Go romp, romping in the swamp Go romp, romp, romp romp
Go romp, romping in the swamp Go romp, romp, romp romp

CHORUS
Go romp in the swamp! Go squish, not stomp!
Wear pants and shoes!
You’d better get set to get a little wet
and to use some bug juice.

Walk right in; life abounds.
Shut your mouth and listen to the sounds.
eepp, eepp, quack, quack
cattails bouncing off your back.

CHORUS

Watch where you walk, don’t step on a nest.
Thick green grass many mamas like best.
Little muskrats, baby northern pike,
swamps are what those mamas like.

CHORUS

I wouldn’t go there with my bathing suit on.
Mosquitoes so bad it wouldn’t take long.
They’d light and bite. You wouldn’t have a chance.
They’d make you do the mosquito dance.
One, two , three, four, I can’t stand it anymore!

CHORUS

Oh, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy;
It’s awfully sunny.
I can eat all that I want;
I can eat all that I want.

My leaves need the sun
to make food for all of me.
They can only do it with
Sunshine energy! Sunshine energy!

Now, the water comes up
from the roots into the leaves.
They use what they need,
and the rest they sweat from their underneath.
With the sun and the water,
the leaf makes food then lets it go
down through the limb into the trunk;
so the tree can grow!!

Well, the sun comes streaming out of the sky,
making everything grow and keeping us alive.
And our main connection to the sun are the green leaves.
( green leaves,green leaves,green leaves,green leaves)
Only they can make food with sunshine energy.

What keeps the leaves green and the sunlight stashed
are those chlorophyll containers called chloroplasts.
There are millions of them in every leaf.
They get excited when the leaf gets lighted
and become the tree’s food factories. ( become the tree’s food factories. )

Oh, Photosynthesis, yes, photosynthesis;
it’s a process that let’s life exist - that photosynthesis.
You know it’s true, we’d all be through
without the rock and roll of Photosynthesis.
oh yeah, yeah yeahee yeah yeah

Oh, minerals and water coming up from the ground,
which is where the rain falls and the roots are found.
They travel just beneath the bark up into the leaves.
Leaves use what they need to make food for the tree,
and the rest is vaporized as it’s released.
uh huh

Now, where the vapor slips out, carbon dioxide slips in
just as the leaf releases water’s oxygen
it makes it free for you and me
it’s the living example of harmony
so next time you think everything’s all wrong
go breathe amongst the leaves you’re gonna know you belong
( go breathe amongst the leaves you’re gonna know you belong )

CHORUS

Now when the leaves get sunshine and water, too;
and carbon dioxide from me and you;
they make that mighty sugar people call Glucose.
It becomes other sugars in the bark and is stored as starch.
Yes, food flowing where and when the tree needs it most.

CHORUS

We went down to the pond.
-They went to feed the ducks. –
We threw in lots of bread.
-The ducks came paddling up.-
Then from across the pond,
-They heard a duck like scream.-
A fox was chasing ducks
-They said, “That fox is mean.”-

But the fox said,
“I’m not mean, I’m just hungry-
hungry as can be,
That duck looks cute to you,
but he looks like food to me.
So I’m going so catch him
and eat him if I can.
And if you’ve ever been hungry,
then maybe you can understand”
Why the fox is the predator
and the duck is the prey.
Yes, the fox wants to get that duck,
but the duck just wants to
get away~ get away~ get away~ get away

And so the gang of us
-turned round and headed home-
and we were thinking about
-something they hadn't known-
Animals eat each other
-it happens everyday-
cause some are predators
-and others are the prey-

And the predators say
“I’m not mean, I’m just hungry-
hungry as can be,
That prey looks so cute to you,
but he looks like food to me.
So I’m going so catch him
and eat him if I can.
And if you’ve ever been hungry,
then maybe you can understand”
Why some animals are predators
and some animals are prey.
The predator wants to get the prey,
but the prey just wants to
get away~ get away~ get away~ get away

CHORUS
Do the Dragonfly, Do the Dragonfly
To do the dragonfly you’ve got to have 60,000 eyes.
And, man, you’ve got to fly
to catch those insects you devour
up to 30 miles an hour.
(That’s fast !)

