Innholdsfortegnelse for 488 i The Week Junior

On 10 April, a bill (a proposed new law) called the Treaty Principles Bill was defeated in New Zealand’s parliament. If it had passed, it would have changed the meaning of the Treaty of Waitangi. What is the Treaty of Waitangi? The Treaty of Waitangi is an agreement that was reached between Māori tribes and Britain in 1840. The Māori are a group of indigenous people (the people who lived somewhere before another culture arrived and took over). The treaty is considered to be one of New Zealand’s most important documents. The same year it was signed, New Zealand became part of the British Empire – a group of countries once ruled by Britain. Many New Zealanders say the treaty protects the rights of Māori people in the country and…

Easter is perhaps the most important time of year for Christians, who celebrate Christ’s resurrection – his return to life after his death on the cross. For many people, regardless of whether they’re Christian or not, this time of year is a time of celebration, joy and feasting. Easter eggs are exchanged and, of course, supermarkets are stacked with hot cross buns. In recent years the centuries-old tradition of tucking into a sticky bun has seen some big changes, as chefs and supermarkets experiment with weird and wacky flavours. There’s now pretty much every flavour you can possibly imagine, including Red Leicester cheese, rhubarb and custard, and even buns with creamy chocolate eggs in the centre. What do you think? Are classic hot cross buns still the best of the…

From 15 April to 15 June, a wildlife charity called People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is asking people around Britain to help them count water voles. PTES launched the National Water Vole Monitoring Programme in 2015. This is a survey that anyone in England, Scotland and Wales can get involved in. The aim is to keep an eye on where water voles are living or have disappeared from, and to gather information on otters and mink, which threaten them. Checking this each year helps experts to monitor changes in their populations. There are nearly 900 sites across Britain where people can carry out the survey. It can be done at any time of day, and takes between 45 minutes and one hour. PTES provides details on how to spot…

New Zealand’s wildlife On 8 April, the New Zealand government published a report that said lots of the country’s fish, birds, frogs and reptiles face extinction or becoming threatened. E coli (a bacteria that can cause illness and is found in poo from humans and animals) has been detected in New Zealand waters. The report also says that the spread of non-native plants is threatening native plants and animals. However, it found air quality in the country is improving.…

Other attempts have been made to reconstruct how ancient people looked. “Cheddar Man” was found at Cheddar Gorge, England, in 1903. He lived around 10,000 years ago and is the oldest almost-complete skeleton of Homo sapiens – our species – ever found in Britain. In 2018, scientists made a model of his head and shoulders, using DNA taken from the skeleton to help. DNA is a chemical with instructions about characteristics, such as eye and hair colour – and conditions in the cave where he was found had helped preserve it. The man had dark skin, blue eyes and was about 1.66 metres tall. His colouring was not unusual. Most of the population of Europe at this time had dark skin and pale eyes – either blue or green –…

A machine that supplies medication has been installed in Dolgellau, Wales. It will make it easier for people to get urgent medication on Sundays or late at night, when pharmacies are closed. To use the machine, patients call 111 (the NHS’s non-emergency number). A medic on the other end of the phone logs into the machine remotely (without being there in person), selects the medication and gives the patient a number which they type into the machine to release the medication. Enjoy these stories? Find more in this month’s The Week Junior Science+Nature magazine sciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk…

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and Mathieu van der Poel Ferrand-Prevot was the women’s champion and Van der Poel took the men’s title at the Paris-Roubaix cycling event in France. Rory McIlroy The golfer from Northern Ireland won the Masters golf tournament, meaning he’s now won all of the four big golf competitions. Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage The tennis pair won in the doubles as Great Britain defeated the Netherlands in the Billie Jean King Cup. Britain will now play in the final in September. Peterborough United Peterborough won a surprise 2-0 victory over Birmingham City to win the EFL Trophy at Wembley Stadium.…

Do you have any advice for indecisive readers? To get good at making decisions you have to make: good ones, bad ones and all the decisions in between. Just make a decision! What’s one thing you have in common with Fred, the main character of the book? I love drawing (but I am pretty terrible at it) I painted a Mona Lisa and she had eleven fingers. Tell us about your favourite teacher. I HATED maths but there was a teacher called Mr Bavelja who was so kind. He said it was down to him to find a way for me to enjoy maths. He said it was not my fault, which felt good to hear. What is your favourite writing spot? My little writing shed. Without spoilers, do you have a…

