Innholdsfortegnelse for 250 i The Week Junior

On 21 September, the Government’s medical advisers explained their concerns about a rise in coronavirus infections in the UK. Following their warnings, the UK Government imposed new restrictions to avoid the situation getting worse. What did the advisers say? The Government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, and the chief medical officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty, warned of a tough six months ahead. Vallance explained that the infection rate is doubling every seven days. He said unless action was taken to slow down the infection rate, there could be 50,000 new infections per day by the middle of October. Whitty said it is the responsibility of all of us to work together and slow down the spread of the virus. Vallance added that he hoped a vaccine to protect…

A LIFE-SAVING NEWSPAPER GIRL Teenager Naomi Jupp has received a special award from the police. On her paper round, the 15-year-old from Christchurch in Dorset, England, spotted that an elderly customer hadn’t picked up the newspaper she had left for him. She alerted the police, who checked in on the man and took him to hospital. SEA EAGLE CHICKS Two sea eagle chicks have fledged (grown enough feathers on their wings to enable them to fly) in the Royal Deeside area of Scotland, for the first time in 200 years. Sea eagles have been in the area for several years, but these chicks are the first to be bred successfully. The chicks have been named Victoria and Albert. INCREDIBLE SPORTSMANSHIP A Spanish athlete stopped to allow a competitor to cross…

28 September 1066 William the Conqueror invades England On 28 September 1066, William, Duke of Normandy (in France) arrived at Pevensey, on the south-east coast of England, with an army of around 7,000 men. William claimed he was the rightful king of England. He said his cousin King Edward the Confessor, who had died in January, had promised him the throne, but Harold Godwinson was declared King Harold II instead. On 14 October, the two sides fought the famous Battle of Hastings. William won and became King William I of England on 25 December 1066.…

A high-tech ship without any crew set sail from Plymouth, south-west England, on 16 September. The boat is called the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) and is named after a ship called the Mayflower that set sail from Plymouth in 1620, heading for America. There is no one on board the 15-metre MAS boat. Instead it is using artificial intelligence (AI) to guide it across the Atlantic Ocean. AI is the ability of a computer to learn and perform tasks that are usually carried out by humans. The ship is operated by an AI robot captain that uses data collected by the vessel’s 30 sensors and six cameras. For fuel, it uses solar-powered batteries that convert sunlight into electricity, along with power from the wind. The MAS was designed by an…

● In the UK, only 40% of school children aged between seven and 14 years old think exams are a good way of testing knowledge. ● A study in 2007 by researchers from three universities in the US found that preparing for and sitting an exam can improve future learning, and increase the amount of knowledge people can remember. ● In another study in 2014, carried out by the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, 60% of students said they dreamed about exams the night before taking one. More than three quarters of these dreams involved being late for the exam and forgetting answers.…

More action must be taken if we are to protect the environment and wildlife, according to a new worldwide report. On 15 September, the United Nations (UN) released its fifth Global Biodiversity Outlook report. The UN is an organisation of 193 countries that takes action on issues such as human rights, peace and climate change. Climate change is the long-term shifts in global weather patterns, such as rising temperatures. The UN’s Global Biodiversity Outlook report assesses what governments around the world are doing to protect biodiversity (the variety of plant and animal life worldwide and in particular habitats). High levels of biodiversity suggest a healthy environment. The report said that out of 20 targets set in 2010, none have been fully achieved on a global level. However, it also highlights…

GOOD Child-driven change Lego has said it will replace its plastic bags with paper ones after receiving letters from children urging it to reduce plastic waste. The company will spend up to £310 million on changes to help the environment, including switching bags to seeking alternative materials for its bricks. BAD Arctic ice The Arctic’s largest permanent area of floating ice – around 50 miles by 13 miles – has lost a huge chunk. The piece split away and broke into smaller parts in the ocean near Greenland. Scientists fear the split is evidence of rising temperatures in the seas around the North Pole.…

In September 1940, a bombing campaign started that would devastate London and other cities across the UK. From 7 September 1940 until 11 May 1941, the Luftwaffe – Nazi Germany’s air force – bombarded the UK as part of an attempt to invade the country during the Second World War. The attacks became known as the Blitz, after the German word blitzkrieg, meaning “lightning war”. Find out more about what life was like for people during the Blitz. The Second World War The Second World War was an international conflict fought from 1939 to 1945 between the Allied powers and the Axis powers. The main Allied powers were France, the UK, the US and the Soviet Union (the name for a group of countries that was once ruled from Moscow,…

