Innholdsfortegnelse for No. 123 i The Week Junior

At least 49 people have died and around 500 people have been injured after an attack on the city of Douma in Syria on 7 April. It is claimed that chemical weapons were used, and many of the victims are thought to be children. What are chemical weapons? Chemical weapons release gases, powders and chemicals that can injure or kill people. They can cause the skin to blister and burn, or make people’s eyes water. More dangerous ones stop the body’s central nervous system from working properly and some make it difficult to breathe. The weapons were used in the First World War (1914–18) but after people saw how dangerous they were, countries agreed to ban them in war. However, it did not stop countries from developing new ones. In…

A SURPRISE PROPOSAL England basketball player Jamell Anderson proposed to his girlfriend, Georgia Jones – who has also been playing basketball at the Commonwealth Games – on 8 April, surrounded by his teammates. After the match, Anderson got down on one knee in front of a huge crowd of spectators, and Jones said yes. A SPECIAL DELIVERY When Sharon Gongwer received a postcard at her retirement home in Indiana, US, she didn’t expect it to be 60 years late. It was from her mother, who wrote it on her travels in 1958, but it had been languishing in the back of a filing cabinet at a hotel in the local town. AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP Cats and dogs are not always the best of friends, but Henry the dog and Baloo…

Matthew Robertson, ZSL London Zoo It depends on the age and the species. When a millipede is born it usually has three pairs of legs. As it grows, it adds more segments to its body, each with one pair or, as it gets older, two pairs, of legs on it. The leggiest millipede (and animal) in the world is the female Illacme plenipes, which has up to 750 legs... but is only three centimetres long. 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: Giulia Year: 7 If you’ve never seen someone crack their knuckles, it’s when they pull or bend their fingers or knuckles until a loud crack is heard. This noise comes from the fluid between the joint, called synovial fluid. When the joint is pulled apart, the pressure in the fluid gets lower, which causes a bubble of gas to form. When the joint is moved in a certain way, this bubble partially bursts. This bursting is the noise we hear. It’s possible for everyone to crack their joints, but some people find it more difficult, because they find it harder to pull their joints apart enough for the bubble to form. But don’t go pulling your fingers apart to try to make them crack – that’s definitely not going…

Cardiff Devils They won the Elite League play-off final, the biggest prize in British ice hockey, after beating the Sheffield Steelers 3-1 in Nottingham. Anna Hursey The 11-year-old table tennis player from Cardiff won her first match for Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Patrick Reed The US golfer won the Masters tournament in Augusta, US, for the first time. It’s one of the four biggest competitions in golf – winners are awarded a special green jacket to wear. Lionel Messi The Barcelona striker scored the 45th hat-trick of his career in a 3-1 win against Leganés. A hat-trick is when a footballer scores three goals in one match.…

Now in its sixth year, Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival offers book fans in and around the Welsh capital a chance to discover new titles and meet acclaimed authors. This year’s event includes time with writers such as Sibéal Pounder and illustrators including Steven Lenton, plus there’s a special Harry Potter party at Cardiff City Hall. There are free workshops and the ticketed events start at £2. It all takes place over two weekends: 21–22 April and 28–29 April. Find out more at cardiffkidslitfest.com…

The Queen’s Green Planet 9pm on 16 April, ITV This documentary reveals the Queen’s passion for nature and the Commonwealth Canopy – a project aiming to create a global network of protected forests. Watch as Her Majesty tours the gardens of Buckingham Palace with legendary broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. Lost in Space Available now on Netflix It’s 30 years in the future, and humans are able to live on other planets. For the Robinson family, this becomes a reality after they are selected to start a new life in a better world, but something goes wrong on the way to their new home and they become stranded in an alien environment. Britain’s Got Talent 8pm on 14 April, ITV Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams are back…

Crabbing is a type of fishing that’s popular in many seaside towns around the UK. It’s really simple and lots of fun; just drop a bag filled with bait off the side of a quay and wait patiently for the hungry crustaceans to arrive. Once you have attracted lots of crabs, you can put them in a bucket and identify the different species you’ve found. First, there are some things you’ll need: a crab line with a pot or net attached, a weight for the line to help it sink, a large bucket filled with cool seawater, a fishing net with a long pole and some bait. For the bait, meat such as bacon or fish works well – the smellier the better. Once you’ve got everything you need, fill…

Trees are incredible. Not only are they the biggest plants on the planet, they’re also the oldest; some have been around for thousands of years. They give us oxygen to breathe and provide life for the world’s wildlife. It’s no wonder they’ve inspired so many children’s authors, from the wise old Ents in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings , to the temperamental Whomping Willow in the Harry Potter novels and Winnie-the-Pooh’s famous home – Hundred Acre Wood. Lots of people care very deeply about trees – just look at the Sheffield campaigners on page 5, who are desperate to stop theirs from being cut down. The Queen too, is a fan. On 16 April, she and David Attenborough will discuss a new…