“How puzzling all these changes are! I’m never sure what I’m going to be, from one minute to another.” The heroine of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a girl who, after falling asleep in a meadow, finds herself in a peculiar adventure involving a grinning cat, a bizarre tea party, croquet with hedgehogs, an evil queen and more. Lewis Carroll’s book, which turns 160 this year, is a classic of literature and is still loved by generations of readers.…

Word fill in All these words fit in the grid. Can you work out where each word goes to complete it? 4 letters Game Luck Pier 5 letters Bingo Coins Money Noise Skill Timer 6 letters Chance Change Racing Tokens 7 letters Machine Pinball Easter egg hunt Try our amazing Easter egg hunt. We’ve hidden 13 eggs, each with a letter, on the pages of the magazine. Find them, collect the letters and use them to spell out an Easter-related phrase in the boxes below. Wordsearch Can you find all of the words listed here? They are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may read forwards or backwards. CASTLE DISNEY ELSA FANTASY FROST FROZEN HANS JOURNEY MAGIC OLAF PALACE PRINCE QUEEN SISTERS SNOWMAN SONGS STORM SVEN Number tower Place a…

Secrets “Secrets haunt many days,Secrets taunt many says,Secrets hide where no one looks,Secrets sigh in haunted books,Secrets hear all that’s said,Secrets learn all that’s read,Secrets see all that’s forgotten,Secrets heal all that’s rotten,Secrets are told through hatred and dread,Secrets mould through what one person said,Secrets are dreams tainted with mystery,Secrets are screams faded with history,Secrets lurk in the unknown,Secrets search for what they once owned,Secrets are everyone, everywhereand everything.” JOKE OF THE WEEK “Why did the dinosaur refuse to wear deodorant? He didn’t wanna be ex-stink!” Freya What have you been up to lately? Which books have you enjoyed reading? What have you made? Have you written a poem or drawn a picture that you’d like to see published on this page? Whatever you have to show or tell us,…

BLACK CATS Animal rescue shelters have reported that more people are adopting black cats since the release of the animated film Flow. The movie is about a black cat who loses his home after a flood. One charity has seen a 53% increase in black cats being rehomed since 2024. A SURPRISING PUTT On 9 April, Poppy McIlroy, the four-year-old daughter of champion golfer Rory McIlroy, sank a tricky putt (hit a golf ball into the hole). Poppy was taking part in a Par 3 contest, a chance for the families of golfers to play on the same course used for the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, in the US. MATHS LOVERS Notes made by the famous mathematician Alan Turing have been saved after a campaign to raise…

For Alice Crone, working with chocolate is like “magic”. Crone is creative director of Audrey’s Chocolates in Brighton and Hove, England. Part of her job is coming up with ideas for new products, from chocolate skulls at Halloween to fun new flavours. Audrey’s makes and sells all its chocolates from one building. On all five floors, Crone tells The Week Junior, staff are performing wizardry to craft tasty treats. “Each room in this building has got someone doing a different thing,” she explains. There’s a milk room, a nuts room, a room where marzipan and caramels are made, and lots more. A special lift whizzes chocolates between the floors. Audrey’s still makes chocolate like people did in the 1920s, relying more on people than machinery. Crone says they want to…

Atlantic puffin Inner Farne island, off the coast of Northumberland, England, has reopened to tourists. It was closed to protect its seabirds from bird flu. The 28 Farne Islands are famous for their puffins and are home to 50,000 pairs. Many are now returning to breed. • LIFESPAN: Around 25 years. • HABITAT: Mostly at sea, but they build nests on cliff edges and islands in the North Atlantic. • SIZE: Up to 29cm long. • DIET: Small fish like herring. • FUN FACT: A puffin’s beak glows under ultraviolet light, but researchers don’t know why.…

Earth Day, on 22 April, aims to bring people around the world together and inspire them to take action to protect the planet. This year’s theme is Our Power, Our Planet, and it focuses on trying to produce three times as much renewable energy by 2030 as is generated today. Find out how working towards this goal could slow global warming and cut pollution. What is renewable energy? If energy is generated from natural sources that never run out, like sunlight or wind, it is renewable. Renewable energy releases little or no pollution. In contrast, fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) take millions of years to form from the remains of dead plants and animals. When burned, they release pollution and greenhouse gases, which trap the Sun’s heat in the…

