Innholdsfortegnelse for 215 i The Week Junior

On 21 January, a major trial started in the US to find out if President Donald Trump committed a crime. This is known as an impeachment trial. If Trump is found guilty, he might have to step down as president. What is impeachment? Impeachment is a two-stage process that takes place in Congress. Congress is the part of the US government that makes and votes on new laws (a bit like the UK Parliament). It is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The first stage of impeachment occurs if the House of Representatives votes to impeach the president. On 18 December 2019, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives. The House investigated Trump and decided to impeach him because they thought he had acted unlawfully.…

Now that you’ve read a bit more about it, tell us what you think by voting in our poll at theweekjunior.co.uk/polls. Vote YES if you think it is time for a new independence vote, or NO if you don’t. We’ll publish the results next week. The aim of the Big debate page is to present two sides of an issue fairly and objectively, in order to stimulate discussion and allow our readers to make up their minds. The views on the page do not reflect those of The Week Junior, and the page is not funded by third parties. The page is created in association with the English-Speaking Union, an educational charity helping young people discover their voice and realise their full potential. For more information, please see esu.org…

South African Vernon Kruger has beaten his own record for living in a barrel. Kruger has been in the barrel – which is perched on top of a 25-metre pole – since November 2019. On 18 January, he had been up there for 65 days, breaking his previous world record, set in 1997, of 64 days. His food and drink are sent in a basket, which he hoists up from the ground, and he washes and goes to the toilet in the barrel so that the waste flows down a pipe to a special tank. Even though Kruger had passed his own world record, he said he would stay for a few more days.…

Matthew Robertson Senior keeper of invertebrates, ZSL London Zoo Without doubt the smallest animal at the zoo is the water mite. You need powerful magnification to spot these 0.5-millimetre-long relatives of the spider, which come in lots of colours including yellow and red. The runners-up for the title of smallest animal in the zoo are three-millimetre-long worker leaf-cutting ants, called minims. Enjoy unlimited visits to ZSL London and Whipsnade Zoos, plus a host of other benefits with ZSL Membership. Find out more at zsl.org/membership/zsl-membership…

Material older than planet Earth has been found hidden within a meteorite that fell onto the Australian town of Murchison in 1969. Described by its finders as “real stardust”, it is made up of tiny particles cast off from dying stars. These grains later became bound up in the raw materials of our solar system, which are preserved in meteorites. To examine the dust, a team of scientists from the US and Switzerland first had to smash up samples of the meteorite to form a paste, which Jennika Greer from the University of Chicago described as smelling “like rotten peanut butter”. This paste was dissolved in acid until only tough grains were left. Greer’s colleague Philipp Heck described the process as “burning down the haystack to find the needle”. The…

Rising from the ashes Life begins to reappear in areas of Australia affected by bushfires. Dancing on ice Dancers at a winter festival on frozen Sailimu Lake in Xinjiang, China. Tug of worm A plover pulls out a snack in New Jersey, US. Winter wonderland A resident of the New Forest, in Hampshire, on a cold and frosty morning. The fuchsia is bright A carnival celebration in Vevcani, North Macedonia. Best foot forward A 10-metre puppet at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.…

Lunch at 10 Pomegranate Street by Felicita Sala (Scribe) In each apartment of No. 10 Pomegranate Street, someone is preparing a special dish to share with their neighbours. Mr Singh is making coconut dahl with his daughter; Maria is mashing avocados for guacamole. This lovely recipe book celebrates community, culture and food from around the world. Start to Cook by Abigail Wheatley (Usborne) With more than 150 recipes, this is the perfect place to start for beginner cooks of all ages. With clear, step-by-step instructions and plenty of pictures to show you what to do, you’ll learn how to make all sorts of dishes, including soups, sponge cakes, chocolate-chip cookies and casseroles. Jolly Good Food by Allegra McEvedy and Mark Beech (Hachette Children’s) This fun cookery book takes inspiration from…

