Innholdsfortegnelse for 216 i The Week Junior

A harmful new virus has been discovered in China. It is known as the coronavirus, although its official name is Novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV. At the time The Week Junior went to press, more than 100 people had died from it, and more than 4,500 people were infected. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the outbreak is an emergency for China, but it is not yet classed as a global health emergency. What is coronavirus? Coronavirus is actually a group of viruses. A virus is a tiny particle that causes disease in animals, plants and people. It is so small that it can only be seen under a microscope. Most coronaviruses are not dangerous, such as the type that causes the common cold. Coronavirus infections have a wide range of…

JUBILEE THE HUSKY A dog who was given to an animal shelter because of her “weird” eyes has found a new home. The husky, called Jubilee, was advertised online, and more than 150 people applied to be her owner. She now lives with a family who have other adopted animals. A TALENTED TEACHER Francis Elive, a 55-year-old teacher in Cardiff, has helped his entire class of Year 11 students achieve A* marks in their GCSE maths exam. Elive, who has been nicknamed “the Maths Whisperer”, was praised for his hard work – particularly as the class sat the exam six months early. A STUNNING DRAW Shrewsbury Town fans were treated to a shock draw against Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup after striker Jason Cummings scored two…

1 February 1944 Artist Piet Mondrian dies On 1 February 1944, Dutch painter Piet Mondrian died aged 71, in New York, US. Mondrian was famous for his abstract paintings. These are paintings that do not aim to show real things, but use shapes and colours instead. Mondrian is best known for his later paintings, which used straight lines and primary colours (red, yellow and blue). It is said he was inspired by a trip to Belgium, where he saw beauty in the neat farm fields. His paintings have influenced many artists since.…

● Isolation booths are places where students get sent if their teacher thinks that they have been disruptive and need to be removed from the classroom. ● The booths are often desks with the chairs placed facing a wall, so that the student can’t see or speak to anyone else. Empty classrooms are also used. ● Roughly 200 schools in England, 12 schools in Wales and six schools in Scotland use isolation booths. ● In 2019, more than 200 pupils spent at least five straight days in isolation areas in schools in England, according to an investigation by the BBC.…

Joe Rabicano has dreamt of being a farmer for a long time. Now, the 18-year-old has become the UK’s youngest farmer, according to The Times newspaper. When he was 16, Rabicano bought a flock of sheep and was allowed to keep them on other people’s land. Now, Rabicano has been picked by Norfolk County Council to farm a plot of land it owns, and has four fields totalling nearly 170,000 square metres. No one in his family has been involved in farming but Rabicano says he started planting seeds in his grandparents’ garden at the age of six.…

Animals use all kinds of ways to communicate. Some can even change the sounds they make to trick other animals. In Africa, a bird called a drongo has developed a clever way to fool meerkats. First, it alerts meerkats when eagles are approaching. The drongo calls out and the meerkats flee. The next time the drongo calls out, there is no eagle – it’s tricking the meerkats. They hide, and the drongo eats the insects they have left behind. The meerkats only fall for that once, so the drongo gets even cleverer. It changes its call to mimic the warning cry of a meerkat. This sends them into hiding again, so the drongo can enjoy even more food.…

Mayfly A new report suggests that the population of burrowing mayflies in one part of the US has dropped by more than half since 2012. Mayflies swoop through the skies in swarms of up to 80 billion, and provide food for a wide variety of other animals. They were once common in the northern Mississippi River and around Lake Erie, on the border with Canada, but they are now in decline. ● LIFESPAN IN THE WILD: Once they become adults, they only live for one day at the most. ● HABITAT: Wetlands close to rivers and lakes. ● DIET: As larvae, they eat algae and plants. Most adults do not feed because they only live long enough to mate and lay eggs. ● FUN FACT: There are 51 species of…

