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. He can see fields, trees, some houses, and lots of sheep.
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 a county called Shropshire, in the West Midlands of England.
William Whiskerson:Look. I've got a message coming through on my Cheese Phone.
Euan:Hello, William Whiskerson. My name's Euan. Do you want to come and see my grandma and grandpa to have an adventure?
William Whiskerson:That sounds like an amazing adventure. Lock the location, Cheese Phone.
Narrator:The map shows William where to meet Euan.
William Whiskerson:Explorers, away!
Narrator:William sets off to meet his new friend Euan and comes across some very colourful houses. Euan's grandparents live in a village, but this is no ordinary village, as William is about to find out.
William Whiskerson:Pleased to squeak you.
Euan:Pleased to squeak you, William.
Grandma:Pleased to squeak to you. This is a very special place to live, in our village, and we'd be happy to show you round.
William Whiskerson:That sounds really exciting.
All:Explorers, away!
Narrator:Euan's grandparents live in a special place called an eco-village. In an eco-village, the houses and the land around it are built to help people to use food, water, and energy carefully, so they don't waste them. This helps them live happily together, and also helps look after the planet.
William Whiskerson:Your village is beautiful.
Grandma:It's lovely.
William Whiskerson:Why are the houses all so different?
Grandma:Because they're built in a different way, William.
William Whiskerson:How?
Grandma:Well, they're built using old bricks and old tiles from old buildings to make these new ones.
William Whiskerson:Oh, I see.
Grandma:They're recycled bricks and tiles.
William Whiskerson:Recycled?
Grandma:Mm-hmm.
Grandma:There's lots more to see inside. Would you like a look?
William Whiskerson:Yes, please.
Grandma:Come on, then.
Narrator:Inside the house, it looks like any other home, with a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom, but in the hall, Euan shows William a special box.
Euan:You know up on the ceiling?
William Whiskerson:Yeah.
Euan:Outside, there's solar panels.
Euan:This tells you how much electricity it's creating.
William Whiskerson:How does it do that?
Euan:It turns the light from the sun into electricity.
Narrator:The red box shows the explorers how electricity is made from the sun's energy, which is being soaked up by the solar panels on the roof. By using the sun's energy, the homes in the eco-village can make their own electricity. This can be stored and used even when the sun isn't shining. The houses also have special windows with three layers of glass to keep the heat in. In the garden, Euan shows William something else.
William Whiskerson:Euan, what's this?
Euan:A water butt.
William Whiskerson:What's a water butt?
Euan:The water splashes off the roof into this thing.
Narrator:The rainwater runs down the roof into a drainpipe that fills the water butt.
William Whiskerson:It's a bit full.
Euan:Yeah.
Narrator:This water can be used to water the plants. Euan heads off to show William more of the eco-village. In the village is an area of land divided into plots known as allotments. Each villager has their own allotment to grow fruit and vegetables. Euan and his grandparents decide to pick some vegetables for a special tea for William. They find peas and artichokes.
Euan:Be careful. There's spikes.
Grandpa:They're spiky, aren't they?
Narrator:Next, the explorers see what else they can pick for tea.
William Whiskerson:Look at all these things. What are they?
Euan:That's an aubergine. And those are tube beans. You see these tomatoes? They're not ready.
William Whiskerson:Aren't they? Which ones are ready, then?
Euan:That one and that one.
William Whiskerson:How do you know they're ready?
Euan:They have to be red. If this is the same colour as this, they're not ripe.
William Whiskerson:So if they're red, they're ready.15Euan:Yeah.
William Whiskerson:Red, ready.
William Whiskerson:Shall we pick that aubergine?
Euan:Yeah.
William Whiskerson:Go on, then. It doesn't want to come off.
William Whiskerson:You got it.
William Whiskerson:There's lots of tomatoes growing on that plant.
Euan:And there's a teeny-weeny one.
Narrator:Once they've picked all the vegetables for tea, Euan takes William to visit the eco-village chickens. They've got peas for tea.
William Whiskerson:What are we doing here?