Scrub Up on Science Have you ever tried to make a sweet-smelling bubbly potion in your bathroom? The Society of Cosmetic Scientists wants you to create your own bubble bath or bath bomb for a fun competition. Scrub Up on Science is designed to get people aged between 11 and 16 thinking about the chemical processes involved in cosmetics. You’ll learn all about the fascinating science behind bubbles, called effervescence. Come up with ideas to test, and think about how to measure and maximise the bubbles in the liquid. Once you’ve mastered your process, decide how to present it, such as in a video. However you decide to present your ideas, remember that the judges are looking for clear explanations. To enter before the 27 April deadline, head to scrubuponscience.co.uk/competition…

1 What is the name of the 2018 Commonwealth Games’ mascot? a) Boroki b) Borobi c) Borosi 2 What is the capital of Russia? 3 True or false? Japanese macaques are also known as snow monkeys. 4 Which of these Star Wars films was the first to be released in 1977? a) The Phantom Menace b) The Force Awakens c) A New Hope 5 How old is Jack Reynolds, the oldest person to ride a zip wire? 6 True or false? Whales make sounds to communicate with one another. 7 Which guru founded Sikhism? a) Guru Gobind Singh b) Guru Ram Das c) Guru Nanak 8 What is the fluid in our joints called? 9 Which religion celebrates the Poy Sang Long ceremony in Thailand? a) Sikhism b) Hinduism c)…

A former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, are recovering after they were poisoned last month in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Yulia Skripal was released from hospital on 9 April, but her father is still in hospital. He is said to be “improving rapidly”, and their recovery is being called a “miracle”. Who is Sergei Skripal? In 2006, Sergei Skripal was found guilty by Russia of being a double agent – someone who pretends to act as a spy for one country, when they are actually working for another. He was sent to prison in Russia, accused of working as a spy for the UK and US, but was released in 2010. Skripal came to live in the UK and has lived here ever since. What happened? On 4 March,…

First made popular in the 1980s, Fighting Fantasy was a series of role-playing books that sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Now, author Charlie Higson has brought back the series with his new book, Fighting Fantasy: The Gates of Death, and hoping it will captivate a generation of gamers. Fighting Fantasy is typically set in the fictional world of Allansia and allows readers to choose their own adventure in a game-like style. A book with so many different endings isn’t easy to write. “About the third of the way into the book, I got very tangled and I had to take a step back and plan it out a bit more,” said Higson. He used a complicated system of diagrams and flow charts to get the book right. Higson…

Whales are known to make a number of sounds, partly so that they can communicate with one another. However, scientists have discovered that there’s one species in particular whose calls may be just as varied as those of a songbird, which is remarkable because songbirds are among the most musical creatures on Earth. For three years, a team of scientists studied a pod of bowhead whales near the Svalbard Islands in the Arctic Ocean. The team used underwater microphones, called hydrophones, to record the calls made during the breeding season, which lasts from November to April. From these recordings, the researchers found that the huge creatures produced 184 types of song. Not only did the whales have a wide variety of noises and tunes, but they also sang them 24…

Wonky vegetables UK supermarket chain Morrisons has made the decision to sell the UK’s first misshapen chillis to customers at a cheaper price to help tackle food waste. The chillis have the same heat and flavour as regular chillis. The supermarket will offer 33 other types of wonky fruit and veg. Quokkas This Australian marsupial has been added to Instagram’s list of animals that are thought to be negatively affected by people taking selfies. There are concerns that taking photos with these vulnerable animals could encourage people to treat them badly or distress the animal.…

Peek-a-bear A young cub pops up to surprise a member of its group in Spain. Can we have a treehouse? Goats climb an argan tree in Morocco to eat the fruit. Royal ride In the Poy Sang Long ceremony in Thailand, young Buddhist boys are treated like princes. Don’t look down Volunteers ride electric bikes over a glass walkway on the Laojun Mountain in China. On the mooove A boat takes cows to market in Bangladesh.…

Horrible Histories: Angry Aztecs by Terry Deary and Martin Brown (Scholastic) Learn about all the most horrible bits of life among the Aztecs. You’ll find out about their strange diet (they drank live toads in wine) and their most unusual customs. Plenty of weird and wonderful facts are combined with cartoon-style illustrations, and there’s even a quiz to test your knowledge. Jake Atlas and the Hunt for the Feathered God by Rob Lloyd Jones (Walker Books) In this thrilling new story in the Jake Atlas series, Jake and his family are on the run and on the trail of the mysterious People of the Snake. They must find the tomb of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, deep in the jungles of Honduras in Central America. Along the way they will face…

