Innholdsfortegnelse for 244 i The Week Junior

World leaders and international organisations have said that they will donate around £230 million to help people in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, after two explosions in the city on 4 August. What happened? The explosions in Beirut’s port caused severe damage to the city. The cause of the blasts is not yet known, but it is thought that the first explosion was caused by a fire in a warehouse, which started at around 6pm. This was followed by a second, much larger explosion. The second blast is said to have been caused when a chemical called ammonium nitrate caught fire. Ammonium nitrate is used by farmers as a fertiliser to help crops grow but it also can be used to make explosives. It was revealed that around 2,750 tonnes of ammonium…

A DANCE RECORD Traditional dancers in Tibet set a new record for the greatest number of people in a xianzi dance performance. On 7 August, more than 3,000 people performed the dance, which dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Watch the video at tinyurl.com/TWJ-dance FINDING TREASURE On 29 July, Fionntan Hughes, 10, from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, got to try out his birthday present, a new metal detector, for the first time since the end of lockdown. To begin with, his family only found cheap “trinkets”, but the third find was a rusty sword. Antique experts think it could be around 300 years old. A RARE ENCOUNTER Scuba-diving instructor Andrew Lomakin spent 12 minutes up close to a juvenile humpback whale on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.…

Lewis Swire is the 13-year-old founder of Curious Times, a free online newspaper written by young people for young people. “It’s written by the right audience for the right audience,” Swire tells The Week Junior. “One young person to another, so the understanding is direct.” The idea came to him at the start of lockdown. With his father at high risk from coronavirus and therefore shielding (when you can’t see anyone outside your household), Swire wanted a way to connect with young people around the world. He got to work on an idea for an online newspaper. After 150 hours, he had taught himself to set up and run a website. He recruited a team to help, and they published their first articles on 14 April. Since then, the team…

Although you should always keep your distance from jellyfish to avoid the risk of getting stung, they’re a common sight in the waters around the UK shores, and can tell us a lot about our coasts. The Marine Conservation Society, which campaigns to protect sea life, has launched its annual jellyfish survey, appealing for beachgoers to report their sightings. This not only tracks jellyfish numbers, but also gives a picture of changes in sea conditions. The Society has created an online quiz to introduce you to different jellyfish – give it a try and see how many you recognise by visiting .com/TWJ-jelly OUCH! Jellyfish tentacles are covered in stinging cells called nematocysts. If you’re ever stung, get out of the water and tell an adult.…

A surgeonfish with a missing tail, called Oval, has become a surprise internet star. Biologist Colin Foord set up an underwater webcam in the busy port of Miami, US, that has attracted viewers from around the world. It has recorded more than 100 species, including Oval. You can visit for yourself at coralcitycamera.com ● LIFESPAN IN THE WILD: Up to 12 years. ● HABITAT: Surgeonfish live in warm, shallow waters near tropical coastlines. They are found on coral reefs and seagrass beds at depths of up to 40 metres. ● DIET: They are mostly herbivores, feeding on algae and other vegetation. ● FUN FACT: Surgeonfish have spines in front of their tails called scalpels that ward off many predators – though not the barracuda that probably snapped Oval’s tail.…

Scientists have recovered nine-tenths of a 10,000-year-old mammoth from a lake in the Russian region of Siberia – including its skin, body tissue, and even poo. The remains of the elephant-like prehistoric beast have been exceptionally well preserved thanks to icy conditions in the water. Local reindeer herders discovered fragments of the mammoth’s skeleton in the shallow waters of Pechevalavato Lake in mid-July. They stumbled upon parts of the jaw, foot, ribs and skull, and noticed that some sinews (stringy tissues that connect muscle to bone) were still attached. This is rare because such tissues usually rot away after an animal dies. Experts from a local museum, the Shemanovsky Institute, soon arrived on the scene. During five days of searching, they recovered the vast majority of its remains, jumbled together.…

Max Verstappen The Dutch driver won the 70th Anniversary Formula One Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire, England. England cricket team On 8 August, they won the fi rst Test match against Pakistan in Manchester, thanks to a strong batting partnership between Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler. John Higgins The Scottish player scored a maximum possible 147 break in a game at the World Snooker Championship. He is the seventh player to do it. Terri Harper The British boxer kept her WBC women’s world super-featherweight title after a draw with fellow Brit Natasha Jonas.…

If you could live anywhere, where would you choose? In a small house by the sea that’s both remote and close to fun things. What sort of sports do you enjoy? The virtual kind. I used to play sports when I was younger, but I’ve not really tried any as I’ve got older. Where did you get the idea for this book? On holiday in 2017 I visited a town called Boscastle in Cornwall, England, where I heard about the local witch folklore. One story spoke of sea witches who lived on boats with cats. I applied that concept to a Middle Eastern setting because it’s where I was born, and where my mum was from. I also knew I wanted to write a story about emotions. It was when…

