Silky the Spider and the Story of the First Hello
Part One: Silky's Busy Day
Once
upon a time, in a quiet little garden by the sea, there lived a spider named
Silky.
Silky
had eight legs. Can you count them? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight! Four legs on one side and four legs on the other side.
Silky
used her two front legs to feel things, just like you use your fingers to feel.
Her front legs were extra long, so she could reach out and touch everything
around her.
One
warm evening, when the sun was going down, Silky got ready to build something
wonderful.
"Time
to make my web!" she said.
But
first, Silky needed her special silk. Do you know where spider silk comes from?
It comes from inside the spider's body! It starts as a liquid, like water, and
when it comes out, it turns hard. Isn't that amazing?
Spider
silk is very, very thin. Thinner than your hair! But it is super strong. It can
hold 4,000 times what Silky weighs. That's like you lifting 4,000 of your
friends!
Silky
climbed up high. She found a good spot between two branches.
First,
she made a long line. She pulled it tight and stuck it to a twig.
"Perfect!"
said Silky.
Then
she made more lines. She made a big frame, like a square. Then she made lines
going this way and that way, like a wheel with spokes.
Next,
Silky went round and round and round, from the middle to the outside. She made
a beautiful spiral.
"Now
for the sticky part!" said Silky.
She
made one more spiral, but this time she used sticky silk. This silk would catch
her dinner.
When
she was all done, her web looked like a beautiful wheel with sparkly, sticky
strings.
"Wait
a minute," said Silky. "If my web is sticky, why don't I get
stuck?"
Good
question!
Silky
is very smart. She runs on the dry strings. She stays away from the sticky
ones. Also, her feet have oil on them, like when you put lotion on your hands.
The oil keeps her from sticking.
So
Silky can run all over her web without getting stuck. Whew!
Now
Silky waited.
A
little fly came buzzing by.
*Bzzzzz.
Bzzzzz.*
The
fly did not see the web. It flew right into the sticky strings!
*Boing!*
The
fly was stuck.
Silky
felt the web wiggle. She ran over on her dry strings. Now she had dinner!
But Silky had to be careful. Bigger animals wanted to eat HER!
Sometimes
a bird came. Sometimes a wasp came. Sometimes even a frog came!
When Silky got scared, she did something clever. She let go of her web and dropped down, down, down on a special silk string. It was like a lifeline!
She
landed on the ground and ran away fast, fast, fast.
"Phew!"
said Silky. "That was close!"
---
## Part Two: Silky Meets Some Children
One
day, some children came to play in the garden.
They
sat down near Silky's web.
"Look!"
said one child. "A spider!"
"Don't
touch it!" said another child. "Spiders are scary!"
Silky
heard this and felt sad. She was not scared. She was just a little spider
trying to live her life.
A
kind child named Mia looked closely at Silky.
"She's
not scary," said Mia. "She's beautiful. Look at her sparkly
web!"
Silky
felt happy. Someone understood her!
Mia
asked, "What kind of creature is a spider?"
Her
friend Tom said, "I think it's an insect?"
"No,"
said Mia. "Let's find out!"
---
## Part Three: All About Spiders
Spiders
belong to a special family called **Arachnids** (say: ah-RACK-nids).
Arachnids
are different from insects. Can you remember how?
**Insects
have:**
-
6 legs
-
3 body parts
-
Some have wings
**Spiders
(Arachnids) have:**
-
8 legs
-
2 body parts
-
No wings
So if you see a little creature with eight legs, it is NOT an insect. It is an arachnid!
**Other arachnid cousins include:**
-
Scorpions
-
Ticks
-
Mites
They are all in the same family as spiders!
**Fun Facts:**
-
There are more than 40,000 kinds of spiders in the world!
-
Spiders live everywhere — even in very cold places and very hot places
-
Most spiders are tiny, but some can be as big as your hand
-
Spiders help us by eating bugs like mosquitoes and flies
So remember: eight legs means arachnid!
And Silky the Spider is proud to be one.
## Part Four: The Story of the First Hello
Mia
looked out at the sea beyond the garden.
"Did
you know," said Mia, "that long ago, a big ship came to this
land?"
Tom
asked, "What ship?"
"A
ship called the *Endeavour*," said Mia. "It was Captain Cook's ship.
Captain Cook was from England, a country far, far away across the sea. He was
born in a little place called Marton in Yorkshire."
The
children imagined a big, white ship with tall sails.