The National Trust is one of the most loved charities in the country, and chances are, wherever you are in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, you won’t be too far away from one of its sites. If you’re in Scotland, you may well know of the National Trust for Scotland, a separate organisation that does similar work. The National Trust now protects more than 500 historic houses, castles, ancient monuments, gardens, parks and nature reserves. The charity was set up 125 years ago by three people who realised that important places had to be saved and preserved. For this special anniversary, take a look at its fascinating history. Why was the National Trust created? The idea for the National Trust came from Octavia Hill, a campaigner who worked to improve…

On parade Troops march in New Delhi, India. Going wild BMX rider Eric Garbers shows off in front of a rhino in Namibia in southern Africa. Ice cool A street ice rink in Beijing, China. The view from the top An aerial image of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Horsing around Horse races at the Polish Highlander Parade in Male Ciche, Poland. The sky’s the limit A hot air balloon in Chateau d’Oex, Switzerland.…

I Swapped My Brother on the Internet by Jo Simmons. Illustrated by Nathan Reed (Bloomsbury Publishing) Jonny is delighted when he realises that he can swap his annoying older brother for a new one via the useful website Sibling Swap. Finding the perfect brother to swap him with won’t be easy, though, and soon Jonny has to deal with a series of bizarre replacements – including a merboy, a child raised by meerkats, and even a ghost. Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman (Puffin Books) Colin is on a quest. His brother Luke has cancer, and the doctors at home in Australia don’t seem to be able to help him. Sent to London to stay with relatives, Colin decides to find the best doctor in the world to…

A new exhibition called Picasso and Paper has opened in London. The show explores the revolutionary way in which Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (who lived from 1881 to 1973) used paper to create some of the world’s greatest art. Pablo Picasso is one of the most famous artists of the 20th century. He showed incredible talent from a young age. Many of his early paintings were inspired by famous artists who lived before he did, and showed realistic people and objects. As he got older, Picasso experimented by using less realistic ways to convey his ideas. He invented a new form of painting known as Cubism. This style of art aims to show every possible viewpoint of a person or an object all at once, and looks a bit like…

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood At cinemas nationwide. For more than 900 episodes, a man called Fred Rogers presented a TV programme for young people in the US, where he talked about real-life issues, and why we all matter. Part of his story is told in the new film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. He’s played by Tom Hanks, who voiced Woody in the Toy Story films, but the plot is also about a journalist who is writing a story about Rogers, and how the two come to help each other. The result is a funny and moving film about the power of kindness. FIND OUT MORE If you want to know more are about Rogers, a documentary called Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (certificate 12), is available…

Nesta says it was so impressed by the initial entries for the Longitude Explorer Prize that it has decided to extend its deadline so it can name 10 more semi-finalists. There’s no time to lose, though: the deadline is 14 February. Teams need between two and five people each, and their entries will be judged on how their idea uses AI; how well it addresses a problem; whether it’s been well planned out; how the team plans to work together; and how they’ve thought about issues such as security with AI technology. To find out more about the competition go to tinyurl.com/ TWJlongitude.…

Why should I play squash? Squash is a great way to keep fit, and can help keep your whole body strong and healthy. If you’ve ever played tennis, you will already be familiar with movements needed to strike a squash ball. You never need to worry about the weather when you play squash because the courts are indoors. How are different types of squash balls used? Balls are graded by the different coloured dots on them. A beginner’s ball has a blue dot, and bounces higher than the more advanced ones. Balls with a red or yellow dot are best suited to more experienced players, and top players use one with a double yellow dot. What is the easiest type of squash for beginners? Squash 57, which used to be…

The Animal Health Trust is a veterinary and scientific research charity that works to prevent disease and injury in animals through research. The staff are committed to providing excellent care for sick and injured dogs, cats and horses. Through its education and training programmes, it works to support the next generation of vets, nurses and scientists. The charity has a centre in Suffolk, but its work improves the lives of animals all around the world. You can find out more about what it does at aht.org.uk…

The team behind the West End smash hit musical Wicked are calling on young people between five and 25 across the UK to write about anything they’d like in fewer than 750 words. Of the entrants, 120 will be chosen as finalists who will receive a printed copy of their entry as part of the annual Wicked Young Writer Awards Anthology and an invitation to a special prize-giving event at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London. The winners will receive £50 worth of book or eBook tokens, tickets to see the show, and they’ll get to meet the cast. Visit tinyurl.com/TWJ-Wicked to enter before the 2 March deadline.…

