Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 122 i The Week Junior

A WINNING TICKET It was a very happy 18th birthday indeed for Canadian teenager Charlie Lagarde, after she bought her first ever lottery ticket – and won. As a result, she will receive around £550 every week for the rest of her life. This is extremely lucky; even people who play the lottery regularly rarely win. STARGAZERS An international team of astronomers has captured an image of the most distant star ever seen. The star, known as Icarus, is a blue supergiant – a type of star larger than the Sun and a lot brighter – and it is around nine billion light years away. AN EGG-CELLENT SALE A giant egg from a three-metre tall extinct elephant bird has been sold at auction for £30,000. The elephant bird once lived…

On 12 April 1961, history was made when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth in his Vostok I spacecraft. Shooting to a height of 203 miles, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth in 108 minutes. In an interview after his flight, Gagarin said, “Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it!” On that day a new era for human spaceflight began. Since Gagarin entered space almost 57 years ago, humans have walked on the Moon, sent a spacecraft into interstellar space and studied every planet in our solar system. In 2011, the United Nations (UN), an organisation of 193 countries dedicated to promoting peace, declared 12 April the International Day of…

A meteor shower happens when the Earth passes through the path of a comet, and debris from it creates a light show in the sky as it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere (an envelope of gases that protect a planet). Meteor showers are rare events, so a company in Japan aims to create artificial meteor showers by sending small satellites into orbit. The satellites can release hundreds of metal spheres that burn up in the atmosphere. The company – Astro Live Experiences – has already received approval for their plans from Japan’s space agency, and it is consulting with Nasa and the European Space Agency. The first satellites could launch in December.…

Typical school PE lessons usually include sports such as football, gymnastics and rounders. For some schoolchildren in the Scottish Highlands, however, it could also mean taking part in traditional events including caber tossing, tug of war and hammer throwing. A new charity called The Prince’s Foundation, set up by Prince Charles, wants to encourage children to participate in traditional Highland Games sports. It is hoped this will boost the popularity of the events in the future, and schools in Caithness and Sutherland, in the far north of Scotland, could be the first to teach Highland sports. There are about 80 Highland Games events across Scotland each year, usually held between April and September. They were introduced hundreds of years ago and involve throwing, running and lifting, as well as Highland…

Who is your favourite book character? One of my favourites is Obelix from the Asterix books. He’s a simple chap really, and rather childlike, but a very loyal friend to Asterix, and he loves his dog, Dogmatix. Where is your favourite library? I haven’t visited it in decades (because I live in Cambridge now so I use the excellent central library there mostly) but my very first visits were to the one in Narborough, in Leicestershire. But all libraries are pretty great, aren’t they? What is the best present you ever received? Probably the mug which had drawings on it by my stepdaughter of characters from the Tintin books. Reading those books together was an early bonding experience for us, so getting that mug for my birthday some years ago…

PlantSnap Plant Identification Android / iOS (£3.69 / £3.99) When you’re out and about this spring, whether in your own garden or nearby parks and woods, chances are you’ll come across some plants and flowers, but do you know anything about them? A new app called PlantSnap might be able to help. It’s designed to identify all kinds of plants including flowers, trees, even mushrooms – you just take a picture of it with your smartphone’s camera. Its creators claim it can identify 90% of all species on Earth – 316,000 in all – so you’ll have fun putting it to the test. It also stores details of everything you’ve identified so you can look up more information about them later. PlantSnap didn’t get all the answers right in The…

How do I get started? Try a Young Enterprise challenge. The Tenner Challenge (tenner.org.uk) gives £10 to students aged 11–19, and allows them four weeks to set up and run a company. The Fiver Challenge (fiverchallenge.org.uk) is similar but with £5 and is aimed at those aged five to 11. How do I get an idea? “Take time at the beginning to plan – part of the fun is in dreaming big and deciding if this might work and how,” says Collington. “Talk to family and friends once you have thought about what you might do.” Who can I ask for advice? Jenk recommends having an “Ideas Board of Directors” to talk ideas through with every month. This can be anyone who wants to share their time and advice, from…

Glaucoma is a condition where the optic nerve, which connects the eyes to the brain, is damaged. This means that the sufferer’s vision becomes patchy and misty, and can in some cases lead to loss of central vision. With early diagnosis and treatment, the majority of people with glaucoma are able to keep their sight. The International Glaucoma Association provides help and support to people who have just been diagnosed or are living with the condition. For more, visit glaucoma-association.com…