"On
the ship were sailors who had traveled a very, very long way from their
homes," said Mia. "They were tired and curious. They had heard
stories about a great southern land, and now they were finally here."
"When
the ship came close to the land, the sailors looked through their telescopes.
On the beach, they saw people. These were the Aboriginal people, the First
Peoples of Australia. They had lived on this land for thousands and thousands
of years."
Tom asked, "What did they look like?"
"The
sailors noticed something," said Mia. "The Aboriginal people were not
wearing clothes like the sailors' heavy coats and trousers. It was a very hot,
sunny day. The Aboriginal people were dressed for their country. They wore
nothing at all, or perhaps just a little bit of decoration. To them, this was
normal. It was comfortable. The sun was warm on their skin, and the cool water
was nice for swimming."
"The
Aboriginal people saw the big ship, too. They were quiet and watchful. Captain
Cook wrote in his journal that they seemed 'very timid.' They didn't rush to
the ship. They didn't shout or wave. They stayed on the shore, watching. They
were careful. This was their home, and a giant, strange ship was in it."
Mia
continued, "Now, the sailors had also been to a place called Hawaii. In
Hawaii, the people were very curious! They swam out to the ship in big groups.
The Hawaiian women even swam up to the sailors, smiling and wanting to trade.
They were excited to meet new people."
"The
Aboriginal people were different. They didn't see the ship and think, 'Wow!
Let's go see!' They saw the ship and thought, 'What is that? We must be
careful.' They were brave, but they were also cautious. They didn't know who
these strangers were or what they wanted."
---
## Part Five: Two Different Worlds
Silky
listened to the children's story from her web.
She
thought about how the Aboriginal people felt when they saw the big ship. They
were careful and watchful. Just like Silky was careful and watchful when big
animals came near her web!
"Being
careful is smart," said Mia. "The Aboriginal people were protecting
their home."
"Many
years later," said Mia, "some artists tried to paint pictures of the
Aboriginal people. Some of these artists had never even met an Aboriginal
person. They had only read stories. So, they painted them as if they were from
ancient Rome or Greece, like statues in a museum. They gave them a style that
wasn't their own. It wasn't honest."
"But
other artists, who had actually been there, drew what they really saw. Their
pictures, even if they weren't perfect, were more honest. They showed the real
people, living in their own way."
Tom
said, "So the first drawings were better?"
"Yes,"
said Mia. "They were honest. They showed the truth."
Silky thought about this. Her web was honest too. It showed exactly what she was — a clever spider who could make beautiful, strong silk.
## Part Six: The Same but Different
"The story of the first hello," said Mia, "is a story of two different worlds meeting. One world was full of curiosity and excitement. The other world was full of caution and watchfulness. Neither was right or wrong. They were just different."
Tom nodded. "Like spiders and insects. They are different, but both are important."
"And like Silky," said Mia. "She is different from us. She has eight legs and makes silk. But she is not scary. She is amazing."
Silky felt warm inside. The children understood her.
"And the Aboriginal people," said Mia, "are different from Captain Cook's sailors. But they are not scary either. They are the First Peoples of this land. They have wonderful stories and songs and art. They have been here for thousands and thousands of years."
"Different is not bad," said Tom. "Different is interesting."
"Yes," said Mia. "Just like the first simple drawings of a new land. They were honest. And honest is good."
## Part Seven: Silky's Gift
That night, Silky worked very hard.
She spun a beautiful new web. It sparkled in the moonlight.
When the children came back the next morning, they saw something wonderful.
In the middle of the web, Silky had woven a special pattern. It looked like a tiny ship with tall sails!
"Look!" said Mia. "Silky made a ship!"
"She's telling the story too!" said Tom.
Silky sat in the middle of her web, proud of her work.
She had listened to the children's story. She had learned about Captain Cook and the Aboriginal people. She had learned about being careful and being curious.
And she had learned that being different is a wonderful thing.
The End
*Did
you know?*
-
Spiders have 8 legs and are called arachnids
-
Spider silk is stronger than it looks
-
Spiders don't get stuck in their own webs
-
The Aboriginal people are the First Peoples of Australia
-
Captain Cook came from England in a ship called the *Endeavour*
-
Being different is a wonderful thing
---
*Questions
to think about:*
-
How many legs does a spider have?
-
What is a spider's family called?
-
Why were the Aboriginal people careful when they saw the ship?
-
What makes you different and special?
