Reorganisation · Level 1

To make wine, the juice must be squeezed from grapes. A traditional method of doing this was to put the grapes into huge wooden tubs called vats. People would then climb into the vats with clean, bare feet and walk on the grapes to crush them. This is known as 'treading the grapes'.

Although it is a very old way of crushing grapes, it is a very good way. This method meant that only the grapes were squashed by the workers' feet. The stems or pips were not crushed. By doing this, top quality wine was produced.

Some towns in New Zealand have an unusual way of making sure that their children get to school safely and on time. They have a 'bus' that uses legs instead of wheels. It is called a walking bus.

It is a group of children who walk to school together. They have a parent 'driver' to supervise them. As they walk along, new 'passengers' are picked up and join the moving group. This continues until they arrive at the school.

There are many good points about this way of travelling. By walking, the 'passenger' children get some extra exercise. Because the children are walking, not so many parents are driving their children to and from school. This means that there are fewer cars on the road at a time when lots of children are around as they go into or leave school. It is a fun time when they can talk to friends and make new ones.

There are two main groups of rats - black rats and brown rats. They belong to the family of animals called rodents. Other animals in this family are mice, beavers, porcupines and squirrels.

The black rat can grow to a length of about 40 centimetres, and about half that length is its tail. A rat's tail has no hair or fur on it. Brown rats are bigger and have shorter ears and tails. They have always been very good at finding their way onto ships. Because of this they can be found all over the world.

Like the other members of their family, rats have two sharp pairs of front teeth used for gnawing. Rats will gnaw anything -they have been known to gnaw through lead piping.

Rats are pests. They damage food supplies, often in poorer countries where food is hard to get. They can also damage buildings by gnawing through wiring, walls and ceilings. They carry diseases that can be spread to humans. Perhaps the best known of these is plague. Millions of people died of it before anyone knew what was causing it.

Even so, they have become a popular pet, with owners of all ages who are totally devoted to them.