In 2006, a man called Sergei Skripal was sentenced to 13 years in prison. His crime? He had been found guilty by a Russian court of passing secrets to the UK. He was later released and now lives in the UK. Earlier this month, Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury with a deadly toxin. The pair are still in hospital. Skripal has not yet regained consciousness. The UK Government claims that Russia is responsible for the attack, and has banished 23 Russians as punishment. The UK has also said that no politicians or members of the Royal Family will attend this summer’s World Cup, in Russia. This is a serious snub, but some say the Government should go even further and boycott the tournament, which means the England…

Mark Tansley ZSL London Zoo The giant thorny stick insect, or Trachyaretaon brueckneri, is a species of insect native to the Philippines. Both sexes are wingless, brown to grey/green and covered in tiny spikes. Females grow to 125 millimetres long; males can reach 75 millimetres. They can be kept as pets in the UK, where they eat bramble, evergreen, oak and rose leaves. Do you love animals? ZSL London Zoo’s Junior Zoo Academy is a great way to learn about creatures from all over the world. Find out more at zsl.org/experiences…

Name: Jesse Year: 4 The equator is made of imagination. It’s a made-up line that runs around the Earth at the middle point between the North and South poles, like a belt around the Earth’s belly. It passes through three oceans and 13 different countries. The equator’s purpose is for us (and sailors) to know where we are on Earth. The Earth is split up into imaginary lines going around it (the lines of latitude – of which the equator is one) and lines going from top to bottom (the lines of longitude). By knowing how far around (degrees longitude) and how far either up or down (degrees latitude) you are, then any location on Earth can be described just with numbers, letters or symbols. Email questions to hello@theweekjunior.co.ukwith the…

Lightning Girl by Alesha Dixon (Scholastic) When Aurora sees her little sister being picked on in the playground, beams of light suddenly shoot out of her fingers. Aurora soon learns that her mum is a secret superhero – and that she has superpowers herself. This is the first book in a series from TV’s Alesha Dixon, in collaboration with Katy Birchall. Night Speakers by Ali Sparkes (Oxford University Press) Elena, Matt and Tima keep waking up in the middle of the night at exactly the same time, but they have no idea why. When they venture out in the dark and find each other, they realise they share an amazing ability to speak any language – or even communicate with animals. Soon, an action-packed adventure begins… What Not to Do…

In 2011, author and illustrator Brian Selznick released his hit book, Wonderstruck. Using his talents as an artist and writer, he told the stories of two children, separated by 50 years, as they make their way through New York, one of the greatest cities in the US. Now, the book is on cinema screens. In the words of its director, Todd Haynes, one of the film’s most pressing concerns is to explore “what it might be like to not have your hearing”. Wonderstruck tells the tales of a girl called Rose, and a boy called Ben. Born deaf, Rose lived a muted life. In the book, her story is told through illustrations without any words. To recreate that effect, Haynes looked to the history of film – back to the…

Phantom Boy (2015) DVD, iTunes, Amazon Video An animated movie that got a very small cinema release in the UK, Phantom Boy is an astonishing film about an 11-year-old boy who is seriously ill in hospital. While there, he finds he has the power to leave his body, and he becomes something of a ghostly detective with a criminal mastermind to defeat. It’s a little-known film that’s really enjoyable, but that also deals with some not-always-easy real-life issues. Look out too for the very distinct visual style of the film. CAT CONNECTIONS The same team put together a delightful film called A Cat in Paris , which was nominated for an Oscar in 2011.…

World of Warriors PlayStation 4 World of Warriors started off as a mobile game where you battle with a troop of fighters from throughout history. Now it’s become a console game for the PS4. Those historical warriors are still the stars: 40 of them can be unlocked to fight in eight arenas, from dungeon scenes to splintering ship decks. Your warriors increase in power as you progress, but the real fun comes when you play with friends. You can play on the same PS4, either working together or battling against each another. There’s also an online mode to take on the world.…

When you look into the future, do you see yourself working for someone else or owning your own company? You might expect most people to look for jobs once they finish their studies, but research shows that more people in the UK than ever before want to become entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur is someone who sets up their own business, hoping to make a profit from it. The best thing about starting a business is that it’s much less scary than it sounds. Virtually anyone can do it; all you need is a good idea, a bit of support and some money to start off. One company that helps kids get started on their own business adventures is Young Enterprise, which has a range of competitions and challenges to motivate and…

