Innholdsfortegnelse for 329 i The Week Junior

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and his wife Katherine, have been criticised after a tour of three countries in the Caribbean. Where did they go? From 19 to 26 March, William and Kate visited the Bahamas, Belize and Jamaica. Their tour was made on the Queen’s behalf to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee, which marks 70 years of her being on the throne. The visit was also an attempt to generate support for the Commonwealth and encourage other countries not to follow Barbados in removing the Queen as their head of state. The head of state is a country’s official leader. In monarchies this person is a king or queen; in republics it is an elected president. What is the Commonwealth? The Commonwealth, or Commonwealth of Nations (formerly…

Woolly post box toppers are being spotted around the UK as the weather brightens up. These creations are made by mystery knitters who place them on top of post boxes like hats. They often feature cute woolly animals and some have been themed on Doctor Who, showing a Dalek or the Tardis. The knitted toppers started appearing in 2012 and soon became a bit of a craze. In some areas of the country they are changed throughout the year to represent the season, showing Christmas or Easter scenes.…

This summer, sport will look a little different than usual. When the Commonwealth Games take place in Birmingham in July and August, you might see athletes taking the knee at the podium in support of racial equality or doing a victory lap with a Ukrainian flag. The organisers of the Games said they are allowing protests for the first time “to strengthen the athlete’s voice”, adding, “We want to encourage the positive, not police the negative”. However, who decides if a protest is positive or negative? Big sporting events such as the Olympic Games and the football World Cups do not allow athletes to protest. Would it not be better to leave protests at the door, so the events are purely about sport? What do you think: should athletes be…

Two new species of see-through frog have been identified in Ecuador, South America. See-through frogs, known as glass frogs, have completely transparent skin. In other words you can see their insides. At first, scientists thought these two frogs – which were found at different ends of the same river – were from the same species. However, when Juan Guayasamin and his team from Universidad San Francisco de Quito analysed the frogs’ DNA they found important differences. DNA is a chemical in every living cell that carries all the information about a species. As well as differences in their DNA, the team noticed that the frogs made different sounds. The differences between the two are an example of what scientists call “cryptic diversity”, which is when species are different in ways…

Spring has arrived in the UK but some parts of the world still seem like winter wonderlands. Snow forests make up about 30% of the world’s total forest areas. These wonderful woodlands are not as famous as the Amazon or other tropical rainforests but their existence is just as important. To mark the recent International Day of Forests, we report on why they are so vital for Earth’s health and why they are at risk. What is a snow forest? Also known as boreal or taiga forests, snow forests are found in the far north of the world, in regions that are quite cold and usually have a lot of snowfall. They lie across parts of Canada, China, Finland, Japan, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the US. Snow forests stretch for…

Research released on 29 March by Ofcom, the organisation that oversees TV, radio and the internet in the UK, said that more than one third of internet users didn’t know that online content might be untrue. Knowing when truth is twisted online on video-sharing platforms (used by 95% of three to 17-year-olds according to Ofcom’s research), such as YouTube and TikTok, is an important skill to develop. It can boost your wellbeing, too. What is fake news? Fake news covers “disinformation” (fake stories deliberately created to mislead and confuse people) and “misinformation” (fake stories shared accidentally). Fake news can include images. An image can be fake because it’s computer-generated (a “deepfake”) or because it’s described incorrectly – for example, photos claiming to show the war in Ukraine that were actually…

John Lennon From the age of five, singer-songwriter John Lennon was raised by his aunt in Liverpool, England. Along with his musical friend Paul McCartney, Lennon went on to create one of the greatest rock groups in history – The Beatles. Simone Biles Growing up, US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles was in and out of foster care before being adopted by her grandparents. Biles went on to become the most successful Olympic gymnast in US history, with seven medals – four of them golds. Steve Jobs Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, was raised by adoptive parents in the US. Jobs was a driving force behind the invention of the iPhone and the iPad, and helped found Pixar, whose recent films include Luca and Turning Red.…

by Jennifer Killick (Farshore) “There aren’t many worse things than being in school, but being in school on a Saturday is one of them.” Angelo isn’t happy about having to come into school for a weekend detention, but when he and three of his classmates, Hallie, Gustav and Naira, arrive on school grounds, things go from bad to worse. The gang quickly realise that there’s something very sinister going on at Dread Wood High, with creepy caretakers humming eerie tunes and animals behaving strangely. Then their teacher is dragged underground and swallowed up by the earth. Trapped alone in the school grounds, with no one to help them, can the gang work together to survive the horrors lying in wait? This is a brilliantly spine-tingling and spooky horror comedy. There…

