Questions for discussion
Superannuation
- Write a brief outline of the BtN superannuation story.
- Describe in your own words what superannuation is.
- Why is superannuation important?
- What do super funds do with people’s money?
- What happens if investments go bad?
- What happened in America recently?
- How has it affected some people in Australia?
- What do people say will happen it the long term?
- What do you think some of the problems are with superannuation?
- What do you know about superannuation that you didn’t know before watching the BtN story?
Interview adults (at school or home) about how the financial crisis in the US affects them. Will it impact on their retirement plans? Record the responses and share with the class.
Subliminal ads
- In your own words, describe what subliminal advertising is.
- Explain how it works?
- Describe the recent case in Australia of subliminal advertising.
- Why is subliminal advertising illegal in Australia?
- How are advertisers and television stations getting around the law?
- Why are advertisers using this technique to sell products?
- Do you think it is an effective way to sell products? Explain your answer.
- Do you agree with subliminal advertising? Explain your answer.
- What do you think the future of advertising is?
- Predict what might happen if there were no rules or regulations for advertising.
`Should there be stricter laws against subliminal advertising?’ Vote in the online poll.
Test your knowledge in the online quiz.
Cervical Cancer Vaccine
- What is the name of the vaccine given to help protect against cervical cancer?
- How does cancer develop?
- What is the virus that causes cervical cancer?
- Gardasil is free for girls aged…
- How does a vaccine work?
- Why are boys able to get the vaccine?
- What have been some of the reported side effects of Gardasil?
- How have doctors responded to the reported side effects?
- What impact could these side effects have on girls and young women having the vaccination?
- What do you understand about vaccinations since watching the BtN story?
Create a plus, minus and interesting chart about vaccinations.
Animal ID
- What was the main point of the story?
- Describe how a bore works.
- What happened to animal populations when underground water was discovered?
- What environmental impact did this have?
- What is animal recognition technology?
- How does a blue screen work?
- How it is being used to control animals?
- Describe the success of the project.
- Are there any negative aspects of the technology?
- Is there another solution to the problem? Explain your answer.
Make a cartoon strip showing how animal recognition technology works.
Ice Factor Spectacular
- In your own words, describe the Ice Factor program.
- What is the program trying to achieve?
- How many students are involved in the Ice Factor program?
- How long has it been running?
- The young people involved in the program are described as `at risk’. What do you think that means?
- How has the program been expanded?
- Describe the recent event that celebrated the program?
- What did the young people involved learn from the experience?
- Why do you think the Ice Factor has been a successful program?
- How did this story make you feel?
Send a message or tell us what you think on the BtN Guestbook
Cervical cancer vaccine
A vaccine has been developed to protect females from developing cervical cancer. But doctors are worried that some girls are choosing not to be vaccinated because of the side effects.
Focus Questions
- What is the name of the vaccine given to help protect against cervical cancer?
- How does cancer develop?
- What is the virus that causes cervical cancer?
- Gardasil is free for girls aged…
- How does a vaccine work?
- Why are boys able to get the vaccine?
- What have been some of the reported side effects of Gardasil?
- How have doctors responded to the reported side effects?
- What impact could these side effects have on girls and young women having the vaccination?
- What do you understand about vaccinations since watching the BtN story?
Finding out more about vaccines
Working in pairs, ask students to discuss the following questions and then report back to the class.
· What is a vaccine?
· What vaccines do they know about?
· Why are vaccines important?
· Why are they given when children are young?
Students will then choose to investigate a key question in relation to vaccinations. They may be questions generated from the class discussion or one of the following:
· How do vaccines work?
· What impact have vaccines had on controlling disease?
· What are the potential risks of vaccinations?
· Why vaccinate against rare diseases?
Negotiate with students how they are going to present their research.
Self assessment
What are some things you would do the same in your next research inquiry and what might you do differently?
What do you understand more clearly?
Further investigations
Develop an awareness campaign for the cervical cancer vaccine in Australian schools. What does the target group need to know and how will the information be delivered to schools? (Posters, online, television advertisements.)
What is the future of vaccinations? Predict what vaccines may be available during your lifetime.
Create a rap or rhyme about vaccines.
8 Related Research Links
ABC News – Authorities to investigate Gardasil reactions
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/05/22/1929773.htm
ABC News – Researchers play down claimed Gardasil vaccination risk
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/03/2108379.htm
Information about Gardasil
http://www.gardasil.com/
Cancer Victoria – Information about cervical cancer
http://www.cancervic.org.au/about-cancer/cancer_types/cervical_cancer
Children’s BBC – Jabs to fight off cervical cancer
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4310000/newsid_4319700/4319710.stm
Children’s BBC – New jab for girls aged 12 and 13
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7590000/newsid_7598100/7598184.stm
Animal ID
Animal recognition technology has been developed to help farmers control some introduced and native animals.
Focus Questions
- What was the main point of the story?
- Describe how a bore works.
- What happened to animal populations when underground water was discovered?
- What environmental impact did this have?
- What is animal recognition technology?
- How does a blue screen work?
- How it is being used to control animals?
- Describe the success of the project.
- Are there any negative aspects of the technology?
- Is there another solution to the problem? Explain your answer.
What is the impact?
After watching the BtN story about animal recognition technology, ask students to brainstorm what they know about the impact of some native and introduced animals on the environment. Students will then investigate an animal of concern and create an electronic text with the information. A possible structure for their investigation could be:
· A brief description of the animal
· What damage to the environment has the animal caused?