Name: Vivienne Year: 5 “On 14 March, Year 5 pupils from Wimbledon High School and West Wimbledon Primary School soared through the atmosphere and went into space! In the morning, we investigated heat radiation and tested how we could save a chocolate button from melting. As a less appealing task, we also looked at the interesting ways astronauts process waste in space. We loved learning how to do the bear and crab walk to help us move around in space easily. To finish the day, we explored health in space and how astronauts get water from waste using syrup and plastic bags. We loved imagining we were in space and got special passports stamped each time we completed a mission” JOKE OF THE WEEK “Why are bees so scarce in…

Teacher’s name: Miss Fenner School: St Margaret’s C of E Junior School, Leamington Spa “Miss Fenner is my favourite teacher because she always helps kids when they’re struggling or stuck. She works so hard at making learning fun for us all. My confidence has grown so much this year because she is so kind and encouraging.” Ellie, Year 5 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…

Cooking a meal can make quite a mess, involving pots and pans, cutlery and leftover vegetable peelings. One cookery school, however, might not have the same problem – because their meals are no bigger than a 50p coin. At The Tiny Cookery School, dishes such as miniature fajitas, meatballs and fish fingers are created on a doll’s house stove over a tealight. Meals are served on plates the size of a £1 coin and enjoyed using miniature, one centimetre-long cutlery. Creating these mini meals began as an online trend but the cookery school hopes to hold classes in Birmingham, Cardiff and London.…

1 How many light years away is the most distant star ever seen? a) 1 billion b) 5 billion c) 9 billion 2 True or false? Professor Stephen Hawking’s funeral was held at Great St Mary’s church in Cambridge. 3 What is the name of Malala Yousafzai’s home country? 4 Where will the 2018 Fifa World Cup be held? a) Rwanda b) Russia c) Romania 5 True or false? Cédric Villani wears a tiger brooch. 6 When did the RSPB begin its first Big Garden Birdwatch? a) 1979 b) 1989 c) 1999 7 In which year was the first Commonwealth Games held? 8 What was the name of the first human to go into space? 9 How high was the wave that froze in Siberia, Russia? 10 True or false?…

5 April 1955 Winston Churchill resigns Winston Churchill is regarded by many as one of the greatest Britons to have ever lived. In 1940, he became prime minister, and is best known for leading the UK to victory in the Second World War. On 5 April 1955, at the age of 80 and in poor health, Churchill stepped down after his second stint as prime minister. He handed the reins of the country over to Anthony Eden. Churchill died in 1965 at the age of 90.…

At least six million Jewish men, women and children were killed during the Second World War. The Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler, believed that Jews were inferior to other people. Many Jews were rounded up and taken to Nazi prison camps, where a lot of them died. However, thanks to the actions of Johan van Hulst and a network of helpers, at least 600 children and babies escaped this fate. In 1943, Hulst worked at a school in Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ capital city. The school was next to a building that was used by the Nazis to accommodate Jewish children before they were sent to the camps. Van Hulst and his helpers smuggled children out of the centre and hid them in the school before taking them to safety. They…

The UK Government has announced plans for a new recycling scheme in England. It has proposed that people who buy single-use bottles and cans should pay a small deposit (amount of money), which will be returned to them when they take the empty bottles and cans to specially set up recycling-collection points. The UK suffers from what is known as a throwaway culture, where many people consider everything to be disposable and don’t think about what happens to all the rubbish. Politicians hope that a deposit-return scheme will act as an incentive to encourage more people to recycle and cut the amount of waste that ends up in landfill or dropped on the streets. Schemes like this have already been a big success in countries such as Germany, Israel, Sweden…

Police dogs Working dogs in Madrid, Spain, are receiving extra-special treatment. Working in the police force can be very stressful for animal, so the Spanish city’s dog squad now has heated beds, air-conditioned kennels and speakers playing calming classical music to help them to relax. Mount Etna Sicily’s famous volcano is sliding towards the sea at a rate of 1.4 centimetres every year. This movement could cause extremely dangerous landslides and eruptions, which is a worrying problem for the million-plus people living within an 18-mile radius of Mount Etna.…

The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018), held this year in Queensland, Australia, kicked off on 4 April. The Commonwealth Games is often referred to as the Friendly Games, but the event still pits some of the world’s fittest, fastest and most formidable athletes against each other in a spectacular sporting showdown. Around one billion viewers worldwide watch 6,600 athletes from 70 countries compete in 18 sports, including athletics, diving, netball and table tennis and for the first time this year, there will be an equal number of medal events for men and women. To make them equal, seven new women’s events and categories have been added to the Games. GC2018 chairman Peter Beattie said, “We’ve come a long way since the first Games in 1930, when women competed in…