Family adventures, treasure hunts and going for walks in interesting places are all part of geocaching. Geocaching (say “geo-kash-ing”) involves using a mobile phone or a GPS (global positioning system) device to track down an object that’s been hidden outdoors. To get started, ask an adult to go to a geocaching website and download an app. One of the best is geocaching.com, which has a free app. Your grown-up will have to create an account and then you can see if there’s something near you that you’d like to try to find. The app will guide you to within a few metres of the object. The object, called a geocache, is usually a container. It could be hidden in all sorts of intriguing places, such as low down in a…

Word fill in All these words fit in the grid. Can you work out where each word goes to complete it? 4 letters Bush Gate Rose Swan 5 letters Grass Kiosk 6 letters Parent Picnic Toilet 8 letters Fountain Rounders 9 letters Bandstand Deckchair 10 letters Greenhouse Skateboard Wordsearch Can you find all of the words listed here? They are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may read forwards or backwards. ADDRESS CASHIER COUNTER DATE DISPATCH FRANKED LABEL LETTER NAME PACKAGE PAMPHLET POSTBOX POSTCODE POSTMARK RECEIPT REDIRECT SCALES SEALED STAMP WINDOW ANSWERS CAN BE FOUND ON PAGE 29 Puzzles…

There have been many examples of countries paying reparations throughout history. For example, Germany has paid reparations to victims of the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the genocide of Jewish people by the Nazis. Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular race or religion. In 1988, the US government paid reparations to Japanese Americans that it put in US prisons during the Second World War (1939–1945). In New Zealand, the government has been paying reparations to the Māori, who are New Zealand’s indigenous people. Indigenous people are the descendants of those who lived somewhere before another culture arrived and took over.…

FINDING AN 800-YEAR-OLD SEAL George Henderson, age 10, found a rare historical object in Suffolk, England, with his metal detector. The copper seal would have been pressed into wax to seal letters around 800 years ago. Experts say it could fetch thousands of pounds if sold. EAGLES ATTRACTING TOURISTS White-tailed eagles have caused a tourism boom on the Isle of Mull off the west coast of Scotland. A study by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has found the eagles, which can have a wingspan of up to two metres, attract wildlife-loving tourists who spend up to £8 million a year on the island. RAISING MONEY FOR UKRAINE A group of 17 children teamed up to swim the width of the English Channel in less than an hour,…

On 25 March, groups of young people in Scotland took part in climate strikes for the first time since the COP26 summit. The summit was held in Glasgow in November 2021, when countries promised to try to tackle climate change. However, many young people feel that little has been done since then. A 19-year-old climate activist at the protest on Friday, Saoi O’Connor, said to the BBC, “Has COP26 brought us closer to achieving climate justice? Absolutely not.”…

Having English teachers as parents, Ben Miller was very fond of reading as he grew up. Speaking to The Week Junior, Miller said that he adored fantasy stories, with a particular love for Alan Garner, who has written versions of traditional folk tales and myths. In Miller’s most recent book, How I Became a Dog Called Midnight, he used his love of legends to give the story a particular theme by including an enchanted fountain, a bit like the magical lake in the tales of King Arthur. The book tells the story of a boy who swaps places with a dog after a mix-up in the enchanted fountain. The two must soon work together against an evil villain before they are trapped in each other’s bodies forever. Miller‘s dog, a…

A new study has found that orangutans use slang to sound cool, just like humans. (Slang is very informal words and phrases used by a group of people). Scientists from the University of Warwick, in England, studied 70 orangutans on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia. From 2005 to 2010, the experts spent more than 6,000 hours observing the orangutans and recording their “kiss-squeak” alarm calls. Some of these orangutans were part of big social groups; others lived in smaller groups. In the big groups, new calls were used and then quickly dropped, a bit like the way slang phrases come in and out of fashion among teenagers. Orangutans from smaller groups were less likely to come up with new calls but if they did, they were…

