Brucie’s uddies B Spring 2013 Mail from my buddies Make your own water magnifier Brucie’s colouring in More fun and games! ! s ie d d u B y m m o r f Mail I love getting mail and drawings from my Buddies! Thanks to Anika, Ruby and Tessa – your mail was awesome! If anyone else wants to send me some mail, my address is on the back cover of this magazine. Ruby A a k i n Tess a Hi There Buddies! I have had so much fun since the last magazine. I have been all over the place visiting kids and teaching them about our environment and how we can help to look after it. I even flew all the way to Otautau School (Hi to all my Buddies there, especially Tau ☺)! I was so happy to see that spring had arrived and all the daffodils and flowers started to pop out of the ground. As I fly around Southland I love to see all the baby lambs and calves running around the paddocks. It makes me remember when I was a baby and first hatched from an egg. I think I was the cutest seagull you have ever seen and I always enjoyed being around clean water and rivers. In this magazine we are going to learn about stormwater, and how important it is to all help keep our rivers and streams clean. It is not only important for humans, but also for all us birds and animals that drink it as well. Do you know what the Māori word for water is? See if you can find out in this magazine. I have got some great pictures and letters sent to me from some of my buddies who read my magazine so I will make sure that my helper puts them in this magazine for you to see. You may even find your drawing or letter…have a look because I love to get letters and drawings from you. Have fun reading my magazine and doing the activities, and have an AWESOME and HAPPY spring time….boing…boing… boing…(That’s me being a spring…ha…ha..) Brucie Tau and Brucie at Otautau School Brucie’s Dictionary Here are some words you may not know the meaning of. See if you can find them in this magazine: Pollution All kinds of substances that can be harmful to the environment. Wai This is the Māori word for water. Magnifier Something that makes things look bigger. Pitch How high or low a sound is. Kia Ora Māori word which often means ‘hello’. Page 1 Just Ask Brucie... Hi there, Brucie. My name is Annie and my question is . . . ‘What is a Stormwater Drain’? Answer: Hello there Annie, and thanks for your question. When I fly over Southland I can see lots of beautiful water in lakes and rivers. Sometimes when I fly over towns and it is raining really hard, I also see lots of rain water going down driveways, school playgrounds and roads. All this rain water flows into the gutter and then into special drains called ‘Stormwater Drains’. These drains help to stop the town from getting flooded when there is a rainstorm. In towns lots of the stormwater drains have special covers or grates over them that look like the one in this photo. Top Five s ’ e i c u r B Tips in a r D r e t a w Storm und. t on the gro in the bin, no h is b b ru ur yo 1. Put bbish bin, so sed on your ru o cl is lid e th drains. 2. Make sure the stormwater to in w lo b t n’ rubbish does the road grass, not on e th n o r ca es into a 3. Wash your dirty water go e th re he w , or driveway rain. stormwater d t or sink , down the toile er at w h as w ty ir 4. Put any d er drain. the stormwat n w o d t no rains to stop d open farm d un o ar t an Pl 5. ater. entering the w m o fr n tio llu o p Page 2 These drains are made just for rain and NOT for rubbish and other pollution. Did you know that anything that makes its way into these drains ends up in our streams and rivers and eventually in our lakes or the sea? That’s why only rain should go down the drain! Have a look at the comic strip story on page 4 to find out more about stormwater drains. Brucie’s Water Brucie’s Super Water Magnifier Magnifier Did you know that you can make a really cool magnifier with water and recycled materials? Have a go and see what interesting things you can magnify. You will need: 1. A large plastic bottle. 2. Some clear plastic wrap. 3. Scissors or craft knife (make sure to ask you parents if they can help you with this). 4. Clean water. 5. Something you want to magnify. How to make it: 1. Cut the top end off the plastic bottle . 2. Cut a hole big enough to put your hand through in the side of the bottle near the bottom. 3. Put your plastic wrap loosely over the top of the bottle and fix it there with the rubber band or sticky tape. 4. Pour enough water onto the plastic wrap without it overflowing. The plastic wrap should sag at least 5 cm in the middle. 5. Place something you want to look at into the bottle through the hole at the bottom. 6. Look at the object through the top of the water…see how big it looks now! Congratulations – you have just made a magnifier with a water lens! Tiaki Tuatara’s Water Bells Did you know you can make music with water? You will need: 2 or 3 drinking glasses or bottles (as many as you like and ideally the same size) Pencil Water How to make it: Put your glasses/bottles in a row Put a different amount of water in each glass Gently tap the outside of each glass with your pencil and hear them make a different sound. You can take some water out or put more water in to change the pitch of the sound. Try it out and see if you can make up your own water song with your Water Bells. Page 3 When you have finished reading my story about stormwater, you can colour it in! Page 4 Meet My Pals I have some special pals that help me teach about the environment. Today we hear from my mate ‘Ellie Eel’. Kia Ora, Brucie’s Buddies…my name is Ellie. Brucie asked me to tell you a bit about myself because I live in fresh water and I like it to be clean. I am a longfin eel and only live in New Zealand. We are the biggest freshwater eel in the world and can grow up to two metres long. Some of us live to be 100 years old! Did you know…? The Māori word for water is ‘wa i’. Can you name some rivers or place names in Southland tha t start with the word wai? Write them down here. ______________________________ __________________________ ______________________________ __________________________ ______________________________ __________________________ ______________________________ __________________________ ______________________________ __________________________ Word Puzzle Here is a puzzle for you big kids. Fill in the empty squares with the name of a plant, animal or food that begins with each letter in the word WATER. I have done two for you to get you started. W A __________________________ ______________________________ __________________________ ______________________________ __________________________ ______________________________ __________________________ T Plants E R Rimu Animals Food ______________________________ Watercress Page 5 Join Brucie’s Buddies Club Tell all your friends and any new kids that have moved to your school that they can join Brucie’s Buddies Club. Best of all, it’s free!  Yes, I would like to join Brucie’s Buddies Club Name: _____________________________________________ Phone: _________________________ Address: ___________________________________________ Age: ___________________________ Email: _____________________________________________ Date of birth: _____________________ School: ____________________________________________ Send to: Brucie’s Buddies Club, Environment Southland, Private Bag 90116, Invercargill 9840  Want To Be In My Magazine? If you have a question about the environment or a photo or story about something you have done to help the environment, just send it in to me and I might put them in the next issue. @ [email protected] Brucie Online There are lots more things to do and photos of me on the Environment Southland website. Check it out now! www.es.govt.nz (click ’for schools’) Brucie’s Buddies Private Bag 90116 Invercargill 9840 Brucie’s Buddies Private Bag 90116 Invercargill 9840 Published by Environment Southland, Private Bag 90116, Invercargill 9840 0800 76 88 45 | [email protected]