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright! by Fiona Waters. Illustrated by Britta Teckentrup (Nosy Crow) Containing a different poem for each day of the year, this beautiful book brings together a diverse selection of poetry inspired by the animal kingdom. There are old and new poems from all over the world, by poets including Lewis Carroll and Grace Nichols – as well as lots of stunning artwork. Dear Ugly Sisters by Laura Mucha. Illustrated by Tania Rex (Otter-Barry Books) The first collection from exciting new poet Laura Mucha explores all sorts of topics, such as science, space and classic fairy tales. Other poems are inspired by events that affect us today, such as Dear Key Workers, which pays tribute to those who have helped us all during the coronavirus pandemic. The Book…

On 28 September, a new dance show exploring what it has felt like to be alone or locked down because of the coronavirus pandemic opens at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield, England. It consists of three dance acts called Locked Down, Locked In and But Living. All the acts are filmed beforehand in the empty theatre and people can buy tickets to watch the show online. The first act, Locked Down, is a contemporary (modern) solo dance from the point of view of a dancer who is used to filling big, open stages but now only has a small living room in which to move. Four ballet dancers perform the second act, Locked In, which explores the emotions that arise from being alone. But Living is another contemporary solo…

Secret Society of Second-Born Royals Streaming now on Disney+ With her older sister preparing to become Queen, teenager Sam, second in line to the throne of Illyria, starts to rebel against royal life. However, Sam then discovers that she has superpowers and joins other super-powered royals to save the world. Little Mix: The Search 7pm on 26 September, BBC One Join girl band Little Mix as they create and mentor six brand-new pop bands. These bands will battle it out in a series of live shows for the prize of joining Little Mix on their next UK tour.…

“I‘ve done lots of yoga videos on YouTube. It’s really fun to do different moves and you’re stretching out your body so it helps with balance and flexibility. The biggest challenge is keeping a pose in one position – it can start aching and you have to balance extra hard! Some yoga is really relaxing and helps you to calm down, breathe slowly and pay attention to what you’re doing. It focuses you on one thing.”…

Here at The Week Junior we are always thinking about you, our readers. We make sure that every issue is packed with news, ideas, activities and facts that you’ll find interesting and useful. This issue – our 250th – is no different and we really hope you enjoy reading it. It probably won’t be a surprise to discover that some of this week’s stories have a connection with the coronavirus outbreak. Along with information about the new rules that we must to follow to protect ourselves and others (p2), there is a story about a dance show that has been inspired by lockdown (p20) and an incredible selection of photos showing different experiences during that time (p16). Humans have an incredible ability to adapt to new situations and find new…

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School: Gisburn Primary School, Lancashire Miss Smith is 1,000% the best teacher in the whole world! Our classes are full of excitement and fun and in lockdown she did fun Zoom quizzes. She also FaceTimed me every day when I was poorly in hospital. She is just amazing in every way and the best teacher there could possibly be.” Billie 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…

Man doesn’t notice mural During lockdown people weren’t allowed to visit homes they might like to rent. Instead, many were given a virtual tour of the inside. Student Charlie Lucas-Smith had found a place in Brighton, England, that he liked, and agreed to move in. Four days later, he realised he hadn’t seen the outside of the house. So he looked up the street on the internet to see what parking was like and found his new home had a giant painting of the cartoon star Homer Simpson on the front, and one of Bart Simpson on the back. Fortunately, Lucas-Smith said he found it really funny, and is a massive fan of The Simpsons TV show. A garden rollercoaster A 20-year-old engineering student in the US has spent lockdown…

1 Where is Barbados? a) Africa b) The Caribbean c) Asia a □ b □ c □ 2 True or false? A ship with no crew that is controlled by a robot has set sail from Plymouth, England. 3 What is the name of the Supreme Court judge who died in the US? 4 What did 60% of students do the night before an exam, according to a study carried out in France? a) Went running b) Dreamed about the exam c) Went to the cinema a □ b □ c □ 5 True or false? Captain Tom Moore has honey with his porridge every morning. 6 What has Lego decided to change, to help the environment? 7 When was the Second World War? a) 1839–1845 b) 1914–1918 c) 1939–1945…

When Captain Tom Moore decided in April to walk 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday, his family had no idea what would happen next. “We wanted to raise £1,000,” his 11-year-old granddaughter Georgia Ingram-Moore tells The Week Junior. “Nothing else was planned.” By the time he turned 100, on 30 April, her grandfather had raised more than £30 million for charities supporting the National Health Service. He has since featured on the front page of newspapers in almost every continent. In July, he was knighted, becoming Captain Sir Tom Moore. Georgia herself has done around 600 interviews since April. “It’s been hard work,” she says. “We went to bed at midnight every night.” However, the family is devoted to giving people hope. “Hope means you give people…