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 that schools should use isolation booths, 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…

There are lots of benefits to eating local produce. For a start, buying food that was grown in your local area means that it hasn’t been stored in refrigerators and carried in planes or lorries to get to the shops – which means fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are released into the air. GHG emissions are gases such as carbon dioxide that cause climate change. Local farm shops and markets also don’t use as much single-use plastic as supermarkets, because they tend to not keep food on the shelves for as long. That means they don't rely on plastic wrapping to keep food fresh. To find a market or farm shop near you, visit tinyurl.com/ TWJ-farm-shop DID YOU KNOW? A quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the farming…

The world’s rarest duck Twelve Madagascar pochard ducklings have hatched on the African island, a major boost to the world’s rarest duck population. Madagascar pochards are so rare they were long thought to be extinct. The ducklings are babies of a breeding group released into the wild in 2018. Giant sequoia trees Twenty-eight giant sequoia trees, the largest plants on Earth, have died in national parks in the US state of California since 2014. The trees, which can reach up to 90 metres tall, died from beetle attacks, fires and droughts (long periods without rain). Some were more than 3,000 years old.…

Dolaucothi Gold Mines, Carmarthenshire First used as a gold mine 2,000 years ago, Dolaucothi is full of history. The mines are out of bounds in the winter, but during the rest of the year there are plenty of events, including panning for gold and venturing below the surface to see how the mines were used. Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim With its extraordinary stone columns stretching into the Atlantic Ocean, it’s little wonder that the Giant’s Causeway is one of the Trust’s most famous landmarks. It’s free to walk on the stones, or you can pop into the visitor centre exhibition to find out more about the history of the area. Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire This site is home to the apple tree that helped famous scientist Isaac Newton come up with…

The Highland Falcon Thief by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman. Illustrated by Elisa Paganelli (Macmillan Children’s Books) When Hal joins Uncle Nat, a travel writer, on the final journey of the Highland Falcon royal train, he isn’t too impressed. He isn’t a big fan of steam trains, and it’s not much fun being the only child on board. Things soon get much more exciting when some jewellery goes missing during the journey to Scotland. With suspicion running high among the passengers, Hal teams up with secret stowaway Lenny to investigate. Can they discover who the jewel thief is before the train reaches the end of the line? It’s full steam ahead for adventure in this entertaining mystery story, which is packed with intriguing puzzles, deceptions and clues.…

Pokémon: Twilight Wings tinyurl.com/TWJ-twilight-wings The first of seven episodes in this new animated series is now streaming online. Set in the Galar region, where the newest Pokémon games, Sword and Shield, take place, the show is packed with adventures and stories about residents of Galar and a range of local Pokémon. My Life: Our Big Vote Streaming on BBC iPlayer In this documentary, Elena, Jodi and Mairi are campaigning to win a place in the Scottish Youth Parliament. They have to convince young voters that they deserve to win, and face a tough challenge from each other and two older boys. Secrets of the Museum 8pm on 6 February, BBC Two Journey behind the scenes of London’s Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in this new documentary. Specialists working at the…

Living Longer This theme focuses on ideas that can help older people stay independent, safe and active, as well as not feeling lonely. Living Better If you want to look at how AI technology can keep people healthy – for example, by diagnosing illnesses as early as possible and treating them effectively – then this could be the theme for you. Living Together This one is all about transport and how AI technology can be used to make our journeys easy, safe and as green as possible. Examples of this would be things such as self-driving cars or bicycle-sharing schemes. Living Greener The final theme is all about our impact on the world, looking for ideas to make our buildings, homes and communities as environmentally friendly as possible.…

“I began playing squash when I was only three and I am now the under-11 Cambridgeshire County Champion and ranked in the top 50 of the England Squash Rankings. I am on court three times a week and my older brother Aiden also plays. Squash can bring you fitness, friendship, rewards and confidence.” DON’T BLINK A squash ball can move at incredible speed, reaching about 170mph when hit by a top player.…