Tell us an interesting thing about you. A couple of years ago, I met a real-life witch, who told me someone close to me would wrench their shoulder on a ladder – which happened to my mum that night – and also that, “You’re going to be very famous”. She told me a key person would be my friend Paul – a TV producer, who made Hetty Feather. I told Paul all the ideas I had. He said, “Tell me more about the boy who becomes a detective... Why does he do it?” I thought I gave Paul a good, funny answer, but he said, “Isn’t it because no one tell kids ANYTHING?” So I wrote about Rory Branagan, who becomes a detective because no one tells him anything. We’ll…

On 5 April, Isao Takahata, one of the founding fathers of anime, passed away at the age of 82. Anime is a style of Japanese animation in films or television shows that features vibrant characters, often with a futuristic or fantasy theme. Takahata co-founded Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli in 1985 with director and animator Hayao Miyazaki, and together they shaped the style of modern anime. Takahata is best known for directing the masterpiece Grave of the Fireflies, a story about a young Japanese boy and his sister living through the final weeks of the Second World War. The film is based partly on Takahata’s own childhood spent in war-torn Japan. He also produced some of Studio Ghibli’s films, including Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. In 2015, Takahata…

WWF Free Rivers iOS (Free) The conservation charity World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has created a new app designed to teach people about rivers, including how they affect the humans and animals that live along their paths. The app uses augmented-reality (AR) technology – which puts digital images into the real world when you look through a smartphone or tablet – to allow you to study a virtual river landscape. There are five to choose from, including the Himalayan mountains, tropical jungles and African savannah. From making it rain to building your own dams, the app lets you interact with each river while telling you stories about the people around them. If you build a dam in the wrong place, the river may dry up, with terrible consequences for wildlife. Thankfully,…

What else should I know? Don’t forget to pick up your litter. “We find it very sad when we see plastic bags and crabbing lines floating in our oceans or blowing across our beaches,” says Amelia Bridges. “Make sure you take all your rubbish home.” How should I treat the crabs? Before you start, fill your bucket with seawater, seaweed and stones to mimic a crab’s usual environment. Don’t have more than one layer of crabs in each bucket. Keep them in the bucket for a maximum of 20 minutes and then release them carefully back into the sea. How can I stay safe? Don’t run on the quayside because many of them have no barriers. Walk slowly and look out for mooring hooks and rings. Keep the crabs safe…

The Prince’s Trust The Prince’s Trust was set up in 1976 by the Prince of Wales. His Royal Highness started the charity to help 11 to 30-year-olds struggling to get ahead in education, training or work. The Prince’s Trust provides young people with resources they need, such as mentoring and funding, to start their own dream business. In the past year alone, the charity has empowered 58,000 young people in the UK and helped them transform their lives for the better. To find out more about the organisation, visit princes-trust.org.uk…

Follow The Week Junior on Popjam@TheWeekJunior. You can download the free Popjam app from the App Store or Google Play. South Africa announced 10 days of national mourning after the death of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, on 2 April. You said... “I think the idea is very thoughtful of them” @white_tiger_lover “What a person she was, may she rest in peace” @dingy2310 “I’m proud of what she achieved” @Ksescott The Government is considering putting up road signs to protect hedgehogs. Do you think this is a good idea? “Of course! The hedgehogs need to be protected just like us!” @polru_horsesrule “This is a brilliant idea. All animals should be protected like this” @ArtyJaguar “I wish they would do the same for other animals like foxes” @inkyapricot247 “This is the best idea ever”…

18 April 1960 Thousands protest against nuclear weapons Up to 100,000 protesters arrived in Trafalgar Square, London, after marching as part of the Ban the Bomb rally. They were protesting to try to stop the British Government from testing nuclear weapons, specifically hydrogen bombs. Hydrogen bombs are so powerful that they can wipe out entire cities. Several years later, the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by some countries, including the UK. It banned the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, outer space and underwater.…

Covering 0.81 square kilometres, the mysterious Lost Gardens of Heligan were found in 1990 under a thick tangle of weeds. Today, they are home to plants from all over the world, as well as striking sculptures, such as the Giant’s Head and Mud Maid. The estate has a history as a home for exotic species. Following a First World War commemoration and restoration in 2014, two emus have been reintroduced to the Heligan estate, where the animals once lived. Find out more at heligan.com…

Neanderthals are our closest extinct human relatives. They lived between 400,000 and 40,000 years ago and were gradually replaced by modern humans. Neanderthals are known for their protruding foreheads, large jawbones and huge noses. Scientists used to believe that Neanderthals looked different to us because they had a more powerful bite. Instead, experts now think the key difference lay in their big noses. A team of scientists led by Professor Stephen Wroe, from the University of New England in Australia, studied the skulls of three Neanderthals, 11 of our own species of modern humans and one from another species of human called Homo heidelbergensis. The team ran special computer models to see if any of the skulls looked as if had a powerful bite, but they found no particular difference…