Your six legs hang,
ready and bent just right.
Like a basket under you
they’ll catch your prey in full flight.
I got you, you mosquito!
got you, you bluebottle fly!
got you, you big bumblebee!
and I’ll eat you while I fly.
Do the dragonfly, Do the dragonfly

dragonflies lay eggs in the water
eggs hatch out comes sons and daughters
they live in the water for four or five years
at the end of life they appear
above the water, they grow wings and fly
eat bugs, mate, lay eggs and die
paleontologists figure
there was never an insect bigger.
Oh, yes, they have the fossils
to prove it was colossal.
with a two and a half foot wingspan
You wouldn’t want it flying ’round you, man.

CHORUS

On your thin neck,
your head moves all around
to see your prey up ahead
and your predators diving down.
Watch out for the green heron!
Watch out for the blue jay!
Watch out for the big bullfrog!
or you’ll be their meal today.

Do the Dragonfly, Do the Dragonfly

Through the grass I slowly slide,
to a great big stone
the sun is shining I am warm
and I hope I’m left alone
I need the sun’s heat to warm my blood
like each and every reptile.
I only hunt things smaller than me,
but still some people get riled.

CHORUS
Some people try to hurt me.
I don’t know what evil they see.

With scalelike plates on my belly,
I can move ahead.
But when I move fast, or through the water,
I use my s-shaped wiggle instead.
My forked tongue darts in and out
collecting molecules.
It tells me what’s going on,
but some people are fooled.

CHORUS

My teeth curve in so what I catch
can not escape my bite.
One side of my jaw pulls my catch in
while the other side holds it tight.
My jaws unhinge and swing wide open
as I swallow my prey.
I eat to live like all animals.
But some people don’t see it that way

CHORUS

When I lie out on the road,
people swerve to squish me.
With all the rats and mice I eat,
Aww, why not let me be?
I can not jump or roll like a hoop,
and my skin is smooth and dry (not slimy).
I bite people only when I’m scared
so I don’t know why.

CHORUS

I move my tail side to side.
Through the water I slowly slide.
My four feet moving, count on surprise,
under the surface except my nose, ears and eyes.

A quick move, I got my prey
a careless critter, it should have been quicker
to say “See you later,
you hungry alligator.”
AAHHH yum yum yum.

Down in the swamp in my ‘gator hole,
the swamp gets dry, it’s where all the critters go.
I don’t move much and I might look slow,
but I can be fast, don’t be the last to know.

A quick move, I got my prey.
With a snap of a tail I spin,
twisting off a chunk or a limb.
I do it over and over until I’ve done it in,
AAHHH yum yum yum.

Watch out! Here comes the poacher man.
He’ll catch me and kill me if he can.
He wants my tail or maybe my skin.
He’s looking for me, and I’m looking out for him.
(Hey, alligator, come here. I won’t hurt you.)

With her mouth, feet, and tail
a mama ‘gator makes her nest,
pushing sticks, carrying grass to a pile of mess.
She hangs around with maternal interest.
To keep your distance the Mom will strongly suggest.
(She'll go....hisssssss)

With a quick move, she protects her eggs.
And all the egg eaters
better know how to treat her
they get too close,
it’ll be them that feed her.
AAHHH yum yum yum.

I move my tail side to side.
Through the water I slowly slide.
My four feet moving, count on surprise,
under the surface except my nose,
so I can breathe
my ears
so I can hear
my eyes
so I can
see you later
I'm the alligator.........
in a while crocodile
mañana iguana

CHORUS
Well, all across the U.S.A.
you can hear the people say,
“Aw, there’s so much algae in our lake.
When l swim l take a rake,
and when it stinks to high heaven,
it ain’t for heaven’s sake. PU.!!
Yes, the fish swim belly up,
and if you put some of that lake in a cup
and drank it,
you’d swim that way too.”

Farmers in the country, homeowners in suburbs,
lose topsoil and fertilizer in streams and over curbs.
Then the topsoil and fertilizer runs
into the river as the rains come.
The river then carries it’s heavy load
down to the lake where the algae grows,
and grows and grows and grows

But when there’s a swamp
that the river runs through,
there’s a lot that pot of peat can do.
Thick green growth is a fine strainer,
topsoil and fertilizer retainer.

The Mighty Magnificent Marsh.
It will take what the lake would think harsh.
It will hold on to
what the river brings through
that mighty magnificent marsh.