Place2Be is a national children’s mental health charity that supports young people in schools when they need to talk about their mental health. This year, its Children’s Mental Health Week is taking place 3–9 February, and its theme is “Find Your Brave”. This is because life is full of ups and downs, and it can sometimes be hard to be brave – but people can be brave in lots of different ways. One way to be brave is to share your worries with someone, or ask for help. On this page are some of Place2Be’s top tips for finding your brave and looking after your mental health. Take time to breathe ● When thoughts and feelings grow too big, try to find something you enjoy that also calms you. ●…

Name: Molly “Last summer, I went interrailing with my mum, dad and little sister, Orla. Interrailing is good because it offers 33 countries in Europe to explore; kids travel free; you spend time with your family, playing games, watching the scenes from the train and enjoying the peace; and trains are better for the environment than planes. I went to 12 places in eight countries and enjoyed them greatly. Rügen, a German island on the Baltic coast, was amazing, with beaches, clifftop walks and a sand sculpture festival featuring sand figures of Johnny Depp, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and, at a massive 17.66 metres, the world’s tallest sandcastle! In Poland, Gdansk’s deserted shipyards told me the story of how the workers all went on strike to save the job of…

“I saw your article about the pop-up city skyline and I had a go at making my own with the theme of London.” Elodie “Absolutely love mountain biking with my friends, enjoying the fresh air, beautiful scenery and sunset.” Jayden “Here is a photo of me and my sister with small rescued Joeys that we visited at a rescue centre near Melbourne. We are now fundraising to help the wildlife and people affected by bushfires in Australia.” Amy and Eliza…

A slice of cheese has been found inside a library book in Liverpool, as if it had been used as a bookmark. Alex Widdeson, of the University of Liverpool Library, said the slice was “warm and liquid”. She said the person who found it on 21 January was so shocked that they couldn’t remember which book it was in, but it was discovered “somewhere between American history and geography”. She joked, “I’m not sure even the mice would have been interested.”…

On 23 June 2016, a referendum (public vote) was held on whether or not the UK should stay in the European Union (EU) – an economic and political partnership between 27 countries. Around 52% of people who voted wanted to leave. This decision is known as Brexit. On 31 January 2020, the UK officially left the EU. To commemorate this important occasion, the Government released a new 50p coin featuring the words “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations”. Around 10 million of these coins will be in circulation by the end of the year.…

The high street in Treorchy, in south Wales, has been named the best in the UK. The town centre was praised for its mix of independent shops (those not owned by large companies) and community spirit. There are around 100 shops along the street, of which just 4% are empty. Across the whole UK in 2019, 10.3% of high street shops were empty – the highest rate since 2015. The number of people visiting high streets has fallen because many customers now choose to shop online or at out-of-town retail parks.…

Last year a teenage girl, whose identity has been kept a secret, revealed that she was put in an isolation booth at her school more than 240 times over a four-year period. Other students across the UK have shared their experiences of isolation booths and spoken about the negative impact that they have had on their health and education. Pupils have said that they stopped learning and started to feel depressed as a result of being in isolation booths for a long time. Some teachers say that isolation booths are necessary to help them control the classroom, and that the booths can improve student behaviour when they are used properly. Others think they are too strict and do more harm than good. So should schools use isolation booths? Yes –…

People around the world have paid tribute to retired basketball player Kobe Bryant. The star died in a helicopter crash on 26 January in California, US, at the age of 41. A total of nine people died in the crash, including Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna, who also played basketball. Bryant was one of the greatest basketball players in history and won five championships in the National Basketball Association (NBA, the biggest basketball league in North America). Bryant spent his entire 20-year career playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, during which time he became the highest-scoring player in team history, with 33,643 points, and the fourth-highest scoring player in NBA history. Points are scored when a player gets the ball through the opponent’s hoop at the end of the court. Depending…