Published in 1998, Louis Sachar’s book, Holes, has won lots of awards. A film version of it was released in 2003, produced by Disney. Then, in 2018, the Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company created a stage show that was inspired by both the book and the Hollywood film. Now, that show is coming back to the stage and will be going on a tour across England. Holes tells the story of Stanley Yelnats, a boy born into a cursed family, who is accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Sent to a prison camp in the desert, Yelnats must spend his days digging holes amid lizards and rattlesnakes under the instruction of a strict warden. Although Yelnats is told that this is to “build character”, he soon unearths a mystery buried…

The National Television Awards 2020 7.30pm on 28 January, ITV In its 25th year, the National Television Awards has a new host, David Walliams, who will oversee the evening’s proceedings. Each winner is picked by the British public, meaning anything can happen. Walliams himself will be hoping to win the TV Judge category. Night on Earth Streaming from 29 January, Netflix What do animals get up to when most of us are asleep? Find out in this stunning new series, which follows the night-time adventures of a whole range of species in some of the world’s most fascinating habitats, including the Arctic ice and African savannahs.…

Whether on dry ski slopes, indoor snow domes or snow-covered mountains, skiing is a fun activity to learn. It might look simple, but most people struggle at first. It’s always best to get some instruction and basic lessons, not just so you can ski properly but also to keep you and those around you safe as you glide downhill. In the UK, most people ski for the first time on a surface called a dry ski slope. Instead of snow it usually has plastic bristles with gaps in between. Many dry slopes use water mist to make them slippery. Skis, poles and helmets can be hired at the slope and because it may be wet or cold, it’s a good idea to wear warm waterproof clothing and gloves. Where you…

For this week’s issue, one of our writers, Michael, interviewed Michael Rosen, one of the UK’s best known children’s authors. He spoke about his new novel, The Missing. It’s an important and fascinating story about Rosen’s family history, and the horrors of the Holocaust (when millions of Jewish people were murdered during the Second World War). The more we know about the events of the past, the more we can make sure that something like the Holocaust never happens again. Rosen told Michael about the danger of using language to unfairly target groups of people. “It’s very simple to dehumanise chunks of the human race and to say that these humans over there are less than these others,” he said. “We have to be very careful, very vigilant not to…

If you go to school in the UK and you’re between 11 and 18 years old, why not create a poem on the theme of “unity” and enter this competition? It doesn’t have to be written, either – spoken-word performances are being accepted, which might be in any form, including a limerick (a humorous poem consisting of five lines) or a rap. The overall winner will be chosen in March and they will receive £100 worth of vouchers and £500 worth of supplies for their school. The competition closes on 28 February. To find out more visit tinyurl.com/TWJ-unity…

Follow The Week Junior on PopJam@TheWeekJunior. You can download the PopJam app from the App Store or Google Play. Last week, we asked you if teenagers should work at the weekends. You said... “Only if they want to. Also young teenagers like 13-year-olds maybe shouldn’t because they are quite young so I’d say 14+ should get the choice.” “No, childhood is short. Some jobs are ok, like a piano teacher. It is their choice, but I think they should spend more time with friends and family.” “No, they should relax.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here.…

This year the US will hold an election to see who will be their president for the next four years. Donald Trump won the last election in 2016 for the Republican Party. A president can be in power for a maximum of two terms, so Trump can stand for the Republicans again this year. There are also two other people hoping to be the Republican candidate. The Democrats are trying to choose a candidate from a list of 12 people – including Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. The election will be held on 3 November.…

Michael Rosen is one of the UK’s most successful children’s authors. Throughout his life, there’s been a mystery in his family about what happened to his great-aunts and great-uncles during the Second World War (1939–1945). All Rosen knew was that they were there at the start of the war but not at the end. In his new book, The Missing: The True Story of My Family in World War II, Rosen shares what he’s learned about his family history. The result is an emotional tale about the horrors of the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the genocide of Jewish people by the Nazis during the Second World War. Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people of a particular race, nation or religion. Rosen’s relatives were among those…