As a result of coronavirus, the annual BBC Proms series of classical music concerts is very different this year. There will be six weeks of radio and TV broadcasts of concerts from previous years, and then two weeks of live performances from London’s Royal Albert Hall – but probably not with an audience. Alongside this, the BBC has created some “Proms at Home” activities for young people and their families. Each week, a new challenge is being set on the Proms at Home website (tinyurl.com/TWJ-promsathome). The first week’s activity was writing a one-word song, inspired by a piece of music called Canada by Gerald Barry, and a video of composer Maryon Davies writing a song using the word “banana”. “She’s a genius,” says Ellara Wakely, senior learning manager for BBC…

YouTube, Netflix and other digital services have been big hits during the coronavirus lockdown, but so has the BBC’s iPlayer app and its websites for young people. The BBC says that a quarter of all shows that were watched on iPlayer between April and June – around 38 million a week – were for young people, thanks to programmes from its CBBC and CBeebies channels. Around the same time, the Newsround website broke its record for the most users in a single week, with 1.7 million young people visiting it in the first week of May. The CBBC website has been visited by more than 500,000 young people a week during the lockdown, too. The BBC has put all the old episodes of shows like The Dumping Ground and Jamie…

We’re all still working in our own homes here on The Week Junior, and we’ve just had several very hot days in a row in London. On 7 August, the temperature reached 36.4C at London’s Heathrow Airport, making it the hottest August day since 2003. Elsewhere in the UK, there’s been soaring heat and dramatic lightning. See our story on page 5. We’ve all found different ways of coping with the tropical temperatures, whether that’s dunking our feet in buckets of icy water (me!); dashing out for an ice-cream every time the familiar chimes of the ice-cream van sound; finding the nearest swimming pool or pond to take a dip (me again!) or managing to escape to the beach at the weekend. Luckily it’s been a week of remarkable news…

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Follow The Week Junior on PopJam@TheWeekJunior. You can download the PopJam app from the App Store or Google Play. Last week’s Big debate was on whether museums should always have set routes... “No because other people might have time constraints.” “No, because you can explore more and you can go your own way.” “They should, because then museum workers know where the customers are going and can keep an eye on them.” “Yes, so people don’t get lost or see the same thing twice.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here.…

1 How high is the summit of the Matterhorn? a) 4,478 metres b) 4,748 metres c) 7,448 metres a □ b □ c □ 2 True or false? Palmerston, the UK Foreign Office’s pet cat, has retired to the countryside. 3 How old is Italy’s oldest graduate, Giuseppe Paternò? 4 According to the results of a survey, what percentage of children have read new books during lockdown? a) 45% b) 46% c) 50% a □ b □ c □ 5 True or false? Curious Times has published articles by young people in 26 different countries. 6 What are nematocysts? 7 Who helped set up the UK Student Climate Network? a) Kailash Cook b) Anna Taylor c) Lesein Mathenge Mutunkei a □ b □ c □ 8 True or false? The…

The UK recorded its hottest August day for 17 years this month, with temperatures reaching more than 36° C at Heathrow Airport, near London. People flocked to beaches, rivers and lakes to cool off, but some were turned away by officials who warned there was not enough space to maintain social distancing. Meteorologists (scientists who study the weather) believe that these high temperatures are linked to climate change – the long-term changes in weather patterns largely caused by human activity.…

Describe yourself in three words. Friendly, ambitious and stubborn Who do you love? Liverpool FC manager Jürgen Klopp and striker Mohamed Salah. (But really my family, my girlfriend Helen and my two children Theo and Ayla.) As a child, who did you want to be like and why? Robbie Fowler, because he scored lots of goals for Liverpool in the 1990s. When you were 11, what did you dream of doing? I wanted to be a footballer. I dreamed of scoring the winning goal for England in the World Cup final. I also wanted to be an inventor. I used to love making and building things in my dad’s shed in the garden. What do you do now? I help to run Honest Burgers. I’m trying to make the best…

Charli Ellis Zookeeper at ZSL London Zoo At ZSL London Zoo’s historic Reptile House we have snakes of all different shapes and sizes. A snake’s bottom jaw is split in two separate parts at the front, and its throat skin is very stretchy, allowing it to swallow items of prey whole, so it is important that we feed each snake the correct-sized prey. Some examples of food we use are rats, mice, rabbits, chickens and quails. 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…

When a carved piece of 40,000-year-old mammoth tusk was found in a German cave a few years ago, nobody quite knew what it was. Some thought it was a musical instrument or religious object, but now scientists have concluded that it is the earliest known rope-making tool. During the Stone Age, people would have threaded plant fibres through four holes in the tusk. When they twisted it, the fibres wrapped together to form strong rope and twine. The invention of twine significantly changed life for prehistoric humans because it meant they could make bows and arrows, clothing and strong nets.…

