Questions for Discussion s3

Questions for discussion

New PM

Discuss the main issues raised in the BtN story with another student.
Describe in your own words, the recent change to the leadership of the Labor party.
What was Julia Gillard’s previous job before she was made Prime Minister?
How was the decision made to make Julia Gillard the new Prime Minister?
Complete the following sentence: `When we vote on polling day, we don’t actually vote for a Prime Minister, we…’
Name three facts about Julia Gillard.
What is significant about Julia Gillard being made Prime Minister?
Who is the opposition leader?
What qualities do you think are needed to be an effective Prime Minister?
What do you understand more clearly since watching the BtN story?

Find out more about how parliament works by completing this fun interactive http://www.peo.gov.au/kidsview/menu.html

Copy, right?

What was the main point of the story?
Which song did rock band Men at Work copy?
What have Men at Work been ordered to do?
Do you think it was a fair decision? Why or why not?
What does a musician need to get if they want to use another person song?
Usually, bands would need to buy a ______.
What can happen if a band doesn’t get permission to use a song?
Why can it be difficult to decide if part of a song has been copied?
What do you reckon? Do you think musicians should be penalised if they use existing songs? Why or why not?
How has your thinking changed since watching the BtN story?

Write a message about music copyright and post it on the BtN guestbook http://abc.net.au/btn/guestbook.html

Caffeine culture

Briefly summarise the story.
What is caffeine?
Which food and drinks contain caffeine?
What effect does it have on the human body?
Why do some sports people take caffeine tablets before they compete?
Why have some people criticised sports people for doing this?
What health problems can too much caffeine cause?
Complete the following sentence: `It’s not just professional athletes having caffeine before competing…’
Taking caffeine before sport is illegal. True or false?
Do you think sports people should be allowed to take caffeine tablets? Explain your answer.

`Should caffeine pills be banned from sport?’ Vote in the BtN online poll.

Old school

Explain the Old school story to another student.
Describe what school was like in the 19th Century.
What did the teacher check first thing in the morning?
How were students punished in the 1880’s?
What does corporal punishment mean?
Describe the main differences between school now and 100 years ago.
What are the similarities?
How old were most kids when they left school?
How do you think education has changed over time?
What was surprising about this story?

Research the history of your school and create a display for a public space in your school. Include photographs, illustrations and objects to show what your school was like 100 years ago.

Camel cup

What does the BtN Camel Cup story mainly explain?
The camel plague in the outback.
Camel racing and the role camels have played in the outback.
How to ride a camel.
Why camels should be culled.
How often is the Camel Cup held?
What does the Camel Cup celebrate?
How long has Grace been riding camels?
How were camels used in the outback?
What name was given to the camel handlers that came from India and the Middle East?
What is the name of one of Australia’s most famous trains and how did it get its name?
Think of three adjectives to describe riding a camel.
The BtN story is an example of

a) Narrative

b) Procedure

c) Report

d) Argument

Illustrate an aspect of the story.

Test your knowledge in the online quiz.

Caffeine culture

Focus Questions

Briefly summarise the story.
What is caffeine?
Which food and drinks contain caffeine?
What effect does it have on the human body?
Why do some sports people take caffeine tablets before they compete?
Why have some people criticised sports people for doing this?
What health problems can too much caffeine cause?
Complete the following sentence: `It’s not just professional athletes having caffeine before competing…’
Taking caffeine before sport is illegal. True or false?
Do you think sports people should be allowed to take caffeine tablets? Explain your answer.

Caffeine culture

Students will explore in more detail, what caffeine is and the effect it has on the body. They will also investigate the issue of sports people using caffeine to enhance performance.

Begin by asking students to look at the words below. With a partner, recall how they were used in the BtN story.

caffeine stimulant caffeine tablets

health problems banning improve performance

energy drinks

Using a thesaurus or the internet, students find the synonyms for three of the words above.
Students can choose one or more of the following activities:

Write a persuasive argument for or against the following statement:
Sports people should be allowed to have caffeine before competing.

What does caffeine do to the human body? What happens to your brain, heart rate and nervous system when you consume caffeine? What are the side effects of having small and large amounts of caffeine?

Create a public awareness campaign educating young people about the health problems associated with large amounts of caffeine consumption.

Analyse your own caffeine consumption. Over a 7 day period, record any food or drinks you consume, that contain caffeine. Compare your results with other students. What was surprising?

Create a `Did you know?’ fact sheet about caffeine. Display the information in an interesting way.

8 Related Research Links
ABC Sport – Doping body to consider caffeine ban|
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/08/2947906.htm

ABC News – Eagles counselled over caffeine use
http://bananasinpyjamas.com/news/stories/2010/07/07/2947046.htm?site=news

SBS World News Australia – Caffeine use `against the spirit of the sport’?
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1296732/Caffeine-use-against-the-spirit-of-sport

Child and Youth Health – Information about caffeine
http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=243&np=163&id=2155#3

Australian Institute of Sport – Caffeine
http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements/supplement_fact_sheets/group_a_supplements/caffeine

Old school

Focus Questions

Explain the Old school story to another student.
Describe what school was like in the 19th Century.
What did the teacher check first thing in the morning?
How were students punished in the 1880’s?
What does corporal punishment mean?
Describe the main differences between school now and 100 years ago.
What are the similarities?
How old were most kids when they left school?
How do you think education has changed over time?
What was surprising about this story?

Old school

Students will investigate what school life was like in the late 1800’s and make comparisons with their experiences today.

Begin by asking students to look at the photographs depicting life in the late 1800’s http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/pdf/OPAC/246256.pdf

Ask students to record what each photograph tells them about life during this time.