A giant tortoise is returning at last to his native home, having spent decades in a zoo. Diego, who is around 100 years old, comes from the Galápagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador in South America. He is now going back after more than 70 years away. Diego is one of 15 adult tortoises who took part in a successful breeding programme. The Galápagos are famous for giant tortoises, but there are many different species on these remote islands, and some are critically endangered. In the 1960s, only 14 of Diego’s Chelonoidis hoodensis type were left on Española Island, and scientists feared the species would go extinct. In a last-ditch effort, the Galápagos National Park captured the tortoises and began a breeding programme on the nearby island of Santa…

Beavers Beavers will be reintroduced in Cumbria, England, hundreds of years after they were hunted to extinction. A family of the mammals from a similar programme in Scotland will be moved to a fenced area of woodland, grassland and wetland in the Lake District in March as part of a trial. Global temperatures The decade from 2010 to 2019 was the hottest since records began in 1850, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has revealed. It is thought man-made climate change (long-term changes to the planet’s weather patterns) is responsible for the high temperatures.…

Chinese New Year is one of the world’s biggest celebrations. Millions of people in China and around the globe will come together to enjoy family fun, festivities, fireworks and food to see in the new year. It’s a bit like Christmas; lots of people travel to see their families, and there are many wonderful myths and traditions that are linked with the festival. When is Chinese New Year? The date of Chinese New Year changes each year. It starts on the first new Moon – the visible crescent – that appears between 21 January and 20 February. In 2020, this is on 25 January. This is why Chinese New Year is sometimes called the Lunar New Year (lunar means relating to the Moon). In China, people get at least seven…

Orion Lost by Alastair Chisholm (Nosy Crow) In this science-fiction adventure, the spaceship Orion is carrying a group of travellers to start a new life on distant planet Eos 5 – including 13-year-old Beth and her family. After four months away from Earth, catastrophe strikes, leaving the ship and everyone on board stranded in deep space. It’s up to Beth and her friends to navigate through dangerous uncharted territory to reach safety, but with a damaged ship, as well as the threat of Scrapers (space pirates) and the Videshi (a mysterious alien species), the journey ahead is not going to be an easy one. The word videshi is a Hindi word meaning “stranger” and was used because the author thinks India could be a major player in space travel in…

YouTube has introduced new rules for channels and videos aimed at children under the age of 13, which it says will help protect its younger viewers. Last September in the US, YouTube and its owner Google were fined more than £130 million for breaking the laws on children’s online privacy because of the information it collects. As part of that punishment, YouTube agreed to make changes. Since last November, people who upload videos to YouTube have had to make it clear whether their video was “made for kids” or not. This month, new rules have been created covering those videos. The most important rule is that YouTube will not show “personalised” adverts around these videos. That means adverts based on what the viewer has already watched on YouTube. There will…

How do I start? Ask a parent or guardian to help you get in touch with a ski centre near you. Ask about a beginners’ session that you can join, perhaps with some friends or your family. The February half-term may be a good time to arrange a trip. How much will it cost? Private or family skiing lessons at a ski centre are more expensive than a group skiing lesson. Prices vary depending on the centre, but a skiing session without an instructor may range from £7 to £14 for an hour, with equipment hire sometimes included in the price. What types of skiing are available? Alpine (downhill) is the most popular, with skiers gliding down a marked route called a piste. Cross-country skiing is moving across, up and…

The Make a Wish foundation grants the wishes of children with critical illnesses. These wishes include giving children the chance to go on an amazing holiday, to meet a celebrity hero of theirs, or have a bedroom makeover. Make a Wish believes that a childhood shouldn’t be about illness and hospitals, so it tries to turn children’s wishes into reality by providing them with life-changing memories. It also encourages the public to get involved and help with fundraising. To find out more, visit make-a-wish.org.uk…