Millions of tonnes of plastic have found their way into oceans and rivers around the world, damaging marine wildlife. To combat this, Urban Rivers, a company from Chicago, in the US, has created a robot that aims to clean up rubbish in the city’s rivers. The Trash Robot connects to the internet and can be controlled by anyone online. Volunteers can take control of the robot and drive it around the river. A net on the front of the robot front collects rubbish and carries it to a bin. Using volunteers around the world means that Trash Robot can constantly work to clean up rivers. Users can also donate money for any repairs Trash Robot might need.…

British husband-and-wife sports stars include cyclists Jason and Laura Kenny and badminton duo Gabby and Chris Adcock. On 8 April, however, a very different sporting event for couples took place: the UK wife-carrying race. Around 40 pairs travelled to Dorking, Surrey, to take part in the 380-metre running event, which featured bales of straw to hurdle. The man has to carry a person on their back, who doesn’t have to be his wife, or even female. The first team to cross the finish line are declared the winners. Chris Hepworth and his partner Tanisha Prince, from London, were crowned champions at the event. They completed the fun and frantic course in a record time of one minute and 37 seconds. The pair will also take part in the World Wife-Carrying…

Rory Branagan (Detective) by Andrew Clover and Ralph Lazar (HarperCollins Children’s Books) Rory Branagan is the best detective in town. In the first book in this new series, nine-year-old Rory decides to become a detective to find out the truth about what happened to his dad, who vanished when he was three. Rory teams up with his new neighbour, Cassidy Callaghan, and puts his detective skills to the test by investigating a case of poisoning in the neighbourhood. Can Rory and Cassidy get to the bottom of the mystery? The story is told in Rory’s unique style and features a hilarious cast of zany characters. The book’s author is comedian, writer and CBBC star Andrew Clover, and it’s peppered with brilliant illustrations by Ralph Lazar. Fans of Clarice Bean or…

Ever played with Lego? Visited Ikea? Read the Moomin stories? If the answer to any of these is yes, then you have enjoyed Nordic design. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden make up the Nordic region, located in the far north of Europe. Lego is a Danish company; Ikea shops first opened in Sweden; and the Moomins started life in Finland. Now, a new exhibition at the V&A Museum of Childhood, in London, is celebrating this region. Century of the Child: Nordic Design for Children 1900 to Today will take visitors through the 100 years that proved to be a productive period for children and playtime. One of the things you can see – and play with – is a mini puckelball pitch. This unpredictable ball game from Sweden uses…

Superman (1978) DVD, Blu-ray, iTunes, Amazon Video With Avengers: Infinity War about to hit our cinema screens, superhero films are a big deal these days. However, back in 1978, the movie debut of Superman was a huge risk. Starring a then-unknown Christopher Reeve, the film faced many battles, not least how to put across convincingly the sight of a man flying (special effects were very different back in 1978). Not only was Superman a huge hit, but its influence continues on comic-book films even now. WOW! Most of Superman II was filmed at the same time as Superman , making an already very expensive film even more of a gamble.…

Detective Pikachu Nintendo 3DS Pikachus have had plenty of adventures in the Pokémon games, but they haven’t solved many crimes. That’s all changing with Detective Pikachu, though, in which a super-sleuth Pikachu helps a boy called Tim solve crimes while searching for his father, who has disappeared. Expect plenty of clue-finding, puzzle-solving and even some coffee-drinking from Detective Pikachu, which may explain his growly voice. His ability to chat to other Pokémon turns out to be his best skill as a detective – and the key to finding Tim’s dad.…

Name: Louis Year: 5 “I started crabbing when I was about five. It’s pretty relaxing, although it can get competitive with my brother and sister. I like to think that I’m outwitting the crabs by catching them. The only thing I don’t like is when my brother catches more than me. If you’re thinking of trying it, ask a local where a good spot is, get the tides right, use bits of bacon as bait and be careful by the water.”…

Name: Isaac Year: 8 “Readers may remember that last year I reviewed my visit to BETT, a huge technology and education show that happens every year at London’s ExCeL Centre. This year, there were thousands of stalls with mind-blowing new innovations and ideas. My favourites included TeacherGeek, which was all about problem solving and creating robots and machines. I was given a range of components and a broken machine to fix. Great fun! Next was Lenovo Computers, showing their virtual-reality headset, which didn’t need a computer or a phone to work. It was really good and had some fun programs and games. However, my favourite was Pi-Top – a company involved in coding and building electronics. While there, I was lucky enough to be introduced to Jesse Lozano, CEO of…

Teacher’s name: Miss Reynolds School: Orleans Primary School, Middlesex “Miss Reynolds is very friendly and kind. Most importantly, she makes learning fun and exciting. She also creates catchy rhymes and songs to help us solve every problem. She never lets us down.” Emilia, Year 3 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…