Animal Records: Biggest, Smallest & Fastest Animals

Nova: Buckle up, Explorers.

Cosmo: Brains in!

Nova: Wheels up!

Nova & Cosmo: Brain Bus, let's GO!

Nova: You're on The Brain Bus - I'm Nova, your driver.

Nova: And today, we're heading somewhere amazing.

Nova: We're going to meet the BIGGEST animals.

Nova: The TINIEST animals.

Nova: And the FASTEST animals in the whole wide world.

Nova: Are you ready, Explorers?

Nova: Because here is something wild.

Nova: The biggest animal in the world has a heart so big...

Nova: YOU could fit inside it!

Nova: Whoa.

Nova: Let's go find that animal.

Nova: Our first animal is the biggest of all.

Nova: Bigger than an elephant.

Nova: Bigger than the biggest dinosaur that ever lived.

Nova: Do you know what it is?

Nova: It's the blue whale.

Nova: The blue whale lives in the ocean.

Nova: It is SO long.

Nova: Picture three school buses.

Nova: All in a row.

Nova: That is how long a blue whale is.

Nova: Three whole school buses!

Nova: Can you say BLUE WHALE?

Nova: Blue whale. Yes! That's it.

Nova: And remember that heart?

Nova: A blue whale's heart is so big... a small child could fit right inside it.

Nova: That heart pumps and pumps all day long.

Nova: Boom. Boom. Boom.

Nova: What a heart.

Nova: And the blue whale's tongue - just the tongue - weighs as much as a whole elephant.

Nova: Just the tongue!

Nova: Baby blue whales drink lots and lots of their mama's milk.

Nova: Every single day, a baby whale grows as heavy as a big dog.

Nova: Every. Single. Day.

Nova: Now.

Nova: Let's meet the TINIEST animal.

Nova: The bee hummingbird is a little, tiny bird.

Nova: Are you ready for this?

Nova: It is smaller than your thumb.

Nova: Can you look at your thumb, Explorers?

Nova: That teeny tiny bird - smaller than THAT - can fly.

Nova: Its wings go so fast you can barely see them.

Nova: Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz.

Nova: Can you say BEE HUMMINGBIRD?

Nova: Bee hummingbird. Beautiful.

Nova: Now. The FASTEST animal.

Nova: On the ground, the fastest runner is the cheetah.

Nova: The cheetah runs faster than a car on the highway.

Nova: Zoom!

Nova: It has long, long legs.

Nova: And a very bendy back.

Nova: That bendy back works like a giant spring.

Nova: Boing - and the cheetah flies forward.

Nova: Can you say CHEETAH?

Nova: Cheetah! Fast, fast, fast.

Nova: But wait.

Nova: There is something even faster than a cheetah.

Nova: A bird called the peregrine falcon.

Nova: When it dives down from the sky...

Nova: It goes faster than a race car.

Nova: Falling fast is a different kind of fast.

Nova: The cheetah is the fastest on land.

Nova: The falcon is the fastest falling from the sky.

Nova: Both are amazing.

Nova: And here is something else wonderful.

Nova: A giraffe is SO tall...

Nova: Its head can touch the top of a house.

Nova: And an elephant - the biggest animal that walks on land - has a nose that can pick up a tiny, tiny peanut.

Nova: Such a big animal. Such a gentle, careful nose.

Nova: Animals come in all kinds of sizes, Explorers.

Nova: Every single one is just right for its own life.

Nova: Quiz time, Explorers!

Nova: I'm going to ask you three questions.

Nova: Think really hard. Here we go.

Nova: Question one.

Nova: True or false - is the blue whale the biggest animal in the world?

Nova: True! Yes!

Nova: The blue whale is the biggest animal ever.

Nova: Even bigger than the biggest dinosaur.

Nova: And it lives in our oceans right now, today.

Nova: Question two.

Nova: Which animal is the fastest runner?

Nova: A turtle... a cheetah... or a snail?

Nova: The cheetah! Yes!

Nova: Its long legs and bendy back push it forward so, so fast.

Nova: Zoom!

Nova: Last question.

Nova: Can a hummingbird be smaller than your thumb?

Nova: True or false?

Nova: True! The bee hummingbird is smaller than your thumb.

Nova: Being tiny helps it zip between flowers that bigger birds can't reach.

Nova: Explorers - you thought SO hard.

Nova: Every single one of you.

Nova: That is what the Brain Bus loves most. Thinking brains!

Nova: Here come some wow facts. Ready?

Nova: Wow fact one.

Nova: An ostrich lays an egg bigger than your head.

Nova: Wow fact two.

Nova: A snail carries its whole house on its back.

Nova: And it takes a very, very long time to cross a sidewalk.

Nova: Wow fact three.

Nova: The smallest frog in the world is so little...

Nova: It can sit right on your fingertip.

Nova: Tiny. Tiny. Tiny.

Nova: Okay, Explorers. No moving your head.

Nova: Just think about your hand.

Nova: Think about your thumb.

Nova: That thumb - pretend it is a teeny tiny hummingbird.

Nova: Wiggle your thumb-bird.

Nova: Now pretend your whole arm - all the way up to your shoulder - is a great big blue whale.

Nova: Slowly, slowly sway your whole arm-whale.

Nova: Can you feel how different big and tiny are?

Nova: Right there, inside your very own body.

Nova: Now here is your wondering question.

Nova: If YOU could be any size animal - teeny tiny or super huge - which would you pick?

Nova: And what would you do?

Nova: Hmm. I wonder...

Nova: Explorers.

Nova: Let's just be still for a moment.

Nova: Right now, somewhere in the ocean...

Nova: A blue whale is swimming.

Nova: Bigger than anything else alive.

Nova: And somewhere near a flower...

Nova: A bee hummingbird - smaller than your thumb - is flying.

Nova: Both of them are just right.

Nova: Animals come in all different sizes and speeds.

Nova: And each one is exactly right... for its own life.

Nova: A blue whale has lived in Earth's oceans for millions and millions of years.

Nova: Longer than you can imagine.

Nova: Longer than mountains have had their shapes.

Nova: All that time - just right, just as it is.

Nova: Next time on the Brain Bus...

Nova: We might meet something that glows in the dark.

Nova: Or something that can sleep for a whole winter.

Nova: I wonder which way we'll go.

Nova: Stay curious, stay clever, and keep that brain working!

Nova: Until the next stop, Explorers...

Cosmo: ...keep wondering.