill with the rubbish take 450 years to break down!

So now you have some good reasons to tell your family and friends not to buy bottled water!