Anew robot, modelled on the notoriously slow sloth, could soon be helping to save endangered species. The SlothBot was designed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta in the US. Powered by sunlight, SlothBot is designed to move slowly across a cable between two trees, gathering information from the unique viewpoint of the wildlife that lives high in the trees. SlothBot is being tested in the Atlanta Botanical Garden. If trials are successful, it will soon be used for environmental monitoring projects in South America. Enjoy these stories? Find more in this month’s The Week Junior Science+Naturemagazinesciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk…

Stories for South Asian Supergirls by Raj Kaur Khaira (Kashi House) Meet lots of brilliant heroines in this illustrated book, which brings together the true stories of 50 women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Featuring activists, business leaders and entertainers, this is an inspiring and empowering read. A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) The year is 1947 and India is being torn apart, with tensions rising between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. Meanwhile, Bilal is trying to protect his sick father from the truth about what is going on in their country because he knows it will break his father’s heart. This is a moving and powerful story best suited to older readers. My Story: Noor-un-Nissa Inayat Khan by Sufiya Ahmed (Scholastic) Discover the…

Love them or hate them, mushrooms are remarkable. Scientists believe that these types of fungi (the name given to living organisms including yeasts, moulds and mushrooms) can be used for lots of things, including building materials, furniture, medicine and food. An exhibition all about mushrooms is now on at London’s Somerset House. Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Fungi explores the unlimited potential of the mighty mushroom. In the past, mushrooms were often linked with superstition and witchcraft because many mushrooms are poisonous – even deadly – if you eat them. In the 19th century, mushrooms started to pop up in children’s literature, such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and their reputation improved. Children’s author Beatrix Potter, who wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was fascinated…

No matter where you are, there are ways to keep moving and keep your body healthy now that school is restarting. This indoor workout is the last in a series from Chris and Tristan from Mint Coaching (mintcoaching.fit). For this workout, do three rounds of each exercise then rest for two minutes. Repeat this circuit between three and five times. Warm-up Do these two moves five times each then repeat this three more times. 1 Lie stretched out on your back, so that your fingertips are touching the wall, raise your legs up together and touch the wall with your toes. 2 Start in a press-up position. 3 Then lean sideways to a side plank, slowly taking one hand off the floor and pointing it to the ceiling. Do the…

Name: Anusha “My name is Anusha and I’m nine years old in Year 4 at the Bellbird Primary School, Cambridge. During the lockdown, I have been homeschooling with my five-year-old brother, Gabriel. Sometimes I miss my friends but I always look forward to getting my copy of The Week Junior every Friday. I love looking at the photos and reading about the new books that are coming out. While we’ve been home schooling we have been learning about ancient Egyptians. I decided to write an article about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter in 1922, but written as though it was this week’s big news! I did all the writing, chose the pictures and did the drawings myself and my dad helped me put it on the computer.…

“During July, I completed the marathon month challenge for Cancer Research. I ran 26 miles and raised over £300.” Isaac “We went to see some alpacas and llamas in the Isle of Wight. I love alpacas so it was amazing! There were three cria (baby alpaca) and one had been born half an hour before we came.” Anna “Reading our favourite magazine in the garden.” Mia-Rose and Tayana…

15 August 1947 Indian independence day is marked On 15 August 1947, India and Pakistan became two independent states that would govern themselves, rather than be ruled by the UK. East Pakistan has since become Bangladesh. Until this date, the British had been involved in ruling India since the early 18th century. At midnight on 14 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, gave a famous speech to the Indian parliament in which he said, “India will awake to life and freedom.”…

On 7 August, it was announced that Palmerston, the UK Foreign Office’s cat, is retiring. Palmerston has been the chief mouse catcher at the Government department since 2016, but has now swapped city life for the countryside. A letter signed with two paw prints was posted on a social media account in his name. It said Palmerston wanted to “spend more time relaxing away from the limelight”.…

When the UK went into lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, many people turned to books for some escapism. Studies show that young people in the UK have read more than usual over the past few months, and many have taken the opportunity to try something new. Others decided to reread old favourites instead. Every year, millions of books are published around the world. Given how many books there are, some people think it’s a waste of time to read the same one more than once. As well as an increase in reading, people have been getting rid of old books they don’t want any more. However, others say you enjoy a story more the second time around. So what do you think? Should you read a…