“This is me enjoying a refreshing beetroot smoothie, issue 213, 11 January.” Betty “I took this photo of a Canada goose on the river in Bedford. I hope it inspires others to go wildlife watching because it is so much fun.” Maisie “I have been making and selling beeswax reusable food wraps to reduce plastic use and also raise money for the charity JustOneTree. I have raised £350 so far.” Maximus…

1 Across which ocean did three Scottish brothers row in record time? a) Pacific b) Atlantic c) Indian a ■ b ■ c ■ 2 True or false? The final of the Masters snooker tournament was interrupted by a whoopee cushion. 3 Two men created an Earth sandwich by placing bread in New Zealand and which other country? 4 In which year was the most recent referendum (public vote) on Scottish independence held? a) 2014 b) 2015 c) 2016 a ■ b ■ c ■ 5 True or false? Vernon Kruger has set a record for living in a barrel at the top of a 25-metre pole. 6 What type of bird has been given a prosthetic (artificial) beak? 7 When does Chinese New Year take place? a) On the…

Three Scottish brothers have successfully rowed across the Atlantic Ocean in just 35 days, smashing three world records in the process. The MacLean brothers – Ewan, aged 27, Jamie, 26, and Lachlan, 21 – began their 3,000-mile journey on 12 December in La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. Their epic adventure ended on 16 January in Antigua, an island in the Caribbean. The MacLeans are the first three brothers known to have rowed an ocean together, and are also the youngest and fastest trio ever to row across the Atlantic. Their speedy crossing was completed six days quicker than the previous record for a trio. The brothers were taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge and finished third, but they were only beaten…

A group of school students from London have written to members of the House of Lords asking them to help unaccompanied child refugees in Europe. A refugee is someone who has fled their country to escape conflict, violence or war. It is thought there are tens of thousands of lone child refugees in Europe. What is the Government doing about this? Members of the House of Lords have been debating what the UK Government should do to help child refugees in Europe. Lord Alfred Dubs, a Labour Party politician, wants to reintroduce a law called the Dubs amendment. This would allow lone child refugees in the European Union (EU) to travel to the UK if they have family members living here. The EU is made up of 28 countries, who…

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will no longer use their royal titles or receive public money under a new arrangement agreed with the Queen. On 8 January, the couple revealed that they wanted to “step back as senior members of the royal family”. Following a series of talks with other royals, it was announced on 18 January that Harry and Meghan would no longer represent the Queen at public events. As a result, they will not use their royal titles and will not receive money that is paid to members of the royal family for the work that they do. A statement, released by Buckingham Palace, explained, “The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the…

● In 2014, voters in Scotland were asked whether Scotland should stay in the UK or become an independent country. The result was 55% in favour of staying. ● In recent years, the Scottish National Party (SNP) has asked for a second vote. The SNP supports independence. ● The SNP is Scotland’s largest political party and runs the Scottish government, which is responsible for some things in Scotland, such as education. The UK Government still makes decisions about other things in Scotland, such as defence. ● Another vote can only be held with support from the UK Government, which doesn’t back the idea.…

Recycling paper is a great way to help the environment, but reusing things made from paper is even better. Take this copy of The Week Junior, for example. Once you’ve finished reading it, don’t put it in your recycling bin. Instead, consider sharing it with people who haven’t read it, or giving it to your school library so that your classmates can take a look. Alternatively, you could find a completely different use for the magazine’s pages. Some readers have used them to wrap gifts for their friends and family, picking pages with the most colourful pictures to make the presents look bright and exciting. Or, if you have a small pet that likes cuddling up on a bed of shredded paper, such as a mouse or gerbil, why not…

New research into an incredibly long-lived tree has revealed some of the tricks that help it survive for thousands of years. The ginkgo is a huge, slow-growing tree with fan-shaped leaves, native to China, but planted in parks and gardens across the world. Some of the largest ginkgoes are said to be more than 3,000 years old. In order to discover how these and other trees can live for so long, scientists from the US and China took samples from 34 healthy ginkgoes of various ages. The team studied growth rings in each tree’s trunk (which revealed the exact age), as well as individual cells (the small, self-contained units that make up any living thing) from the bark, leaves and seeds. They found that 600-year-old trees were just as healthy…

