Crickets: Backyard Science/ Wasps: Paper Makers of the Summer/ Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (3 films)

Duration:

Year Published: 196719661984

Creator: Bailey Film Associates (BFA) Documentary Educational Resources Weston Woods Studios

Complete Record: 1) Shows the anatomy of the cricket and its life cycle from the egg to the adult. Demonstrates how crickets chirp, clean themselves, and lay eggs. Mentions how to keep and feed crickets so they can be watched. 2) This wondrous arrangement is disclosed as we trace here the stages of wasp development from the larva, that spins a cocoon, to the pupa, that evolves in a few days, to the adult. As with many insect societies, we see how the chores of daily maintenance inherently devolve on the workers, who are the only ones to spend an active life inside and outside the nest. Besides completing the nest, they catch and kill other insects for food and feed the larvae which require attendance once a minute. In the heat of summer, these dedicated workers maintain temperature control inside the the nest by using their two sets of interlocking wings as fans. It was their example which first inspired man to experiment with paper making, starting with the Chinese of two millennia ago. Today, paper is an essential of our modern civilization manufactured basically in much the same way. 3) Music and narration reminiscent of the traditional village storyteller enhance the elegance of this quintessential African folk tale. When Mosquito tells Iguana a tall tale, Iguana plugs his ears in disgust, Python plunges down Rabbit’s hole fearing foul play, and the chain reaction leads to a jungle disaster. King Lion calls a meeting where all is set right-except for Mosquito’s last fatal bad habit. Points out the vulnerability of people to assumptions, fears that loom larger than truth, and mischief that wreaks havoc on all. Animated.