Students will then research what schools were like in the late 1800’s. Brainstorm and record what students already know about school life during this period. Ask them to recall facts from the BtN story and record any questions students still have about the topic. The following questions can help guide research:

· What were educational facilities like? Consider things such as equipment, resources, classrooms and outside play areas.

· What was learning like? Consider values, rules and expectations.

· What was play and social interaction like?

Students create a model, diagram or information report describing school during this period and compare it to schools and education today. Encourage them to share their final products with the rest of the class.

Self evaluation
What do you understand more clearly since completing this investigation?

What would you do differently next time? Why?

Further investigations

Research the history of your school and create a display for a public space in your school. Include photographs, illustrations and objects to show what your school was like 100 years ago.

Write a journal entry that describes a day at school in the 1880’s.

Predict what schools will be like 100 years from now. What do you think the classroom of the future will look like? Create an illustration.

8 Related Research Links
ABC Stateline – Olde School
http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/07/09/2949838.htm

Historic Houses Trust – Rouse Hill House and Farm
http://www.hht.net.au/museums/rouse_hill_house_and_farm

History Australia – The Evolution of Education in Australia
http://www.historyaustralia.org.au/ifhaa/schools/evelutio.htm

BtN: Episode 18 Transcripts 20/07/10

On this week's Behind the News

· Why a kookaburra has landed a famous Aussie rock band in hot water.

· Sport stars using caffeine tablets before games. It's legal but is it right?

· And we go back in time to learn about school in the olden days.

Hi I'm Nathan Bazley, welcome to Behind the News.

Also on the show today we catch up with a teenage camel-riding champion and there were plenty of thrills and spills.

But first today:

New PM

Reporter: Sarah Larsen

INTRO: A federal election has just been called which means adults will vote for which party gets to run the country.

But you may have noticed that Australia already has a new Prime Minister.

When you went on holidays it was Kevin Rudd but now his old deputy Julia Gillard is in charge.

What on earth is going on? Well, politics is a cut-throat business especially when an election is on the line

NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Back in 2007 a fight took place in Australian politics.

Kevin Rudd took on John Howard.

Kevin won the fight and leadership of the country.

Fast forward three years to 2010 and you'd have thought Kevin would have been lacing up the gloves ready to defend his title But instead we saw a different competitor enter the ring, One from his own team.

News broke around 7pm one night. Julia Gillard the deputy Prime Minister had gone to see her boss Kevin to say she was challenging him for the leadership.

And come morning things weren't looking good for Kevin Rudd.

During a Labor Party meeting it became clear that Julia had more supporters in her corner than Kevin.

So he stepped out of the ring and instantly Julia Gillard became leader of the Labour party and therefore the whole country!

But wait up how can we have a new PM without an election?

Well when we vote on polling day we don't actually vote for a Prime Minister, we vote for a party.

When the votes are counted the party that wins the most seats in parliament gets to choose its leader.

NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Usually the person they pick will stay on until they are voted out of office but very rarely the party will decide they want something new before then.

So they'll turf them out and pick who they think might do better and that's how Julia rose to the top job!

So who is this woman who has become our first female Prime Minister?

Well her story starts in the small country of Wales in the UK.

Julia's parents are both from there and that's where she and her older sister Alison were born.

But by four, Julia and her family came to Australia to live.

She graduated from high school in the Adelaide suburb of Unley where students gathered to watch everything unfold.

They even have her old report card!

VOX POP 1: I'm proud to see an old Unley kiddy succeed and it kind of inspires me because she is a female and she did come from a public school and I’m sort of in the same position and you kind of look up to her.

After graduating she soon found herself in the thick of politics.

It took her many years of trying but finally in 1998 she won a seat in federal parliament.

Now she's made her way right to the top job!

VOX POP 2: We're really proud of her and it's a big step for women.

But right up until a couple of months ago she had sworn she wasn't aiming for the top right now.

JULIA GILLARD: There is more chance of me becoming the full forward for the dogs than there is for any change in the labour party.

Not that everyone believed her.

REPORTER, NATHAN BAZLEY: Can I just get a hug from the future Prime Minister?

Even Kevin Rudd thought she had what it takes.

KEVIN RUDD: She's a fantastic deputy prime minster, she's going to make a fantastic Prime Minster as well One day!

But that day came a lot sooner than he imagined!

NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Looking forward Kevin has said he'll stick around in politics, while Julia will spend the immediate future on the campaign trail.

Then Australians will get to have their say on which of these two candidates they'd like to see in the top job: Opposition leader Tony Abbott for the Coalition in the blue corner or PM Julia Gillard for Labor in the red corner.

Presenter: And the leaders are wasting no time. They've already begun touring the country trying to persuade people to vote for them.

Kirsty has that, and the rest of the stories making the news in the Wire.

The Wire

The 2010 federal election has got off to a flying start.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard went to the Governor General's place early Saturday Morning to kick things off and nominate the date of the election as August 21st.

And only a few days in, we've already seen babies being kissed again and again and again.

Both leaders have signalled that the big issues in this year's campaign will be asylum seekers, the environment and getting the budget back into surplus.

*****

To the Gulf of Mexico now where a new cap placed over the leaking oil well seems to be holding for now.

Tests continued over the weekend and so far it's looking promising.

The cap will stay in place for around a month until relief wells can be dug to stop the flow of oil for good.

******

And finally to France where their parliament has moved one step closer to passing a law which will ban Muslim women from wearing a burqa in public.

This law has widespread support from the French people and almost all politicians but has drawn criticism from Islamic leaders and human rights campaigners.

Similar moves are already being made to ban face-covering veils in Belgium, Italy and Spain.

Reporter: Sarah Larsen

INTRO: Have you ever listened to a new song that sounded like you'd heard it before?