Cows can express emotions through their moos, and each cow has its own mooing style, according to new research. The recently published study was led by Alexandra Green, from the University of Sydney in Australia. The research took place on a farm with a herd of 18 Holstein-Friesian heifers (young female cows). The animals were all roughly the same weight and age. Green and her colleagues took 333 recordings of individual cows in different situations, such as while eating, in groups and alone. The researchers then judged whether they were in a good or bad mood, based on how curious or defensive their behaviour was. The moos were then analysed by a computer, which looked for differences in pitch (how high or low the sound is), volume and unique vocal…

Cristina Sara Stender Keeper at ZSL London Zoo Tails stand out from their background as clear shapes. This can help predators pick out individuals from groups when hunting. Patterns, like the contrasting black and white rings on ring-tailed lemurs’ tails, are a clever defence against predators, because they make it harder to tell individual lemurs apart, which makes hunting them more tricky. 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…

What is your favourite ever train journey? Leonard: Journeying to the top of the Brocken mountain, in Germany, riding a stunning black-and-red steam train on a narrow-gauge railway track. Sedgman: I took the California Zephyr right across the US. It started in rainy Chicago, went up through the snow-covered mountains of Colorado, through the desert of Utah, and finally arrived at the coast in San Francisco. If you could live off one food for the rest of your life what would it be? Leonard: Cheese. It comes in so many flavours and consistencies. I even love stinky and mouldy cheese. Sometimes, when I don’t want to cook, I have cheese and crackers for tea. Sedgman: It would have to be bread. Every country makes their bread a little differently, and…

Squash is a sport of speed, skill and fitness but, just as importantly, it’s great fun and simple to learn. Once you’re on the court, all you need is a squash racket and a ball, plus an opponent. An indoor squash court is 9.75 metres long and 6.4 metres wide, which is smaller than a tennis court. Instead of hitting the ball over a net, you hit the ball against the front wall until the other person can’t hit it back, which earns you a point. Just as in tennis, the ball can only bounce once before being hit back. The serving player must have at least one foot inside their service box – at the side of the court behind the mid-point line, called the short line. Each serve…

I haven’t counted how many Brexit front covers The Week Junior has designed since the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016, but it’s certainly been a lot. Last year alone, I estimate we designed four Brexit front covers, and three more were to do with who should run the country in light of the Brexit process. It just goes to show what a major, defining political issue Brexit has become in recent years – one that will shape all our lives. This week was the week the UK left the European Union – some people think for better, others say for worse. There’s still a lot to be worked out between the two sides; let’s see what happens next. In the meantime, if you think you know…

Teacher’s name: Mr Harrison School: Durlston Court school, Hampshire “Mr Harrison is a kind, caring, helpful and understanding teacher. He makes lessons fun and interesting and we don’t realise that we are learning as the class is so interactive. He also taught me a very important lesson, that it is ok to make mistakes in my work and you cannot get everything right all of the time.” Sam 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 GET INVOLVED Email your news, views and pictures to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Please include your full name and address so that we can send you a Roving Reporter badge if…

Follow The Week Junior on PopJam@TheWeekJunior. You can download the PopJam app from the App Store or Google Play. Last week was Chinese New Year. Here’s what our PopJammers had to say... “It is the Year of the Rat. Happy Chinese New Year everyone.” “Chinese New Year is so colourful and bright. Happy Year of the Rat!” “I love Chinese New Year. I have given my family red envelopes.” “I’m excited because I was born in the Year of the Rat in 2008.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here.…

1 Who is the youngest ever winner of the Album of the Year award at the Grammys? a) Billie Eilish b) Taylor Swift c) Ariana Grande a ■ b ■ c ■ 2 True or false? The UK left the EU on 23 June 2016. 3 What type of animal has been falling from trees in Florida, US? 4 How much time did more than 200 pupils spend in isolation booths in England in 2019? a) Two days b) Three days c) Five days a ■ b ■ c ■ 5 True or false? Georgie Codd is scared of fish. 6 Which species of duck is the rarest in the world? 7 How many cups of tea are served at National Trust sites each year? a) 450,000 b) 4.5 million…