Scientists have successfully made miso, a traditional Japanese flavouring, in space. This could help to provide a wider variety of food options for astronauts in the future. Miso is a paste made by fermenting soybeans. Fermentation is a process where yeast causes chemical changes in an ingredient. It’s used to make bread, cheese and soy sauce. Miso is used as a base for lots of soups, sauces and marinades. Its flavour is described as “umami”, which means delicious in Japanese. Researchers from the US and Denmark worked together to test if miso could be made in space. They sent a container of soybean paste to the International Space Station (ISS), which is orbiting about 250 miles above Earth. The paste fermented for 30 days on the ISS before it was…

YOUR PHOTOS Email photos you have taken to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk. If your photo is printed in the magazine you’ll receive a Roving Reporter badge. Photos could be of buildings, pets, nature or anything you find interesting.…

In the UK, it’s thought that around 21 million people are allergic to something and more than 5% of children have a food allergy. What is an allergy and why do people get them? Allergy Awareness Week (22–28 April) is a chance to find out more and help people who have them. What are allergies? An allergy is when your body reacts to something, wrongly thinking it is dangerous. “Allergies happen when the body’s immune system, which protects us from illness, mistakes something harmless – like food, pollen or pets – for a threat,” explains Holly Shaw, a nurse with the charity Allergy UK. People can be allergic to all sorts of things: animal fur, dust, feathers, plants, or foods like nuts or dairy. What happens when you have an…

Don’t Panic! We CAN Save the Planet by James Campbell. Illustrated by Rob Jones (Bloomsbury Children’s) Stop being an “eco-worrier” and become an “eco-warrior” with this hands-on guide to saving the world. Packed with information about what climate change is and the different ways we can help to stop it, the book takes a look at this big environmental issue. How to Grow a Garden by Frances Tophill. Illustrated by Charlotte Ager (Magic Cat) Growing a garden is a great way to help our planet – and this lovely colourful book shows you how. Frances Tophill is a presenter of TV’s Gardener’s World, and here she introduces different kinds of gardens and provides lots of advice for growing vegetables, welcoming wildlife and helping the environment. Wilding by Isabella Tree. Illustrated…

Name: Éléna The Boy in the Post by Holly Rivers “Intriguing, eventful, exciting. I like this book because it is full of eventful pages that keep you guessing. It also has animals that do weird things (my favourite).” YOUR TURN Please email your book review to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk. If it is printed in the magazine you will receive a Roving Reporter badge. Describe your chosen book in three words, tell us what you liked about it and why you would recommend it to others. Don’t forget to include your name and address.* *If you are the competition winner, we will only use the details you provide to contact you and arrange delivery of your competition prize. Further details about how we manage the data you provide can be found at www.futureplc.com/privacy-policy…

What do you think is the best game in the world right now? Well, according to BAFTA – the arts charity that represents games, films and TV shows in the UK – it’s Astro Bot. The PlayStation 5 game was the star of this month’s BAFTA Games Awards in London. Besides winning the Best Game award, it won categories for animation, audio achievement and game design, and also got the Best Family Game award. Astro Bot came out in September 2024 and quickly became a huge hit, reaching 1.5 million sales just two months later. It’s a platform adventure where the hero, Astro, has to find parts to rebuild his spaceship. It was made by Japanese games developer Team Asobi as part of the celebrations for the 30th anniversary of…

How to drink coffee in space On 27 March, the astronaut Don Pettit shared how he enjoys a cup of coffee on the International Space Station (ISS). In the background, various objects can be seen floating around, including Pettit’s coffee cup. He leans in to take a sip, then the cup spins upside-down – no coffee falls from the cup however, and he takes another sip. In the past, astronauts at the ISS have done other interesting experiments with food, such as baking cookies, growing tomatoes to eat, demonstrating how they drink pineapple juice and squeezing ketchup. Sweet-smelling ancient statues A new study has revealed that ancient Greek and Roman statues were not intended to be displayed as stark, white, marble figures. Instead, sculptures were fragranced with scented oils and…

