1

Questions for discussion

Welfare

1. What is welfare?

2. Who can claim welfare?

3. In your own words, describe why welfare was introduced in Australia.

4. How do you think people without money survived before welfare?

5. What happens in some countries that don’t have a welfare system?

6. Why have some people in Australia been criticising parts of the welfare system

recently?

7. How has the Government responded to these criticisms?

8. Do you think welfare payments should be increased? Explain your answer.

9. What do you know about welfare that you didn’t know before watching the BtN

story?

10. How did this story make you feel?

Send a message or tell us what you think on the BtN Guestbook.

Food colourings

1. What was the main point of the story?

2. Why are artificial colours used in some foods?

3. What did a recent study find out about artificial colours?

4. In your own words, describe what hyperactivity is.

5. Name an artificial colour.

6. What do some people want to happen?

7. What do opponents of the ban say?

8. Are you concerned about artificial colours in food? Why?

9. What do you think should happen next?

10. Create a plus, minus and interesting chart about food additives.

Should the Government agree to ban some colourings? Vote in the online poll.

Space kids

1. Who was the first living creature to be sent into space?

2. Why do you think animals were sent into space?

3. What is the International Space Station?

4. How many countries have been involved in setting up the ISS?

5. What did students from a High School astronomy club learn about living in

space?

6. What question would you ask if you had the opportunity?

7. What sort of work do the astronauts do on the space station?

8. What is the aim of the seed project?

9. Predict what you think will happen.

10. What other seed experiments do you think they could have conducted in space?

EPISODE 27

23RD SEPTEMBER 2008

2

Learn more about space exploration. Go to the space animations:

http://www.brainpop.com/science/space/

Underwater movies

1. What is the study being done by scientists from the University of Western

Australia?

2. Why is not much known about marine ecosystems?

3. What percentage of the planet is covered by ocean?

4. How are the scientists gathering information about marine life?

5. What information are the scientists finding out?

6. Why would divers not normally be able to record this information?

7. Why are they recording the fish using two cameras at different angles?

8. Why is it important information?

9. What are they planning to do with some of the vision?

10. What do you know about marine life that you didn’t know before watching the

BtN story?

Create an illustration or diorama of a marine ecosystem.

Footy school

1. Retell the story in your own words.

2. How are some Indigenous students being encouraged to attend school?

3. Describe the Football Academy?

4. What is a mentor?

5. Why are mentors important in this program?

6. How does the program support Indigenous students?

7. In your own words, retell Donovan’s story.

8. How has the program been positive for Donovan?

9. Why is it important for students to attend school regularly?

10. What else could be done to support Indigenous students attend school?

Test your knowledge in the online quiz.

3

Food colourings

At the moment there’s a push to ban some food

colourings because they might be harmful to children.

But what are food additives and why are they used in

food and drinks?

Focus Questions

1. What was the main point of the story?

2. Why are artificial colours used in some foods?

3. What did a recent study find out about artificial colours?

4. In your own words, describe what hyperactivity is.

5. Name an artificial colour.

6. What do some people want to happen?

7. What do opponents of the ban say?

8. Are you concerned about artificial colours in food? Why?

9. What do you think should happen next?

10. Create a plus, minus and interesting chart about food additives.

Food additives

Students will investigate what food additives are and why they are added to food.

Discuss with students what the BtN story explained about food additives. Clarify

their understanding about:

Food additives apart from colourings

Why additives are used in food and drink products.

Students can build on their understanding by researching:

Common food additives and why they are used

What an E number is

The advantages and disadvantages of food additives

The health issues associated with some food additives.

Students will then analyse their own food intake by choosing a number of food and

drinks they consume regularly and investigate their content. Ask them to report back

on their findings.

What was surprising about what they discovered?

Has it changed their thinking about what they eat and drink?

Do they think the Government needs to take action about banning some food

additives?

Negotiate with students ways to publish their work. These could include:

PowerPoint presentation

Oral presentation

Written report

EPISODE 27

23RD SEPTEMBER 2008

Learning Area

Health and Physical

Activity

Key learning

Students will

analyse and report

on what food

additives are and

why they are used.

4

Further investigations

Create an advertising brochure promoting the use of additives in food and drinks.

Research what natural food colourings and preservatives are available. Is it

possible to use natural instead of artificial food additives? Display your findings

in a creative way.

Related Research Links

ABC PM – Group pushes for food additives ban

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2358787.htm

ABC News - Call to ban children’s food additives

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/08/2357927.htm

ABC News in Science – Food additives linked to hyperactivity in kids

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/2007/2025678.htm

Kids First Campaign additive alert

http://www.additivealert.com.au/

Raising children network – Additives: how to read labels

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/additives_-_how_to_read_labels.html

Children’s BBC – Is your behaviour changed by food and drink?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6980000/newsid_6981000/6981061.stm

5

Space kids

Space exploration has come a long way since the 1950s

when animals were sent into space. These days space

travel has become more common with some humans

calling space home.

Focus Questions

1. Who was the first living creature to be sent into space?

2. Why do you think animals were sent into space?

3. What is the International Space Station?

4. How many countries have been involved in setting up the ISS?

5. What did students from a High School astronomy club learn about living in

space?

6. What question would you ask if you had the opportunity?

7. What sort of work do the astronauts do on the space station?

8. What is the aim of the seed project?

9. Predict what you think will happen.

10. What other seed experiments do you think they could have conducted in space?

The pros and cons of space exploration

Students will investigate the benefits and costs to humans of space exploration and

research. Based on their research, students will create a news report (radio, print,

television or online) about space exploration. The focus of the article will depend on

their research.

Ask students to complete the following chart as they go through the inquiry process.

What do I know? What do I want to

know?

How will I find

out?

What I have learnt?

Students brainstorm the topic to determine what they know about space exploration

and what they would like to find out. Possible questions to brainstorm/discuss

include:

Why explore space?

Is space travel too dangerous for humans?

Is too much money spent on space travel?

What are the benefits of space exploration?

Students then research the questions/issues generated from the brainstorming task.

This will form the basis of their news report. The following websites will support

students to write a news report.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/presspack/newsroom/writeareport.shtml

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/hh/writeideas/articles/0,28372,634430,00.html

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/press_corps/tips.asp

EPISODE 27

23RD SEPTEMBER 2008

Learning Area

Science, English

Key learning

Students will

explore and report

on the benefits and

costs to humanity of

space exploration

and research.

6

Reflection

What were the parts of the inquiry you found enjoyable, difficult and interesting?

Further investigations

Analyse a planet for feasibility of life. Present your findings in a creative way.

Debate the following statement: ‘Australia should be more involved in space

exploration’.

Give a detailed explanation of the following: gravity, galaxy and black holes.

Illustrate an event in space history.

Related Research Links

ABC Catalyst – Millennium Seed

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/2358723.htm

NASA – International Space Station

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

ISS – Interactive guide

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/ISSRG/

Children’s BBC – International Space Station

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_1610000/newsid_1614400/1614431.stm

Children’s BBC – Guide to Space

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_1590000/newsid_1595900/1595962.stm

Space ThinkQuests

http://www.thinkquest.org/library/cat_show.html?cat_id=169

Brainpop – Space animations

http://www.brainpop.com/science/space/

7

TRANSCRIPT 14/10/08

Episode 28 On this week's Behind the News Why families are being gassed out of their homes. Kids turning into architects. And what is 'white cane day'? Hi I'm Nathan Bazley welcome to Behind the News. Also on the show today we'll look at the campaign for more rules to control something called complementary medicines. Those items later but first our top story.

CREDIT CRISIS

Reporter, Sarah Larsen INTRO: At the moment we're all living through a huge event in history - something that will be talked about for decades. There's a massive economic crisis around the world which is making stock markets crash and banks go bust. Sarah got a team of experts to investigate the case and they found out it all started in the United States. If you've seen the news at all the past few weeks you would have noticed a lot of talk about money. There's been a massive crash on the US stock market and its affected the economies of countries all over the world. During the holidays the polies vited to spend 700 billion dollars of taxpayers money trying to fix it. So what's caused this crash? Sarah's got a team of experts on the case. SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: Right team, what have we got here? INVESTIOGATOR 1: Money lender, Boss. It looks like he's gone broke. INVESTIGATOR 2: I've found something REPORTER: Hmm...Mortgages! This could have had something to do with it. INVESTIGATOR 1: How? Well first lets look at how a mortgage works. Its all about houses. Lots of people want to own them but not many can afford to buy them outright so they come to a bank or a money lending business to ask for a loan. That loan is called a mortgage. They agree to pay the loan plus interest so the bank makes some money. Usually the lender checks out his customer pretty carefully first to make sure she can pay it back. He looks at where she works, how much she earns and how secure her job is, and if she has any debts. If everything checks out he hands over the money but he hangs onto the rights to her house so if she don't pay up, he can sell it. INVESTIGATOR 2: Boss, I think you'd better look at this. INVESTIGATOR 1: Its full of stinky mortgages! REPORTER: Sub-prime mortgages... and they've gone bad INVESTIGATOR 2: What's a sub-prime mortgage? Sometimes money lenders give loans to people who might not have secure jobs or big wages. They're a riskier type of loan and are called sub prime loans. Now you might wonder why a money lender would do that.

8

Ok, so he's taking a bit of a risk lending the money to this girl. But there's always the house. The lender can always sell that to cover the loan if it isn't repaid. The only catch is the house price can't go down and that's where this case turned nasty. For quite a few years house prices in the United States were on the up and up its been called the housing bubble. Lenders there thought it was great and they gave out lots of sub prime loans. But then last year something happened: The bubble burst. All of a sudden houses weren't worth nearly as much so when sub-prime mortgagers stopped paying their loans, the banks couldn't make back their money by selling the house. INVESTIGATOR 2: So I guess that explains what happened to this guy. But what about the other banks? Banks and money lenders borrow money from other businesses to lend out .. in fact it goes on between companies all over the world. So the companies that had sub-prime mortgages couldn't pay back their loans with other businesses. That meant those businesses couldn't pay their loans then other businesses couldn't pay their loans and now everyone is too scared to give anyone any money. INVESTIGATOR 1: Well it looks like we found a suspect. INVESTIGATOR 2: Now someone has to clean this mess up. That's not an easy task. Overseas governments are bailing out businesses so they can survive and keep lending and the Australian government is trying to stop the problems spreading here. But the money market is still in a bad way and it's going to cause a lot of problems for a while to come.

Presenter

If you want to know more about that look at another story called 'the R word' on our webite. Quiz 1 Let’s see how closely you were watching the story. Which one of these is the correct spelling? a. moorgage b. morgage c. mortgage Answer: mortgage

GASSED SUBURB

Reporter, Nathan Bazley INTRO: Alright let’s talk about gas. Imagine if your home was filling up with a dangerous gas that you couldn't see or smell. Scary? Well that's what happened to some families in Melbourne and it was so bad they had to move out of their homes. This town may not look like it, but it has been taken over by a terrible GAS! Okay so you can't really see it and can't even smell it, but the gas that has taken over this neighbourhood is a serious problem. So serious that it has left many families with no choice but to move out! This is Heidi and she's the mum of three kids. But a little while ago she was told their house in Cranbourne, near Melbourne, could have dangerous levels of a gas called Methane.

9

So the whole family was forced to pack up and move out with relatives. HEIDI WAGNER: 'Cos I'm not putting my kids' life and their health at all in danger. My kids are the most important thing and I'm not doing that to 'em at all. Have you ever complained about having to share a room with your brother or sister? Well try living with nine kids and four parents in the same house! KATIE BADGER: Four in this room here, there's three in this room here, Heidi and Glen are in there with their son and just wherever they fall asleep I suppose. It's a tough situation and they are not the only ones. Many residents from Cranbourne are in exactly the same situation. But I bet you wondering one very important thing. How on earth did the gas get there?!?! Well the problem with the area is that it's built right next door to an old dump and dumps have one pretty interesting ability. Essentially, they get a bit gassy! NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Well, kind of. When organic rubbish, like food scraps or grass clippings, are covered over in a dump they start being broken down by bacteria. As the bacteria break down the rubbish underneath there they produce a gas called 'Methane' as a result. That Methane can then slowly make its way to the surface! NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Now you might be wondering why that's a problem. Well the gas that comes out of this stove contains mostly Methane and when I put a light to it, you can see it can be pretty dangerous! Back at Cranbourne, authorities have been monitoring the levels of Methane in the houses. In one they found it was as high as 60 percent in pockets, so that's got everyone worried. Many have moved out and they reckon their homes are now worth very little, because no one wants to live there. And more are very angry the houses were allowed to be built so close to the dump in the first place. At this stage no one is sure whether this huge problem can be fixed. The council says it's working to help residents and solve the problem. Holes are being drilled to try get the Methane out faster, but some environment officers think the gas could stick around for more than 15 years! So for Heidi and her kids and all the other locals, the headache could continue for a very long time. COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINES Reporter, Catherine Ellis

10

INTRO: When you've been to the supermarket or chemist, have you ever noticed there are tons of vitamins and herbal medicines for sale? They promise to do a whole range of things and lots of Australians take them. But they're a bit different to the pills you'd get from a doctor and that's causing a big debate. Here's Catherine. CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTER: Hmmm a fat eliminator. Hang on, what's this, food for your hair. Complementary and alternative medicines - there are thousands of them! They're everything from vitamins to nutritional supplements and herbal medicines and Aussies are taking more of them than ever before! But while the companies that sell 'pharmaceutical' medicines have to provide a lot of scientific evidence that they work and they're safe, this is not always the case for complementary medicines and that worries a lot of people. Doctors and some naturopaths want better rules and regulations. They want more info so customers know what they're buying and how effective it is so people don't get hurt or waste their money. Some of the products make big promises about what they'll do. Jack who's fit and healthy wanted to trim down and tone up before his footy season and tried a weight loss pill he saw advertised on TV. TV COMMERCIAL: The best award was losing 28 kilos thanks to Fat Blaster. JACK: There was a young bloke and a young woman who looked a million dollars, didn't have an ounce of fat on them, that's when I thought, you know, they can do it, I mean I can surely do it. It cost him 50 dollars for two weeks and didn't work. JACK: They weren't really doing much except for making me feel sick, and sort of affected my training cause I had no energy and I couldn't keep any food down, so I wasn't yeah, it was a big waste of money. Now some herbal and natural mixtures ARE safe and are carefully tested and proven to be effective. And people who use them say they're a great help. Cynthia, a mum who's recovering from breast cancer, is one of them. She says the mixture of stuff she's been taking has been really helpful with making her better and she has more energy and finds it easier to concentrate. But even Cynthia she still reckons more testing is needed so there's more consistency amongst products. Others say the checking system is the best in the world and doesn't need changing. And if it was to change extra testing would cost extra money which means shoppers would end up paying extra! CATHERINE: Regardless of whether the rules do change, one thing people need to be careful of is making sure what they take suits their bodies. And if they're taking a combo of stuff, it's important to check it's a safe mixture or it could make you very sick!

11

But if your a normal healthy person, eating and drinking your way to better health and getting a balance of rest and exercise, is the best option. ONLINE POLL Now we'll make that our online poll this week. The question is "Should there be more regulations for complementary medicines?" If you want to vote go to our website at abc.net.au/btn YOUTH FORUM

Reporter, Nathan Bazley INTRO: And now kids will soon have another way to let people know what they think. When you hear about politicians making decisions for the country, you would probably assume kids don't have much input! But a new forum hopes to change that... by giving kids a direct line to Canberra. Welcome to big brother - underwater! It's not your usual political press conference but then again with kids setting the agenda maybe all press conferences will start like this now! The Australian Youth Forum is a way for the Government to hear the ideas and concerns of kids across Australia. KATE ELLIS: Everybody has ideas, everybody has concerns and we think the concerns of young Australians are just as important as anybody else. These 10 young people on stage have been given the task of leading the forums... they will be held live around Australia and on the web. BEN: It's all about empowering young people and having 2.8 million young people across Australia's voices heard. ALICE: You basically turn up to a big town hall style meeting where you'll meet heaps of other young people who are interested in whatever issues are being discussed. BEN: I feel the youth of Australia do have the power to change things and we damn well should! So look out for the Australian Youth forums - they'll be touring the country from February. QUIZ 2 What is the name given to people who design buildings?

a. Engineers b. Architects c. Graphic Artists

Answer: Architects KIDS ARCHITECTS Reporter, Catherine Ellis

12

INTRO: In the area where you live, are there any weird or interesting shaped buildings? You've probably seen lots in magazines or on TV, like the Sydney Opera House! Why did they make it like that? Lots of thought goes into these designs, but even office blocks or homes have to be very carefully planned out. Catherine decided to find out more about Architecture! CATHERINE ELLIS, REPORTING: There are the tallest buildings in the world, there are works of art that have become famous icons and tourist attractions for countries. There are famous sports stadiums, temples and ancient monuments. Throughout history countries have competed to have the biggest, the tallest or most unusual buildings. But architecture's certainly not as simple as coming up with a creative design - there's lots to think about! For starters where's it going? There might be a river or trees in the way! And how solid is the ground? Look what can happen if you don't think about that! Another thing is the environment. In Darwin your design would need to be cyclone proof - in China there's earthquakes to think about. What building materials would you use to keep the place warm in winter and cool in summer? Where should the windows go to let enough light in? A design must also function well for the people using it. Take the MCG for example, it has to cater for sport and huge rock concerts with crowds of around 100,000 people. There needs to be enough toilets, stairs, lifts, and cafes. The big screens and scoreboard are positioned so everyone can see and the sirens are strategically placed so everyone can hear, but you don't go deaf! The design of music and theatre venues is really important because it can affect the sound you hear - it's called acoustics. CATHERINE: These days with problems like climate change, architects also have to think about making designs more environmentally friendly. It's something these kids have been learning all about. They've been designing ways to save water at their schools. ABBIE, STUDENT: At the bottom there's a container that when it's full of water it tips into the underground water tank, which the hose waters the plants and if there's too much water it goes into this water tank. Some kids worked out that lots of water's wasted because of drinking fountains so they came up with new designs. CHELSEA, STUDENT: We have this catcher so if water leaks it comes down here and into the pipe and into this tank and we could use the tank water for other things, maybe for gardening or hosing. Kids also added trees, water friendly plants, timed taps - that allow just enough water for you to wash your hands, dual flush toilets and logs to stop run-off.

13

JESS, STUDENT: We put more plants and big trees and the garden boxes in because then we can have the natural environment with the built environment. They now realise Architects have lots to consider, but the idea of being able to leave your footprint with a building you designed, would be pretty amazing. THE SCORE Next time you're mucking round with boxes you might give it a bit more thought. Let’s check the score. Ford fans are celebrating after Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup won their third straight Bathurst 1000 crown. After starting from fifth on the grid the pair took the lead on lap 34 and never looked back securing the first hat-trick in over 24 years. But some drivers had a day they'd rather forget. Garth Tander started on pole but stalled and ended up at the back of the pack. ********** And a New South Wales schoolgirl has come from nowhere to win the Beachley Classic women's surfing event in Sydney. 14 year old Tyler Wright knocked out world champion Stephanie Gilmour along the way. She caused the shock of the season by defeating Gilmour to move into the quarter finals. At 14, this is awesome, this is the biggest thing in my life so far Champion Layne Beachley, who announced her retirement last week, was knocked out in the Quarters hunt. WHITE CANE DAY Reporter, Sarah Larsen Can you imagine walking down a busy city street without seeing where you were going? That's what blind and vision impared people manage to do every day with the help of things like canes and guide dogs. Since tomorrow is white cane day Sarah went to find out more about using a cane and she caught up with a family who are helping a puppy to become a guide dog SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: Going for a walk with Sasha is a constant struggle to keep up! The nine-year-old is vision impared and uses a white cane to navigate the streets. She makes it look easy, but as she showed me, there's a lot to learn. For starters there are all sorts of canes. SASHA: Well - lets start from the bottom. I've got a pear tip which is a tap ball. Its a relative of the pencil tip which is long and skinny. You can also get roller balls which you roll along the ground. As she taps the cane against the ground Sasha's both listening and feeling for obstacles. The tap sounds slightly different if there's a crack in the pavement or a wall nearby. SASHA: And I tell you what, i've poked myself in the belly button a few times and it hurts REPORTER: How did that happen?

14

SASHA: You're walking along and when you least expect it this happens. REPORTER: Is that why you have the big ball on the end, so it doesn't get stuck as easity? Sasha's was born with only a little bit of sight in each eye but it doesn't stop her doing the same things as her school mates. Her white cane gives her independence, letting her go wherever she wants without worrying about tripping over. And when she turns 17, she might get one of these. For vision impared people, guide dogs are a bit like a cane with a brain! They stop for traffic, dodge obstacles and even keep an eye out for things that can hit you in the head. Its a tough job, so a guide dog's training starts when its just a puppy. GUIDE DOGS TRAINER: This is Poppy and she's going to live with her new puppy raising family The Hainke family have volunteered to look after Poppy and teach her the basics before the intensive guide dog training begins. GUIDE DOGS TRAINER: The first thing we're going to do is teach her to be clean inside the house so we're having to take her out to the toilet a lot and teach the command busy busy Well, maybe after a nap. Poppy will go everywhere with her adoptive family... shopping centres, school, even the movies. She'll have to learn to ignore any distractions, even at the butchers! KIDS: You just teach them the basics sit and stay, lie down and to come when you say come. They have a few more rules. But you can still play with it can cuddle it and love it Not every puppy makes it to be a guide dog .. they have to have exactly the right personality; affectionate but not too clingy and not too obedient either. They have to disobey their owner if they're about to walk into danger. GUIDE DOGS TRAINER: Eventually as a guide dog they're going to have to make decisions so that's pretty hard. There are a lot of people out there who don't like making decisions and these guys are going to be responsible for someone. In a year Poppy will will leave the Hankie family to continue her training and while saying goodbye will be hard, they know this little dog has a big job ahead of her. CLOSER If you want to know more about guide dogs and white cane day check out our website. Don't forget if you want to see more 'kids news' tune in every Monday to Friday at 5 to 6 for BTN Daily.. Now before we go you might remember we did a story about whether there should be more funding for Aussie Olympians. That certainly stirred up some debate and the kids from Manorvale Primary even went to the extent of sending us these letters. They are so good we thought we'd let you see some of their ideas. Some great ideas there. Catch ya later