Exciting new research suggests there could be living things in the clouds above Venus, whose orbit brings it closer to Earth than any other planet. A study of Venus’s atmosphere shows a type of gas called phosphine, which on Earth is only produced by microbes (microscopic living things). If such creatures are found on Venus, it would be the first evidence of life existing anywhere else in the universe. Scientists, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, identified the phosphine in thick clouds about 35 miles above Venus’s equator (an imaginary line around a planet). On Earth, the gas is produced by special forms of life – microbes that live in airless environments such as swamps and inside animals’ guts. It can also be made in factories but neither…

Tamarind and the Star of Ishta by Jasbinder Bilan (Chicken House) Tamarind is feeling apprehensive about going to India to stay with her family. Her mum, Chinty, died soon after she was born, and Tamarind has never had the chance to meet any of her relatives. Yet when she arrives at her family’s home in the Himalayas there are more questions than answers waiting for her. As she explores the house and the gardens, she makes a series of discoveries: an abandoned hut where her mum used to play; a secret box containing a glowing ring; a friendly monkey; and finally a strange girl called Ishta. Can Tamarind piece together the clues? This second book from award-winning author Jasbinder Bilan is full of magic and mystery. *If you are the…

Emerging Dancer The English National Ballet’s annual Emerging Dancer competition, which picks the best dancer out of six rising stars, has been held online. The final is being streamed online and is available to watch until 29 September. Tickets are £5. BBC Culture in Quarantine This series of four short videos, including The Sofa Dance, were created during lockdown and are available on BBC iPlayer. The shows were created by Arts Council England and BBC Arts with support from Sadler’s Wells, a theatre in London. The Nutcracker London’s Royal Opera House will stream this famous ballet in UK cinemas from 10 to 24 December. The dance tells the story of Clara, who is given a magical nutcracker for Christmas. Together, they take part in a great adventure.…

Ella McCaughan started playing cricket when she was 10 years old. Now aged 17, she’s facing the biggest game of her career on 27 September. As a batter, she scored lots of runs to help her team, Southern Vipers, reach the final of the new Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy. The final will be played at the famous Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham, England, and is live on Sky Sports television. “It’s good to see lots of young players in this competition. We’ve shown what we can do and it’s good for the future,” she told The Week Junior. The event is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The ECB has also been celebrating its Women’s Big Cricket Month campaign in September. This campaign aims to get girls and…

Do I need to be really flexible to try yoga? If you see some of the more challenging poses it can be quite intimidating but anyone can do yoga. You don’t need to be flexible, strong, coordinated or good at balancing. However, practising will help you improve all those things. How do I get started? You can search online for “kids yoga near me”, but the easiest place to start is at home. Use YouTube to find yoga videos that are specially designed for young people. Do I need special clothes or equipment? Any comfy clothes that you can stretch in are perfect, and you can go barefoot. Lots of people use a yoga mat, but practising on a wooden floor, carpet, rug or even outside on the grass is…

Anti-Bullying Pro, an online resource from The Diana Award and Childline suggests: ● Talk about it. Tell a teacher, parent or guardian or another adult you trust. They will be able to help you. ● Keep a record. Remember the four Ws: what, where, when and who. This will help people to understand what’s happening to you. ● Come up with a plan. Along with a teacher, devise a plan for how to stop the bullying and keep you safe. For advice go to Anti Bullying Pro at tinyurl.com/ TWJantibullyingpro and Childline at tinyurl.com/TWJ-childlineadvice…

Some people love exams. They sit at their desks, excitedly waiting for the time they can flip over the exam paper and read the questions. Others dread them. The thought of not knowing any of the answers is enough to make some people feel sick. This year, students in the UK were unable to sit exams because of the coronavirus outbreak. Instead, they were given grades based on predictions from their teachers. Some believe students should learn a wider range of skills at school, and not just learn how to pass exams. Certain studies show that taking exams can improve a pupil’s ability to learn, but one thing that can’t be ignored is that for some, exams can be stressful. So what do you think? Are exams the best way…

“When I am the best version of me, everyone gains.” Describe yourself in three words. Loving, focused, sharp. Who do you love? Myself, my daughter with every fibre of my body, my mum and dad, my extended family and my friends. As a child, who did you want to be like and why? Steffi Graf. She was cool, calm, collected – a brilliant and elegant tennis player, with a fantastic smile and a lot of grace. And now? The best version of me. I am committed to being as self-aware and as brave as possible so I can make my greatest contribution. When you were 11, what did you dream of doing? I knew I was gifted, but I didn’t know how those characteristics would translate into adult life. I…