Euan:Well, that's a chicken coop, and I'm just about to take this down and collect the eggs.
Narrator:Euan opens the coop, and gently collects the eggs laid by the village chickens.
William Whiskerson:Let's take them to grandma.
Narrator:Euan and grandma decide to make William an omelette with the eggs they've collected.
ҰԻ峾:…w.
Euan:Whoa, it's got two eggs in it.
Grandma:Oh, look, you got two yolks in that one egg. Whisk it up quickly. We'll just cook the butter. A few herbs in. Whisk it up. What else do we need?
Euan:Cheese.
Grandma:Because it's for William. So let's cut him a bit of cheese to put in. So, shall we pop the egg in?
Euan:It's ready now.
Grandma:That's it. You give that to me, and I'll just give it a final whisk. And let's just pour it into here. Okay, well, you're going to love this, William.
Euan:And I'll give him some cheese.
Grandma:Oh, that's it. Oh, looking good. Going to be nice and cheesy. I hope he's hungry. Okay. Just slide it out. It'll go like that. Oh, look at that. What have you made, then?
Euan:Omelette.
Grandma:Cheese omelette.
William Whiskerson:Look at all this food. What a feast. What's this?
Euan:Omelette.
William Whiskerson:Is it made with the eggs that we collected from the chickens?
Euan:Yes. With cheese and one egg with two yolks in.
William Whiskerson:One egg with two yolks? You must be yolk-ing.
Euan:And lots of cheese.
William Whiskerson:Cheese. Oh, squeak-a-licious. This food looks yummy. But it's even tastier when you've picked it with your own paws.
Grandma:William, Euan's got one more thing to give you.
William Whiskerson:What's that?
Euan:Bread. There you go.
William Whiskerson:It's a mouse-sized loaf. Who made that?
Euan:Grandpa did.
William Whiskerson:Let's tuck in.
Narrator:The explorers and grandma tuck into their yummy tea.
William Whiskerson:That was squeak-a-licious. Thank you for an amazing adventure. Squeak you later.
Euan:Squeak you later.
Grandma:Squeak you later.
Narrator:Can you remember where William went today? William met his friend Euan, and they visited his grandparents' house. Can you remember where they lived? They lived in an eco-village. William got to pick some vegetables, and collect some eggs. Can you remember what they did with the eggs? They made a special cheese omelette. William had a great adventure, and a super tea made from things grown on the allotment.
William Whiskerson:Time to fly, explorers. We're off on another adventure.
Narrator:See you soon, William.
Video summary
William Whiskerson meets his friend Euan, who lives in an eco-village in Shropshire.
First he visits Euan’s house and learns how it has been adapted to save energy through the use of solar panels and triple glazing.
He then visits the village allotment and helps to pick vegetables and collect eggs for tea.
Teacher Notes
After viewing the clip, pupils could be asked: "What could we do here at school to make our classroom more sustainable, like the eco-village William Whiskerson saw?"
Collect pupils' suggestions and guide them towards ideas such as collecting rainwater for classroom plants, or introducing separate bins for recycling waste from the classroom.
Pupils could experience using solar energy, by trying out solar-powered calculators.
Pupils could be challenged to look out for energy-saving features, such as double glazing or solar panels, on buildings in the school's neighbourhood.
Pupils could also look for evidence of recycling, such as bottle banks and clothes banks.
Pupils could photograph any examples they find, for an online slideshow or classroom display.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Geography.
This topic appears in KS1/KS2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Early/1st/2nd levels in Scotland.
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Fossil hunting along the Jurassic Coast. video
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Life on the Isles of Scilly. video
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Transport, travel and landmarks of London. video
William Whiskerson meets Kulala who lives in London, and visit some of the key landmarks.
Jobs and tourism in a seaside town. video
William Whiskerson visits the seaside town of Weymouth. He explores the beach and sees tourists on the esplanade.
Travelling on a canal boat. video
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Exploring a cave in Yorkshire. video
William Whiskerson meets Emily and together they explore a cave in Yorkshire.
How honey is made. video
William Whiskerson meets Sophie and Ben and they visit a bee farm.
