Exploring the trees and wildlife of a woodland location.
The video
William Whiskerson, mouse explorer. Finds adventure, 'round every corner. Where will he go? Who will he meet? His amazing adventures, will make you squeak. William Whiskerson, mouse explorer.
Narrator: Here comes William Whiskerson in his amazing traveling globe.
William Whiskerson: Greetings, adventurers. I am William Whiskerson, the famous mouse explorer.
Narrator: William is in the countryside. There are lots of mountains and trees. Everything looks green and there are no houses to be seen. But which part of the United Kingdom is he in today?
William Whiskerson: Cheese Phone, reveal my location.
Narrator: The Cheese Phone shows William where he is on a map of the world.
Cheese phone: Hello, William. Today you're in the Highlands of Scotland. Scotland is in the far north of the British Isles. The Highlands are very beautiful, and are formed from ancient rocks. There are mountains and lakes, which in Scotland are called lochs.
William Whiskerson: Wow. Scotland sounds amazing.
PHONE BEEPING
William Whiskerson: I've got a message coming through on my Cheese Phone.
Louis and Brea: Hi William.
Louis: Would you like to join us on a Highland adventure?
William Whiskerson: That sounds like a brilliant adventure. Lock the location, Cheese Phone.
Narrator: The map shows William where to meethis new friends, Louis and Brea.
William Whiskerson: Explorers, away!
Narrator: 'William makes his way to meet his new friends, and comes to an area where there are lots and lots of trees.'
William Whiskerson: Pleased to squeak you, Louis and Brea.
Louis and Brea: Pleased to squeak you too, William.
William Whiskerson: Why are there so many trees?
Louis: Because we're in a forest.
William Whiskerson: Oh! Shall we go and see them?
Brea: Yeah.
William Whiskerson: Come on, then. Let's go.
Narrator: 'In a forest, there can be many types of trees.'
Louis: William, this tree's called a spruce.
William Whiskerson: Wow.
Louis: It's very hard and rough and bumpy.
William Whiskerson: And very tall.
Louis: Yep.
William Whiskerson: Can you see up to the top?
Louis: No, it's too big.
Brea: Look, William, this is a larch.
William Whiskerson: Wow. It's all rough and cracked.
Louis: William, this tree's called a beech tree.
William Whiskerson: A beech tree.
Louis: It's got moss on it.
William Whiskerson: Yeah. It's like fur.
Louis: And there's even some leaves on it.
William Whiskerson: Oh, yeah.
Louis: This is a roundleaf, and it's very soft. And it's even got wee lines on it.
William Whiskerson: It has.
Narrator: The adventurers continue exploring the forest, and go to meet Henry, who looks after some of the animals that live there.
William Whiskerson: Pleased to squeak you, Henry.
Henry: Pleased to squeak you, too, William.
William Whiskerson: This is Louis and Brea.
Henry: Hi, Louis. Hi, Brea.
Louis and Brea: Hi.
William Whiskerson: Do you work here?
Henry: Yeah, I work in this forest, and I look after the wild animals here. So, here are the red squirrels. Can you see them?
William Whiskerson: I can.
Narrator: The explorers have to watch the red squirrels behind a wooden fence, because the squirrels are very shy.
William Whiskerson: He's got whiskers just like me.
Narrator: You might have seen grey squirrels in the park or garden at home, but red squirrels are special, because there are not many of them left in the wild. They're very rare animals, so they need to be looked after by people called foresters.
William Whiskerson: What are they eating, Henry?
Henry: They eat nuts, berries, and seeds. In fact, their avourite food of all is hazelnuts, and I have some in my pocket here.
William Whiskerson: Ah! They look squeak-a-licious.
Narrator: Next, Henry takes the adventurers to see where the squirrels live, high in the trees, in nests called dreys.
Henry: Ah, look. Here we are. That is a squirrel drey.
William Whiskerson: Wow. They look really cozy. Could I live in one?
Narrator: It's a long way up, so Henry suggests that they build their own drey on the ground.