Dan Kane Reptile keeper, ZSL London Zoo The rarest of the 24 crocodile species is probably the Philippine crocodile, two of which live in ZSL London Zoo’s Reptile House. The 250 or so wild adults are scattered in around five separate areas, so each population probably contains a really small number of adult male and female crocodiles. They’re threatened by habitat loss and hunting, so zoo breeding is very important. 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…

Venus is often called Earth’s sister planet because the two are almost identical in size and structure. However, Venus orbits a little closer to the Sun and has an atmosphere dominated by heat-trapping carbon dioxide gas, which makes conditions very different to those on Earth. At the surface it can be as hot as 470° C but temperatures are more Earth-like in the clouds about 30 miles up, so it makes sense for any life that exists to be found here. However, the clouds of Venus offer their own challenges for living things – they’re mostly made of sulphuric acid, a substance that can cause burns and break down the chemicals that life needs to evolve.…

Which three items would you want to take to a deserted island? I would have to take my favourite childhood book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, so if I have too much of the hot sand and sea I can dive through the book into the wintry landscape of Narnia. I love having baths, so I’d create a lovely spa area and take an amber candle to give me inspiration and help me relax. Finally, a huge stack of notebooks and pencils so that I can keep creating magical stories. Do you have a secret talent to share? When I was little I used to be able to stand on my head for ages – I’ve been practising again and I can stay upside down to the count…

Star writes song for young drummer Rock star Dave Grohl, from the band Foo Fighters, has written a song especially for Nandi Bushell, a 10-year-old drummer from Ipswich, England. Bushell and Grohl have been having a “drum battle” over social media, and he has challenged her to play certain songs. On 14 September, Grohl said that he was starting “round two”, and proceeded to play a song he had written about Bushell. The lyrics describe her as “the best drummer in the world”, who can “play any song”. Bushell said it was “the best song ever” and is now planning to make her own version of it. Speaking to The Week Junior in July, Bushell said that Foo Fighters are one of her favourite bands and that she would love…

A combination of physical poses and relaxation techniques, yoga can improve your balance, flexibility, posture (how you stand and move) and strength. As a non-competitive activity, it also encourages positive thinking, compassion and respect. What’s more, it’s been around for more than 5,000 years. Isn’t it time you gave it a try? Some yoga studios run courses for young people, and lots of schools have set up yoga clubs. Clare Lewis at Az Yoga runs courses in primary schools. “Yoga can help to build a foundation for lifelong wellbeing and healthy habits,” she says. “It gives you a few tools, such as movement, breathing and visualisations (putting positive images in your mind), that you can use in moments of challenge or stress. It’s also lots of fun!” Don’t worry if…

Remember things What you need ● Spare space or room ● Pencils ● Pens ● Paper Instructions All day long you receive information, whether it’s from school, friends or even The Week Junior. Memory is the way you hold on to that information. Remembering things can be hard, but memory is something that can be improved by practising a few simple tricks. Here are three tricks for you to try. ● Create a place in your imagination, perhaps a virtual house with different rooms where you can store different bits of information. Then, when you need to retrieve that information, you can go back to the room to dig it out. It can also help to move to a different room in the real world to try learning something new…

On 10 October it’s World Mental Health Day. To encourage young people to reflect on the extraordinary challenges people have faced worldwide because of coronavirus, a project called Beyond Words has been launched. Young people, teachers and carers are invited to put into words their feelings about the past year. The project has been designed to help 14 to 16-year-olds who are too physically or mentally unwell to attend school. Plus, for every submission, the Bupa Foundation will donate £1 to each charity partner. Find out more about entering your work before the 18 October deadline at bupafoundation.org/beyond-words…

Follow The Week Junior on PopJam@TheWeekJunior. You can download the PopJam app from the App Store or Google Play. Last week, our Big Debate question was “should humans trust robots?” You said... “You can trust some, like the ones you have as fake pets.” “In some ways we can, but what if the future becomes robots?” “I don’t think so, people will lose their jobs and the future could be mostly robots.” “At this time – yes, but as society develops and robots get smarter they may become harder to trust.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here.…

Pepsi, the company most famous for making drinks containing sugar and caffeine (a chemical that makes you alert), is launching a drink in the US to help people fall asleep. The drink, called Driftwell, is mostly water with a few extra ingredients – including a chemical found in green tea and certain mushrooms – which some scientific studies have said could improve the quality of sleep. What do you think? Is this story real, or just too watered down to be true?*…