Hot stuff Workers make their way through a sea of chilli peppers on a farm. No way out A fish tries to avoid being a pelican’s lunch in Australia. The scent of spring A mouse in France has a good old sniff of a bright yellow daffodil. Best foot forward A trader in Bangladesh sells sandals and flip-flops to local villagers. Ice and easy A five-metre-high frozen wave was formed in Siberia, Russia, where temperatures dropped as low as -35° C.…

The Book Case by Dave Shelton (David Fickling Books) Daphne isn’t sure what to make of her peculiar new boarding school, St Rita’s School for Spirited Girls. There are explosions during chemistry lessons, disgusting smells in the dining room, cannonball holes in the dormitory floor and a truly terrifying head girl, but there’s also an incredible library, and Daphne is offered the role of “assistant assistant” librarian. The head librarian has disappeared but luckily, eccentric assistant librarian, Emily Lime, is on hand – and it turns out that she’s a clever crime-solver who needs Daphne’s help. With the help of George, the only boy in the school, can they solve the mysteries that abound at St Rita’s? This quirky illustrated crime caper blends Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers stories with a…

On the food: Oakes: Delicious. Jaden: It’s incredible. Oakes: Out of this world. Jaden: That’s the best and worst part about making a film – you’re gonna gain weight! On school friends: Oakes: I’m homeschooled. I didn’t really click at school; I find working on sets is a lot more fun. Jaden: I have always gone to school, and I do miss my friends – but not to the extent you’d think. On the biggest surprise of a film set: Oakes: You expect it to be slow, but it moves incredibly fast. It takes a long time for the production to really know what they’re going to do for the film, but once they have that picture they get a lot done, really fast. Jaden: Everything’s very fast paced, but…

A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 2 Available now on Netflix The second series picks up the sad story of the luckless Baudelaire siblings as they’re hounded through the world by the wicked Count Olaf. The story starts with the orphaned Baudelaires away at a boarding school, but as ever, trouble isn’t far away. Star Wars: The Last Jedi Out on Blu-ray, DVD, Sky Store, Amazon Video, 9 April One of the biggest films of recent years is available to watch at home. It tells the saga of Luke Skywalker and Rey as they battle against the darkness of Kylo Ren. It will be just as exciting on small screens as it was on the big one. Nailed It Available now on Netflix Whereas The Great British Bake Off celebrates…

Name: Jenk Year: 7 “I’m the CEO of iCoolKid, a digital lifestyle hub for eight to 15-year-olds. It produces articles on the coolest news, events and launches. My parents have supported me all the way on my business adventure and everything I learn at school goes straight back into making iCoolKid better. Make sure your business idea is related to something you’re passionate about – starting a business takes up a lot of time, so it’s important you enjoy it!”…

Is there a library near where you live? With nearly 900 public libraries having closed their doors for good over the past 10 years, it’s possible that your answer to that question will be “no”. The UK’s first public lending library opened in Manchester in 1852. The money to buy its books was raised by the city’s mayor – much of it donated by local working people. For the first time, books were made available at no cost, for anyone to borrow. It was a landmark moment in UK history. Now, many people are concerned that libraries won’t last much longer – and those that do survive won’t offer the variety of books, or the service, that they used to. The Government has massively reduced the amount of money it…

Do you love being creative? Do you go to school in Scotland? If so, the Tesco Bank Art Competition for Schools could be for you. It’s open to schoolchildren across Scotland, and there are six categories, each with a theme. For example, if you’re in Primary Years 4–7, the theme is “Makers of Magic”, and if you’re in Secondary Years 1–3, it’s “Energy”. Winners will go to a ceremony at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, where their work will be on show. Every school that enters can apply for art-material funding or a free workshop. Visit tinyurl.com/TWJ-tescobankart before 27 April to find out more.…

Follow The Week Junior on Popjam@TheWeekJunior. You can download the free Popjam app from the App Store or Google Play. On 20 March, it was announced that the last male northern white rhino on Earth had passed away. You said... “I am really upset” @lent “That’s so sad” @GigglingPopcorn “The news made me almost cry” @superhero16 “That’s so bad. We need to protect our animals more” @Awesomepigs8 Cushing’s syndrome survivor, Kiko Matthews, rowed across the Atlantic Ocean on her own in record-breaking time. You said... “Amazing, that really is an inspiration” @floradog “Wow, I can’t believe someone actually did that!” @unicornsprinkles06 “She’s so brave” @Coolmarshmallow5674 “It must have been very cold and windy” @GoofyGirl100…