CHORUS

When the building sides are gone
on lakeshores and riverbanks,
they'll drain a swamp and pull the plug
on a long-time nutrient tank.
Then the nutrients and the phosphates run
into the river as the rains come.
The river then carries it’s heavy load
down to the lake where the algae grows,
and grows and grows and grows

But when there’s a swamp that the river runs through,
there’s a lot that pot of peat can do.
Thick green growth is a fine strainer,
topsoil and fertilizer retainer.

The Mighty Magnificent Marsh.
It will take what the lake would think harsh.
It will hold on to what the river brings through
that mighty magnificent marsh.

CHORUS

That ol’ sun lets those green plants grow
high in the sky and in the ocean below.
Solar power is what the green plants need
to make the food to grow so the creatures know
just where they can feed

Links in the food chain.
The threads in the food web.
The links in the food chain.
The threads in the food web. web, web, web.

Many bugs and animals of every type and size
eat only plants and fruits in order to survive.
Munch, munch, munch, gobble, gobble, gobble,
turn around and eat some more.
If a diet’s complete without eating any meat,
then you’re talking about a herbivore.

CHORUS

Well, pounce and snarl, and bones that crunch.
Stalking through weeds and springing from a hunch.
Eating other creatures, and when hungry they’ll eat more.
They use their skill and eat their kill
and they’re called carnivores.

CHORUS

Well, omnivores eat any kind of food –
depends, on where it is, their situation and mood.
It might have hunted, raised or maybe grown.
An omnivore might buy it at a store
or order it on the phone.

CHORUS

All animals poop, and all living things die.
Dead bodies and poop hit the soil, decompose then fertilize.
Then a young seed sprouts
and grows up towards the sky.

That ol’ sun lets those green plants grow
high in the sky and in the ocean below.
Solar power is what the green plants need
to make the food to grow so the creatures know
just where they can feed

CHORUS

Mrs. Mosquito she s been fIying all day
looking for blood for the eggs she will lay,
Eggs she will lay. she’s hungry all day,
eggs she will lay. What do mosquitoes say ?

She spots the nose of an otter
and then zeros in,
but a fish catches her
as the otter eats him.

Oh, where the tall grass bends and the swamp trees stand,
it’s the food and the shelter of the wild wetlands,
the wild wetlands, the wild wetlands, the wild wetlands.

There sits an owl. He’s been sleeping all day.
He waits for the night then he hunts his prey
He hunts his prey, hunts the night away,
hunts his prey. What does the owl say ?

With thick wide wings, he silently flies,
looking through darkness with powerful eyes.

To where the tall grass bends and the swamp trees stand,
it’s the food and the shelter of the wild wetlands,
the wild wetlands, the wild wetlands, the wild wetlands.

Here come the ducks. They’ve been flying all day.
They’re tired and looking for a place to stay.
A place to stay, a place to hide away,
a place to stay. What do the ducks say ?

The flock spots water and circles around
cupping their wings, they let the earth pull them down.

To where the tall grass bends and the swamp trees stand,
it’s the food and the shelter of the wild wetlands,
the wild wetlands, the wild wetlands, the wild wetlands.

Rain will fall. Snow will melt.
Where water runs, it’s gonna be felt,
and I hope you’re not surprised
when the rivers rise

Floodwaters can bring damage and death,
leave a washed out scene where people must do their best.
So they spend lots of money building dikes or dams
without checking out upriver for wetlands.

CHORUS
Upriver – there are wetlands being drained.
Upriver – concrete’s not the same.
Upriver – wetlands can act like a sponge,
Upriver – and the plants slow the river’s run.

Rain will fall. Snow will melt.
Where water runs, it’s gonna be felt,
and I hope you’re not surprised
when the rivers rise

Wetlands are thick with all kinds of plants
which lay down when they die to give other plants their chance.
And all of those dead plants leave layers kind of deep,
which is where the excess water can seep

CHORUS

Rain will fall. Snow will melt.
Where water runs, it’s gonna be felt,
and I hope you’re not surprised
when the rivers rise

So next time you hear about a really bad flood
with damage in the billions everybody’s speaking of,
if you’ve got the time, check the river’s history
for just how many wetlands there used to be.

CHORUS

And I hope you’re not surprised
Yes I hope you're not surprised
I hope you're not surprised
when the rivers rise