Beaver Beavers have returned to London for the first time in more than 400 years. Beavers were hunted to extinction in the UK in the 16th century. However, there are several projects to reintroduce the animal to certain areas around the UK. On 17 March, a male and female beaver were released into a special enclosure in Enfield, north London. Seventoeightyears Riversandlakesnearwoodland. Aboutametrefromhead to tail. Plantstreebarkand leaves. Beaversareknownas“ecosystem engineers” because of their dam-building abilities.…

Finnish taiga forest Much smaller than snow forests in North America and Russia, the woodlands in northern Finland are just as spectacular. The pine trees are covered in thick snow in the winter months and caribou and reindeer thrive among the woodland. Tourists are encouraged to explore the area and learn about the forest. Siberian taiga forest Located in the east of Russia, this snow forest is one of the largest in the world. The most common tree here is the larch – a type of conifer that’s deciduous (it sheds needles in the autumn). Brown bears, red foxes and wolverines live here, as well as the rare Siberian tiger. North American boreal forest Running through Canada and the US state of Alaska, this forest is bigger than most countries.…

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in the US is a huge football competition. With star players including Christine Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn and Alex Morgan, and successful clubs such as Washington Spirit and FC Kansas City, the NWSL is watched by fans around the world. When the season kicks off this month, a new club aims to make an impact both on and off the pitch. Angel City FC, based in Los Angeles, is looking forward to playing its first NWSL game. The club was created in 2020 and is mostly owned and run by women. People who are funding and supporting them include tennis champion Serena Williams, former skier Lindsey Vonn and actor Natalie Portman. Freya Coombe, from Buckinghamshire in England, is the head coach, and former England international…

These news stories have all been published in the UK, but can you spot the fake news? • “A penguin has been spotted in the Thames,” claimed The Sun newspaper in 2006. ◻True ◻False • “The past winter has resulted in a heavy spaghetti crop” – in 1954, the BBC reported on spaghetti trees grown in Switzerland. ◻True ◻False • “A new 50 poo piece!” was another headline published by The Sun in 2019. It was about a new collection of coins branded with emojis, including the poo one. ◻True ◻False ANSWERS ON PAGE 29 Wellbeing: Fact or fake news? They are all fake; these stories all ran on 1 April for April Fools’ Day.…

A new online exhibition put on by the V&A Museum shows how young people have been playing and creating art during the Covid-19 pandemic. The exhibition Play in the Pandemic (tinyurl.com/panplay) is based on hundreds of photos and art sent in by people aged up to 19. Its website launched on 23 March, exactly two years after the first lockdown was announced in the UK. “These young people were interpreting and trying to make sense of the crisis,” said Katy Canales from the V&A, who curated the exhibition (“curated” means she chose which items to include). Her favourites include a picture using the phrase “I don’t want life to go back to normal, I want it to go back to better” by eight-year-old Woody, who has autism (a lifelong condition…

Did you ever get detention at school? I never got detention! I was very shy and didn’t like drawing attention to myself. Cinema or theatre? Cinema. Which character in the book is most like you? Definitely Mr Canton. My children are always embarrassed of me. Do you have a favourite sport to play? I love running, especially on bright spring days. At school I loved hockey. Describe this book in three words. Creepy, funny, chaos.…

Can I do it safely? Yes, but take an adult with you. Geocaches should be hidden in safe places and you should not have to go over dangerous obstacles or fences to find them. They will never be buried in the ground. Finally, make sure you have permission from the landowner before you place a new geocache. What is SWAG? In geocaching, SWAG means Stuff We All Get. It is what’s inside a geocache that you can take, if you replace it with something else. The Geocaching Association of Great Britain (gagb.org.uk) holds a SWAG weekend each year when people fill geocaches with fun things.…

Man builds tunnel to his shed YouTuber and inventor Colin Furze has dug a tunnel from his house to his garden shed to avoid the rain. Speaking to The Daily Mirror newspaper, Furze said, “It’s quicker to open my back door and walk to my shed but it’s much more fun to use an underground tunnel – and it means you don’t get wet if it’s raining.” It took Furze two years to dig the tunnel at his home in Lincolnshire, England, which is three metres deep and 12 metres long. “Everyone who visits wants to try it out,” he says. Minister takes the biscuit A new book has revealed that a Government minister once accidentally ate biscuits meant for the Queen’s pet corgi dogs. The incident happened in 2008…

Name: Ava “This is a photo of me at the anti-war rally for Ukraine at Downing Street. We have been going every weekend to protest against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. My grandfather was Ukrainian and we have friends in Ukraine who have had to leave their homes so they could survive. We also have friends in Kyiv (Ukraine’s capital city) who won’t leave. We worry about them. I think they are very brave because the Russian army is bombing them every night and they stay for their country. I always hope that they are ok.” What have you been up to lately? Which books have you enjoyed reading? What have you made? Have you written a poem or drawn a picture that you’d like to see published on this page?…

“We completed a 5K night run in Helix Park, Falkirk, to raise money for the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity. In total, we raised an incredible £1,751. Find out more at tinyurl.com/TWJ-nightrun”Dylan, Ellen, Nico “Me and my friends made Ukraine flag coloured bracelets inspired by The Week Junior issue. We are going to donate the money to charity.”Seren “I found my cat reading The Week Junior, even she loves it!”Scarlett…

Teacher’s name: Ms Trujillo School: ACS Hillingdon International School, Middlesex “I chose to nominate Ms Trujillo for Teacher of the Week because she is compassionate when teaching and she never gives up on any of us. She is kind, hilarious and she decorates her classroom to make it feel like home. She is very dedicated to helping us learn and we love her!”Isabelle 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…

On 28 March, the Government’s Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, set out a new plan for schools in England. What’s in the plan? The plan includes higher targets for maths and English, and longer school days. By 2030, the Government wants 90% of students leaving primary school to have reached the expected standards in reading, writing and maths. In 2019, only 65% of students had reached these standards. By September 2023, all schools in England will be expected to offer a minimum school week of 32.5 hours. What support will students receive? Speaking about the plans, Zahawi told the BBC, “It’s not about more pressure on children, it’s about more support.” He added, “If a child has fallen behind, the teacher will support that child and engage with the parents to…

Coming up on 23 May is this year’s British Book Awards ceremony. The event will be a celebration of all books published in the last year and it includes categories for children’s fiction and children’s non-fiction. Books shortlisted for the fiction category include Mega Monster by David Walliams and The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling. The non-fiction category shortlist includes How to Grow Up and Feel Amazing! by Dr Ranj Singh and You Are a Champion by Marcus Rashford.…

Basque Country, Spain New language rules for schools Pupils in Spain’s Basque Country may be taught in the local Basque language instead of Spanish, if a new law is agreed. The Basque Country is an area covering parts of northern Spain and south-west France, which has its own food, language, music and traditions. The suggested law is expected to be formally agreed later this year. Atanquez, Colombia Library keeps local culture alive A small library in Atanquez, Colombia, has been recognised for preserving the culture of an indigenous people (people who have always lived in an area, rather than coming from somewhere else) called the Kankuamo. The library runs visits to ancient sites and meetings with elders, where young people learn about traditional music and food. Macchu Picchu, Peru Ancient…

On 14 March, Stephen Wilhite, the coder who invented gifs, died aged 74. The gif was invented by Wilhite to make image files smaller, allowing them to load more quickly on slow internet connections. Later that year, the first animated gif was created, showing a flying plane. Gifs became more and more popular and are now a huge part of social media and the way people communicate online. Many people paid tribute to Wilhite. The team who set up Giphy, a popular gif website, said they were “indebted to the creativity and vision” of Wilhite.…

The Royal Mint has announced plans for a new factory where it will process electronic junk to extract precious metals for coins and gold bars. The factory is due to open at Llantrisant in South Wales next year. It will be the first of its kind in the world. The Royal Mint is a Government-owned company that makes coins for the UK and lots of other countries. Most of its coins are made from cheaper metals such as copper, tin and zinc, but the Mint sometimes makes coins and medals from precious metals like gold and silver. It also makes gold bars, known as bullion. Countries and banks like to keep gold bars because they are very valuable and their price doesn’t tend to go up or down suddenly. The…

Gareth Bale The footballer scored twice as Wales beat Austria 2-1 in a World Cup play-off semi-final. Wales will meet Scotland or Ukraine in the play-off final later this summer. England and Wales women’s rugby union teams They both won their opening games in the Women’s Six Nations tournament. Biniam Girmay Girmay won the Gent-Wevelgem cycling event in Belgium to become the first African to win a one-day classic race. Girmay comes from Eritrea in east Africa. Christian Eriksen Eriksen scored on his return to the Denmark football team. It’s the first time he has played for them since having heart problems in June 2021.…

What do Batman, Black Panther, Spider-Man and Superman all have in common? Not only are they all superheroes, they’re all orphans too. Bruce Wayne is inspired to fight crime as Batman after his parents are killed in a robbery. Peter Parker is raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben after his parents die in a plane crash. The alien Kal-El, otherwise known as Superman, is sent to Earth by his parents before his home planet of Krypton is destroyed. Upon his arrival he is discovered by Martha and Jonathan Kent, who raise him as their own. T’challa is referred to as the “Orphan King”, after he takes the title of Black Panther from his late father. Now, a new exhibition at London’s Foundling Museum is exploring the way orphans…

The Lost Whale by Hannah Gold. Illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children’s Books) Hannah Gold, who won the Blue Peter Book Award for Best Story for her first book The Last Bear, returns with another wonderful animal adventure. When lonely Rio is sent to stay with his grandmother, he soon finds himself searching for a missing whale. The Girl Who Lost a Leopard by Nizrana Farook (Nosy Crow) Selvi loves climbing in the wild mountains, where she is often joined by Lokka – an endangered leopard with a beautiful coat and huge golden eyes. When hunters come for Lokka, Selvi is determined to protect her friend – but what can she do against such powerful enemies? Meg and Merlin: Making Friends by Tanya Landman. Illustrated by Sònia Albert (Barrington Stoke)…

Name: Heidi Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson “Cool, Adventurous, Inspiring. This book shows that even without your friends you can overcome any obstacle.” YOUR TURN Email your book review to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk. If your review is printed in the magazine you’ll receive a Roving Reporter badge. Sum up the book in three words and write one sentence telling us what you liked about it. Please include your name and address.* *If you are the competition winner, we will only use the details you provide to contact you and arrange delivery of your competition prize. Further details about how we manage the data you provide can be found at www.futureplc.com/privacy-policy…

If you thought decorative trees were only for Christmas, think again. Why not create your own version of a Swedish-inspired ”Påskris“ Easter tree? This colourful decoration is easy to make with paper feathers and twigs. What you need • A4 paper • Paints, felt pens or crayons • Scissors • A pencil • Ruler • Thin twigs • Glue • A glue brush • Coloured wool TOP TIPS • You can use real feathers if you have them. • To arrange your feathers, tie the twigs together in a bunch or press the ends into modelling dough or florists’ foam in the bottom of a vase. • Decorate the tree with Easter chicks or small hanging decorations. 1 Paint some patterns or stripes onto three or four pieces of A4…

Who doesn’t love an Easter egg hunt? For me, spotting that telltale glint of coloured foil peeking out from a hiding place is almost more fun than eating the goodies afterwards. We’ve organised our own Easter egg hunt in the magazine (although sadly the eggs aren’t chocolate). To celebrate our Easter Book Guide (which you can find on pages 16 and 17) we’re giving away a bundle of the books featured. To be in with a chance of winning, you need to search every page of this issue on the lookout for hidden eggs. When you find them, you’ll see that each has a letter. Your job is to gather the letters, unscramble the seasonal phrase and send it to us. Good luck! If you like your treasure hunts to…

Food writer of the Year competition and workshop This year, we’re hosting The Guild of Food Writers’ Young Food Writer of the Year 2022 competition. If you love food and creative writing, log on to the Guild of Food Writers’ workshop at 11am on 14 April. Three experts will talk about different kinds of food writing and show you how to get started. All you need is an internet connection, a pen and paper… and a banana. This year, to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the theme is “food fit for a queen”. To join the workshop, ask an adult to help you by using this Zoom link: tinyurl.com/TWJ-workshop. Competition details are at theweekjunior.co.uk/foodfitforaqueen GET INVOLVED Email your news, views and pictures to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Please include your full name and…

Follow The Week Junior on PopJam @TheWeekJunior. You can download the PopJam app from the App Store or Google Play. Last week we asked if fake grass is better than a lawn… “Real grass is better because it is better for the environment.” “Fake grass is easier because you won’t have to mow it.” “Real grass is better because it provides food for birds and insects and helps to soak up water.” “Fake grass is good because you don’t have to cut it. Real grass is also good.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here.…