Mouse Lemur A newly discovered species of mouse lemur has been named Microcebus jonahi after Jonah Ratsimbazafy, an expert on primates (the group of animals that includes apes, humans and monkeys) in Madagascar. Lemurs are unique to this large island off the coast of Africa. UK mammals A quarter of native UK mammals are at risk of extinction. A new report, the Red List of UK mammals, includes the beaver, hedgehog and red squirrel. The Scottish wildcat and greater mouse-eared bat are critically endangered, but experts say that more wild space could help them recover.…

Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old Swedish environmental campaigner, has inspired millions of people to take action against climate change. Climate change is the long-term changes in world weather patterns, including rising temperatures. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), farming and cutting down forests are major causes of the crisis. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges humans face. It leads to more extreme weather, wildfires and threatens the homes and habitats of humans and animals. At times it can seem like a daunting battle. However, as Thunberg proved when she started her protest outside the Swedish parliament in August 2018, one person can make a difference. A new book called United We Are Unstoppable features the stories of 60 young people from 41 countries who…

Scientists have shown that you can tell what a person has been eating, and whether or not they’re vegetarian, by analysing their hair. Rummaging through the bins of barbers in 65 different cities across the US, researchers from the University of Utah were able to collect strands of hair from 684 people. By measuring traces of different chemicals found within the hair, they found they were able to determine each person’s diet. Human hair is made mostly out of proteins – large chemical molecules built up from smaller units called amino acids. Some amino acids are naturally produced in our bodies but others can only come from what we eat and drink. When we eat something, traces of its acids end up in proteins throughout our bodies, including those in…

Moonchild: Voyage of the Lost and Found by Aisha Bushby. Illustrated by Rachael Dean (Egmont Books) Amira is 12 and lives at sea, sailing the waves with her sea-witch mothers. Travelling with them is Amira’s beloved jinn, Namur, a magical creature who takes the form of a cat. When their boat is wrecked in a storm, Amira is excited to have the chance to go on land to explore and visit the market for the first time. There, she is surprised to meet Leo – a boy who also has a jinn. When Namur goes missing, Amira must set out to visit a magical place where lost things can be found. There, she will discover what it means to be a Moonchild. Threaded through with short stories, this enchanting magical…

Mushroom packaging Polystyrene and plastic pollute the Earth but there are alternatives. The Magical Mushroom Company, which has opened the UK’s first mushroom packaging factory, mixes materials such as old wood chips with mycelium (the underground structure of mushrooms) to make packaging that can be put in the compost after use. Mushroom leather A company in California, US, has developed a new kind of leather using the mycelium that grows underground. This is mixed with wood fibres to create a leather-like material, which can be produced in days rather than years. Normal leather is made from an animal’s hide (skin). Mushroom bricks Technology exists to turn mushrooms into bricks using chopped sweetcorn husks and mycelium. The material is packed into a mould and the brick grows for five days or…

What you need ● Shoebox with lid ● Paper ● Paint ● Small objects you don’t mind getting covered in paint Hello again, Olaf Falafel here – comedian, illustrator, and full-time Chewbacca lookalike (if Chewbacca wore a baseball cap). I’m also the host of Art Club – the online art show with three simple rules. Rule one: There are no rules. Rule two: Ignore the first rule. Rule three: Always wear stripes. The Week Junior has asked me to share some of my favourite art techniques. This one is from Jackson Pollock, an artist who definitely didn’t follow the rules. Pollock is probably one of the messiest painters around. He used to lay huge canvases on the floor of his studio and then drip, flick and throw paint on them…

Raise money for vulnerable children in the UK on 21 August by “boycotting your bed” for the charity Action for Children. Whether you rough it in the garden, pitch a tent under your table or bunk down in the bathroom – the idea is to spend the night in an unusual place in your home or garden. There will even be virtual entertainment and activities to connect you with the hundreds of others bedding down across the UK. Sign up for the Boycott Your Bed challenge and you’ll be part of a national movement helping vulnerable children and families. Visit boycottyourbed.co.uk for more information.…

Teacher’s name: Miss Hehir School: St Matthew’s Primary School, Cambridge “I think Miss Hehir should be Teacher of the Week because she is kind and she got lots of toys for us to play with to make learning fun. She can make any lesson fun, which helps us to enjoy school. During lockdown she has sent us work to do as well as letters and videos to keep us happy and interested. She has worked really hard to continue supporting us even though she is teaching a group of key worker children at school. I think she is amazing.” Chloe 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…

Cat rescued three times in one day A kitten in Norfolk, England, was rescued from three vehicles in a single day. The rescues took several hours and the rescuers had to take apart all three vehicles. The cat first hid in a car, which was taken to a garage where its wheels were removed, so the rescuers could reach the engine. The kitten then escaped into the engine of another car in the garage. Then it dashed under a van from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). Finally, a firefighter managed to catch the kitten before it escaped again. Coding new chocolate chips An industrial engineer in the US state of California is building a better way to make chocolate chips. Remy Labesque is an…