Rainforest Animals: Sloths, Toucans & More

Nova: Buckle up, Explorers.

Cosmo: Brains in!

Nova: Wheels up!

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

Nova: You're on The Brain Bus.

Nova: I'm Nova, your driver.

Nova: And today we are going somewhere amazing.

Nova: Somewhere green and wet and wild.

Nova: We are driving right into... the rainforest!

Nova: And Explorers, I have to tell you something.

Nova: There is a frog in the rainforest.

Nova: And this frog has a see-through tummy.

Nova: You can watch its tiny heart go...

Nova: Beat. Beat. Beat.

Nova: Right through its skin!

Nova: Can you tap your tummy - beat, beat, beat?

Nova: I can feel mine too. How wonderful is that?

Nova: Let's go exploring together.

Nova: Imagine the biggest, greenest forest you ever saw.

Nova: The trees are SO tall.

Nova: The treetops make a thick green roof.

Nova: Way up at the top - bright and sunny.

Nova: Way down at the bottom - cool and shady.

Nova: It's like a giant bunk bed.

Nova: Some animals live way up high.

Nova: Some animals live way down low.

Nova: Everybody has their own special spot.

Nova: Let's meet some of them.

Nova: First - up in the high, sunny treetops.

Nova: There is a bird called a toucan.

Nova: Can you say... toucan?

Nova: Toucan! Beautiful.

Nova: A toucan has the most enormous, colourful beak.

Nova: It looks like a big banana stuck on its face!

Nova: But here is the secret - that big beak is light.

Nova: It is mostly air inside.

Nova: Light as a feather!

Nova: Now - who else lives up high?

Nova: A tiny, tiny hummingbird.

Nova: Its wings move SO fast they hum.

Nova: And it can fly... backwards!

Nova: The only bird in the whole world that can do that.

Nova: Now let's go lower - down in the middle.

Nova: Something blue is fluttering past.

Nova: A morpho butterfly!

Nova: Its wings are the shiniest, sparkliest blue.

Nova: Like a piece of the sky, fluttering right past you.

Nova: And now - all the way down low.

Nova: Near the river. In the cool, shady green.

Nova: Something is hanging very... very... slowly... from a branch.

Nova: Can you guess what it is?

Nova: A sloth!

Nova: Can you say... sloth?

Nova: Sloth! Perfect.

Nova: Sloths move so, so, so slowly.

Nova: And because they move so slowly...

Nova: Tiny green plants actually grow right on their fur!

Nova: Can you say... algae?

Nova: Algae! That's the name for those tiny green plants.

Nova: The sloth's green, fluffy fur helps it hide.

Nova: It blends right in with all the green leaves.

Nova: Sneaky, sleepy sloth.

Nova: And listen - down by the water.

Nova: A jaguar is having a swim!

Nova: A jaguar is a big spotted cat.

Nova: And unlike most cats - this cat LOVES the water.

Nova: Splash, splash, splash.

Nova: Now - in the Daintree rainforest in Australia...

Nova: The Kuku Yalanji people have lived there for thousands and thousands of years.

Nova: Can you say... Kuku Yalanji?

Nova: Kuku Yalanji. That's their name, and that rainforest is their home.

Nova: They have cared for it - and all its animals - for a very, very long time.

Nova: One of the animals there is the cassowary.

Nova: Can you say... cassowary?

Nova: Cassowary! It's a tall bird with a bright blue neck.

Nova: And when it walks through the forest and drops seeds on the ground...

Nova: New trees grow.

Nova: The cassowary helps the whole rainforest keep growing.

Nova: What a good neighbour.

Nova: Explorers, quiz time!

Nova: I'll ask you a question.

Nova: You shout out the answer.

Nova: Ready?

Nova: Question one.

Nova: Does it rain a LOT in the rainforest - yes or no?

Nova: YES! It rains almost every single day.

Nova: That is why it is called a RAINforest!

Nova: Question two.

Nova: Does a sloth zoom around super fast - yes or no?

Nova: No! Sloths move very, very slowly.

Nova: And that slow, slow moving is their superpower.

Nova: It keeps them safe.

Nova: Last question.

Nova: Which animal has a big, colourful beak - a toucan, a sloth, or a frog?

Nova: A toucan! With its big light beak.

Nova: Explorers, you did it.

Nova: Every single one of you thought hard.

Nova: That is what the Brain Bus is all about.

Nova: Three more amazing rainforest things.

Nova: Ready?

Nova: One - a tiny ant called a leaf-cutter ant can carry a leaf BIGGER than its whole body.

Nova: Two - poison dart frogs are as small as your thumb.

Nova: And their bright colours say: "Don't touch me!"

Nova: Three - more kinds of animals live in the rainforest than anywhere else on Earth.

Nova: More than anywhere. Anywhere at all.

Nova: Explorers, time to move!

Nova: Let's play Rainforest Bodies.

Nova: Right where you are sitting.

Nova: First - be a sloth.

Nova: Lift one hand up... so... slowly...

Nova: Like you are moving through sticky honey...

Nova: Slooower...

Nova: And FREEZE! Just like a sloth.

Nova: Now - be a howler monkey!

Nova: Give me your biggest, friendliest jungle call.

Nova: Ready? OOOO-OOOO!

Nova: Oh that was wonderful.

Nova: Now here is something to wonder about.

Nova: If YOU lived in the rainforest...

Nova: Would you live way up high in the sunny treetops?

Nova: Or way down low near the cool, shady river?

Nova: Tell your grown-up which one you would pick.

Nova: I love that question.

Nova: Explorers.

Nova: Come in close for a moment.

Nova: Think about all those animals we met.

Nova: The toucan way up high.

Nova: The sloth down low.

Nova: The butterfly in the middle.

Nova: The jaguar by the river.

Nova: They all live in the same forest.

Nova: And they all fit.

Nova: Because every single one has its own special spot.

Nova: Up high or down low.

Nova: Everyone belongs somewhere.

Nova: In a rainforest, more kinds of animals live together than anywhere else on Earth - and they do it by sharing every layer, from the sunlit tops of trees all the way down to the river mud, each one perfectly shaped for its own small world.

Nova: Next time on the Brain Bus...

Nova: We are going on a hunt for something you can see but never touch. It paints the flowers, the sky, and your favorite toy. What is it?

Nova: Keep guessing.

Nova: Oh, I cannot wait.

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

Nova: Until the next stop, Explorers...

Cosmo: ...keep wondering.