British engineering company Rolls-Royce has unveiled a new one-seater electric plane. Most planes burn fuel that releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into Earth’s atmosphere, harming the environment. The new plane, part of a project called Accel, is emission-free. A test flight is scheduled for spring, when Rolls-Royce hopes the plane will reach a top speed of 300mph, setting a new record as the world’s fastest electric plane. Enjoy these stories? Find more in this month’s The Week Junior Science+Nature magazinesciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk…

How long did you spend writing this book? About three months, writing a little every day. Then I redid some parts, added more details here, removed chapters there. I sent it to an editor and she helped me get it ready to send to publishers. Then, when the lovely people at Nosy Crow accepted it, their editor came back with lots of good ideas for changes, and I worked on it a bit more. The important thing is just to keep going, even if you go slowly. Star Wars or Star Trek? Arrrgh! Don’t make me choose! Star Trek was such a thing of my childhood, but Star Wars is so much fun. Star Trek has future worlds and tech, Star Wars has lightsabers... If I absolutely, absolutely had to…

Anew environmental short film starring two Oscar-winning actors is now online. The animation features the voices of Helen Mirren, who also worked on Monsters University and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and Olivia Colman, from the BBC’s Watership Down. In the film, a family of sea turtles are threatened by some of the challenges facing real-life animals. It was made by Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace and Gromit, for the charity Greenpeace. Colman said, “If we don’t act now we risk causing irreversible harm to our oceans and losing species for good.” Mirren added, “We can’t bring back what we’ve already lost, but we can protect what we still have.” To watch the film, which has some upsetting scenes, visit tinyurl.com/TWJ-turtle-video WOW! Sea turtles first appeared around 150…

“At Christmas I was in Val T horens in the French Alps. It was my first ski h ol iday so I was in ski school every morning learning to ski with my sisters Bea and Mallory. In the afternoon I skied with my family, including my cousins. I loved going fast and skiing over jumps. I can’t wait for future ski adventures!” FAST FACT The record for the fastest male and female downhill skiing is more than 150mph – that’s more than double the motorway speed limit in the UK.…

What you need ● A piece of A4 paper (any colour) ● Scissors ● Pen or pencil ● Small circular object or disc ● Coloured card ● Glue 1 Cut half of one piece of paper into strips, each slightly smaller than the width of the disc. 2 Write a nice message or prediction on each strip, such as “Your dreams will come true”. 3 Place the disc on the coloured card and draw around it. This will make one “cookie”. 4 Cut out the circle and place one of the messages in the centre of the circle. 5 Fold the circle in half and then in half again but don’t make the folds too crisp. 6 Glue the two sides in the middle and open out the unglued sides.…

Name: Adyan School: Arena Academy, Birmingham “Working on the Echo Eternal project, I have learnt about the many atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust. It has taught me not to be judgmental and expand my mind to accept the wonderful fact that we are all different in the world. When our artwork was chosen for the #75MemorialFlames Exhibition, I was so proud of my team’s efforts and how we pulled our ideas together to create such an inspiring piece of art. Working on Echo Eternal and the artwork brought us closer together. We worked with students from other schools and then shared our work with the wider community. ” What’s going on at your school? Have you taken part in a sporting event, put on a show or done something…

Teacher’s name: Mr Towers School: St Hugh’s School, Oxfordshire “Mr Towers is the best teacher I’ve ever had. He is kind, funny and always encourages us to work hard at maths and enjoy the subject. He is running the London Marathon to raise money for Alzheimer’s research as his dad unfortunately has the illness and he wants to help find a cure.” Jack If we pick your teacher as Teacher of the Week, we’ll sendyourschoolthreefreeissuesof The Week Junior. Send your nominations, along with a picture of your teacher and your school’s full name and address, to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk…