Welcome to Ping and Echo, a daily newsletter that shares one amazing podcast episode guaranteed to be a great listen for kids and their families. Each newsletter includes links to articles, videos, and activities related to the podcast so you can turn every episode into an adventure.
Today’s episode is a clip from NPR’s Morning Edition, and when we heard the story we knew we had to share it. A few years ago a scientist exploring a glacier in Alaska stumbled on a colony of green moss balls spread over the white snow. Turns out they are colloquially called “glacier mice.” If that wasn’t odd enough already, the thing that makes them really remarkable is that they move together like a herd. The story is about the quest to try to figure out how or why they move.
Podcast: NPR Morning Edition
Episode: Herd Of Fuzzy Green 'Glacier Mice' Baffles Scientists
URL: https://www.npr.org/2020/05/22/858800112/herd-like-movement-of-fuzzy-green-glacier-mice-baffles-scientists
Length: 3 minutes
🧐 You Should Know
We’ll always give you a heads up if there is anything in the podcast that might surprise or worry kids. Nothing to worry about here.
💡 Try This
After you listen to the episode you can make some mice of your own with the links and activities below:
Use some green felt, cotton balls and thread to sew your own glacier mice
Use a stop motion video app to show a bunch of glacier mice moving around
🔎 Explore More
Read up on glacier mice and the science behind this episode with these links:
The name Ping and Echo comes from sonar technology which relies on sending out “pings” and receiving back “echos” to discover the world around you. You can send us pictures of the art and activities created by your kids. Email them to pingandecho@gmail.com and we’ll post all your echos on our Instagram and our Twitter page.
Thanks for lending us your ears and your inbox.
Toby, Ruby, and Josh