Poems inspired by science Why not combine the creativity of poetry with the wonders of science? Science shapes our world, fuels discoveries and sparks curiosity. Each year, the IF Oxford Science and Ideas Festival invites young poets to capture the magic of science through verse. Whether you’re inspired by the stars, the deep sea, atoms or the human brain, this is your chance to blend imagination with knowledge. Write in any poetry style; last year, entries included limericks and rap. The deadline for the Poetry of Science competition is 2 May. Exciting prizes are up for grabs and the winning poems will be published on IF Oxford’s website. Visit if-oxford.com/poetry-competition for details. GET INVOLVED Email your news, views and pictures to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Please include your full name and address so that…

Teacher’s name: Mrs Wilson School: Cambo First School, Cambo, Northumberland, England “Mrs Wilson is always lovely, kind and full of fun. She has been so welcoming and helped me settle into my new school really quickly and easily. We love her and she actually makes maths fun! Best teacher ever!” Phoebe and Molly If we pick your teacher as Teacher of the Week, we’ll send your school three free issues of 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…

On 12 April, the UK Parliament passed a law giving the Government power to take control of a steel-making plant in Scunthorpe, England. The plant, owned by British Steel, was at risk of closing down. What is British Steel? British Steel is a business that makes and sells steel in the UK and across the world. It is owned by a Chinese company called Jingye. The steel plant at Scunthorpe is the UK’s only producer of virgin steel, which is used in big construction projects (see panel). Around 2,700 people work at the Scunthorpe plant. Why did the plant need saving? In March, Jingye said the plant was losing money and the company might close the blast furnaces. Furnaces melt iron, the main ingredient of steel. British Steel warned it…

Los Angeles, US Animal hospital treats sick sea lions The Marine Mammal Care Center in Los Angeles, California, is helping to treat sick sea lions that have been attacking people on beaches. Recent algal blooms (rapid growths of lots of tiny organisms called algae) contain a toxin that makes the sea lions ill and behave aggressively. More than 195 sea lions have been treated in less than six weeks. Ecuador Current president re-elected On 13 April, President Daniel Noboa was re-elected to be leader of Ecuador. Noboa told voters during his campaign that he wanted to crack down on crime and help the economy (how a country organises its workers, money and resources). Noboa’s opponent, Luisa González, said she didn’t accept the result and demanded a recount of votes. Bamako,…

If you’re walking through the woods in April or May, you may be surprised to smell a whiff of garlic in the air. Wild garlic is underground for most of the year. It grows from a round root called a bulb and it can be a sign of “ancient” woodland – woods that have been around since 1600 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 1750 in Scotland. They only cover 2.5% of the UK but are important habitats for plants and wildlife. Also known as ramsons, wild garlic has long oval leaves ending in a point and are smooth-edged. The tiny star-like white flowers have six pointed petals on a thin stalk. Around 25 flowers form rounded clusters on one tall, leafless stalk. The second half of the plant’s…

A restored river The Holnicote Estate Project in Somerset, England, has won an award at the 2025 UK River Prize. The team at the estate, which is owned by the National Trust, have restored natural processes along part of the River Aller, which had been straightened. Beavers were reintroduced and the river has been allowed to flow freely, creating wetland areas full of wildflowers. The area is now more nature-rich and resistant to floods and droughts (long periods with little or no rain).…

The face of a royal woman who lived in Greece around 3,500 years ago, during the Bronze Age, has been recreated using digital technology. The reconstruction of the woman’s face was made by the digital artist Juanjo Ortega G. It was based on a clay reconstruction of the face put together by researchers at the University of Manchester in the 1980s. The artist used extra information, including data from DNA tests and bone studies, to produce the most realistic digital image possible. Dr Emily Hauser, who led the project, told The Observer newspaper, “For the first time since she was laid beneath the ground over 3,500 years ago, we are able to gaze into the actual face of a bronze age royal woman.” The woman was in her mid-30s when…

Talented sprinter Faith Akinbileje told The WeekJunior recently, “I want to be a British and Olympic champion one day.” The 19-year-old from London is getting ready for the summer athletics season, where she’ll compete in 100 metres and 200 metres races. She is already a double European under-18s champion. Akinbileje is aiming for the very top of her sport. “I am definitely looking to take my career as far as I can and I think the sky is the limit,” she says. “This is a year for competing and I’m focused on achieving what I know I can. When I get back to the UK it’s full steam ahead with the season.” The teenager is due to return to the UK at the end of April after five weeks of…