William Whiskerson: Let's get building.
All: Explorers, away!
Narrator: William and his friends find the perfect spot to make a drey. They collect things from the forest floor. The adventurers form a roof with branches, and finally add some moss to stop the rain getting in. Soon, William's drey is finished.
William Whiskerson: I think it's time to go inside.
Louis: Yeah, let's go inside.
William Whiskerson: Yeah.
William Whiskerson: This is a brilliant den for William Whiskerson, mouse explorer, and the moss is a perfect place to rest my whiskers on. This part of the forest looks different. It feels magical.
Narrator: The explorers lead William into an old part of the forest, where very important trees called Scots pine can be found. These trees were once part of an ancient forest. The explorers find one tree that is more than 400 years old.
William Whiskerson: Come on. This way.
Narrator: William wants to find out more about this part of the forest, and asks his trusty Cheese Phone.
William Whiskerson: Cheese Phone, what can you tell us?
Cheese phone: Scots pine trees used to grow all over Scotland, and were part of a huge forest called the Caledonian Forest. Now there are not many of the ancient trees left, so they have to be protected, just like the red squirrels.
William Whiskerson: Amazing. Thank you, Cheese Phone. So this is part of the great Caledonian Forest.
Narrator: The explorers have lots of fun in the forest. They take bark rubbings by rubbing a wax crayon over paper on the bark of a tree. They race sticks, and they climb trees.
Louis: Hello, William.
William Whiskerson: Hello, explorers. I'm on top of the world!
Narrator: Finally, Brea and Louis go hunting for forest mini-beasts.
William Whiskerson: Let's lift up this bark here.
Brea: Okay.
Narrator: Underneath the bark, William and Brea find a woodlouse. There are lots of bugs in the forest, even bugs in the air. These bugs are called midges.
William Whiskerson: Look at our lovely bugs.
Narrator: Can you see the bugs? They found a spider, a beetle, and some woodlice.
William Whiskerson: Shall we set them free? Bye, Mr. Beetle. What a mousy marvellous day. I've had so much fun.
Brea: I've got a present for you, William.
William Whiskerson: What is it?
Brea: It's a Scots pinecone.
William Whiskerson: Oh, thank you, Brea. This is the perfect way to remember my adventure in the forest. Squeak you later.
Louis and Brea: Squeak you later.
Narrator: Can you remember where William went today? William visited his friends Brea and Louis in Scotland. They took him to a forest. Can you remember what animals live there? That's right, red squirrels. The explorers went hunting for mini-beasts. And William was given a lovely Scots pinecone to remind him of his amazing forest adventure.
William Whiskerson: Time to fly, explorers. We're off on another adventure.
Narrator: See you soon, William.
Video summary
Download/print a transcript of the video.
William Whiskerson travels to the Highlands of Scotland to explore a woodland location.
He journeys to the ancient Caledonian Forest and learn about the different types of trees that grow there, such as larch, spruce and Scots pine. He sees some red squirrels and builds a squirrel drey and tries bark rubbing and bug collecting.
This episode introduces children to some typical features of a woodland location.
Teacher Notes
After viewing the clip, challenge pupils to find the Scottish Highlands on a map of the UK. Can they spot any lochs?
Ask the children to sketch the leaves of the trees mentioned in the clip (larch, spruce, beech and Scots pine).
They could use a webpage or a book about trees as an information source.
Ask pupils to close their eyes and imagine what they would hear if they were standing in the Caledonian Forest.
Take a walk in your local neighbourhood and challenge pupils to spot trees with leaves similar to the ones they saw in the clip.
The children could collect leaves from local trees and with your help, use information sources to identify and name those trees.
Depending on where you take your walk, you may be able to take bark rubbings and collect bugs too, as William Whiskerson did in the clip.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Geography.
This topic appears in KS1/KS2 in England and Northern Ireland, Knowledge and Understanding of the World Foundation Phase in Wales and Early/1st/2nd levels in Scotland.
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