20th May 2015, by Cumbernauld LL

This summer, get out into your garden or local greenspace and get your Sherlock Holmes inspired natural investigation on!  We’ve got a “how to” make pooters here – a great little tool you can make from a recycled materials in no time at all.  Use it to suck up minibeasts for an up close and personal inspection!

 

What you will need:

Small bottle with lid

Plastic tubing or 2 drinking straws

Plasticine or blutac

A small piece of gauze material (we cut a square out of some tights!)

Tape and scissors

 

Step One:

Ask an adult to help you to make two holes in the bottle, near the top

 

Step Two:

Push the shorter bit of tube into one of the holes.  Poke it back through the opening and tape the gauze over the end, making sure you’ve got full coverage (this will stop the bugs being sucked into your mouth!)

 

Step Three:

Push the longer end of tubing into the opposite side and use the plasticine to make seals around the tube holes.  Screw on the lid and mark the end of the longer tube with some tape so you know that this is the bug end

 

Step Four:

Your pooter is ready!  Suck the short tube with the gauze on the end and use the long end to root round in grass, bushes or under rocks and see what you can get!

 

Step Five:

Don’t forget to release your captured bugs back where you found them, once you’ve had a good look and identified them.  Enjoy!