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to come face to face with a Tyrannosaurus rex? Or how it feels to touch a Triceratops? Dinosaur World Live is a stage show that is entertaining, educational and perfect for dinosaur fans of all ages. Audiences will meet Miranda, the daughter of palaeontologists (scientists who study fossils) who has grown up on a mysterious island inhabited by dinosaurs. She acts as the show’s guide, introducing the audience to a line-up of puppet dinosaurs including the mighty T. rex, a Triceratops and a Microraptor. The puppets are controlled live by a cast of amazing puppeteers so that they move, sound and behave in a lifelike way, and audience members get to feed, touch and interact with them. Max Humphries, who designed the puppets,…

by Helen Rutter (Scholastic) Fred finds making decisions difficult. Even when he’s just deciding which pants to wear, he feels frozen – flip-flopping between different choices. His parents are always making decisions for him – telling him what to eat, which activities he should do, and which secondary school to go to. That’s how Fred finds himself a pupil at the serious, scary-looking Gains School, when he much prefers the look of Browtree, with its cool art rooms and relaxed, kindly teachers. While Fred is waiting for the bus on his first day, a wild idea crosses his mind. What if he were to get onto the bus to Browtree, and pretend to be a new pupil? Could he be brave enough to choose a different path? This fun, clever…

Rosie Frost is back for her second adventure, and as a new term begins at Heverbridge School, she’s determined to find out who murdered her mother. In Rosie Frost: Ice on Fire, there are plenty of other things for her to deal with too, including mutant animals and a volcanic eruption. Rosie may be the hero of the book but, according to author Geri Halliwell-Horner, she’s not perfect. In Ice on Fire she doesn’t always do the right thing, but learns from her mistakes. Halliwell-Horner tells The Week Junior that Rosie’s flaws make her a good and realistic role model. This was what inspired the author to write the Rosie Frost series in the first place. She says, “I felt like the world needed a new hero, someone that we…

What you need Recipe makes 12 • 100g caster sugar• 300g butter (left to soften) or margarine• 100g self-raising flour• 2 eggs• 1 tsp vanilla extract• 200g icing sugar• Food colouring (optional)• Chocolate mini eggs• 12 paper fairy cake cases• 12-hole bun tin• Two bowls• Wooden spoon• Sieve• Small cup• Dessert spoon• Palette knife Easter is famous in the UK for its chocolate treats, so these vanilla fairy cakes make a nice change – and topping them with a few chocolate mini eggs gives them an Easter theme. This recipe takes about 40 minutes to prepare, plus 20 minutes’ cooking time and finally about half an hour to let the cakes cool before you ice and decorate them. If you want to make your cakes chocolatey, just reduce the flour…

We’ve got spring fever this issue! Did you try the Easter egg hunt on the pages? The design team have had great fun hiding them throughout the magazine. I’m looking forward to the bank holiday weekend when we have a few days off – I’ll raid this issue for things to do. My first stop will be the wild garlic in Nature Spy on page 10. It’s delicious, so look out for it growing in woods and beside lanes. When I find it, I sniff it to check it’s got the oniony smell of wild garlic (and not lily-of-the-valley), then I pick a couple of handfuls, wash it, chop it up, put it in a pan with a lid, add a knob of butter and cook it until it’s dark…

We’d love to see your snaps. Send them to us at hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Don’t forget to tell us why you took them. “I liked the idea of making cottage pie because it is one of my favourite dishes and when I saw the recipe in The Week Junior I was really excited to try it.”Edwin “I’ve enjoyed The Week Junior for many years now. Sometimes our furry family member also takes a peek.”Vajra “This is me walking above the clouds on the downs in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex.”Toby…

1 What is the capital of New Zealand? ☐ a) Auckland ☐ b) Wellington ☐ c) Christchurch 2 True or false? The four blast furnaces at Scunthorpe’s steel plant are named after English kings. ☐ True ☐ False 3 In which country is Mount Kanlaon? 4 Which supermarket added ticks instead of crosses to hot cross buns last year? ☐ a) Iceland ☐ b) M&S ☐ c) Waitrose 5 True or false? The Wainwrights are 214 hills in the Peak District National Park. ☐ True ☐ False 6 How many Farne Islands are there? 7 What percentage of the UK’s electricity comes from wind power? ☐ a) 5% ☐ b) 20% ☐ c) 30% 8 True or false? In 2021, astronauts on the International Space Station had a taco party…