· What are the financial costs?
· What strategies are used to control or eradicate the animal?
· Are these strategies effective?
· Predict what might happen if the animal isn’t controlled.
Discuss with students possible sources for collecting information including relevant organisations and the Internet.
Students will create an electronic text to demonstrate their understanding of the issues. Possibilities include:
· Using photographs to explain the issues
· PowerPoint presentation
· Animation
· Web page
Develop a rubric
Negotiate with students what the assessment criteria will be for this investigation. Create a rubric using templates at the following website: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
Further investigations
Create a timeline showing when non-native animals were introduced to Australia.
Make a game that teaches people about the environmental impact of some introduced and native animals.
Show on a map of Australia where there has been control or eradication of introduced or native animals.
8 Related Research Links
ABC News – Candid camera
http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2008/09/14/2363184.htm
University of Queensland – Animal recognition technology
http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=15038
ABC The New Inventors – Animal recognition invention
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2271782.htm
Department of Environment – Feral animals in Australia
http://environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/ferals/index.html
Questacon – Information about introduced species
http://www.questacon.edu.au/indepth/clever/control_ferals.html
Nova Science website – Australia’s threatened species
http://www.science.org.au/nova/010/010box02.htm
TRANSCRIPT 21/10/08
Episode 29
On this week's Behind the News
Are you being manipulated by sneaky ads?
Worries that kids aren't taking a cancer vaccine.
And how the catwalk is turning lives around.
Hi I'm Nathan Bazley welcome to Behind the News.
Also on the show today, the laptop IDing animals to help farmers and the environment.
Those items later but first to our top story.
SUPERANNUATION
Reporter, Sarah Larsen
INTRO: Last week we told you about the Credit Crisis and how it started. Well it looks like it will have a pretty big effect on Australians for a while to come. One of the reasons why it's such a big deal is because of something called Superannuation, or Super for short. So what's Super and how does it affect you? Sarah went to find out.
Mum: Have you done your homework? And clean your room!
SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: Do you ever dream of a day when you're free of your parents, in a house of your own?
But what if mum had to come and live with you.
MUM: Good, you're home. I need some money so I can go shopping with my friends and what's for dinner.
REPORTER: This is why parents save for their retirement; so rather than sponging off the kids they can do what they want to do.
It's why there is something called superannuation.
LUKE: What's that?
It's probably not something you've come across before, except in ads like this:
SUPERANNUATION AD: His fees are lower. His fees are higher.
But super will affect you as soon as you get your first job. Let's look at your pay cheque. You can see that some of your pay gets taken out; some for tax and some for superannuation.
Luke working checkout
LUKE: What?
Don't worry, you'll get the super back again, but not until you retire. It's kind of like a piggy bank that you have to put money into and hopefully by the time you need it your money will have grown.
LUKE: How does that happen?
Super funds take your money and use it to make investments. They buy property or shares in businesses, even in banks. And they don't just do it in Australia. Super funds can invest in businesses and assets all over the world. They take the profits from all those investments and put some back into your super fund. So while you're working your nest egg is growing without you having to do anything. Then when you retire you'll be able to live on all that money that's been saved up for you. Most people in Australia have to have superannuation that's to make sure everyone's got enough money to retire on but there can be problems. How much money you have depends on how much the super fund makes, so if some of those investments go bad, you can lose out.
That's what's been happening in the past few weeks. Stock markets around the world have crashed and now people are finding they've got a lot less to retire on
PETER MEARS, RETIREE: I'd imagine it will affect our lifestyle we won't be travelling and number of things that we enjoyed in the past.
For some it might even mean putting off retirement for a few years in the hope that things will get better. Super funds do say that in the long term things will get better and so will their people's return. But in the meantime, let's hope for you and your mum's sake that it doesn't come to this!
Luke (to Mum): Clean your room!
Presenter
Might want to start saving for your parents pocket money now!
Quiz 1
In the meantime we might do a cash quiz.
Q. What type of animal is on the Australian dollar coin?
A. Kangaroo
Presenter
The design has five roos and was created by the Queen's official jeweller Stuart Devlin.
The Wire
Now for a check on some of the weeks other headlines, here's Catherine.
Looks like school kids might have to learn more history and grammar in class.
The National Curriculum Board has recommended the changes after criticism that students are leaving high school with gaps in their knowledge.
The critics say too many kids don't know what nouns and adjectives are and they can't construct a proper sentence.
******
A Queensland primary school has banned all contact sports for its older students because of schoolyard violence.
Year seven kids at Coombahbah State School have been forbidden to play any form of football including soccer and touch because of a series of injuries and fights.
The Parents association supports it but kids aren't impressed.
STUDENT: They think it's like stupid.
The ban will run till the end of the year.
*******
And Gabriella Cilmi dominated the ARIAs on the weekend winning 6 awards.
She was named best female artist and her song ‘Sweet About Me’ was named single of the year.
The singer only turned 17 last week.
And the Dance music duo 'The Presets' won album of the year,
Presenter
An amazing achievement.
SUBLIMINAL ADVERTISING
Reporter, Nathan Bazley
INTRO: Now while on the subject there has been a bit of controversy about the ARIAs. But it's about the ads in last year's show. When we watch TV it's really easy to see where the ads are. We can see what they are offering and make a decision from there. But what about the ads that you can't see? It sounds weird but they do exist. And they might have influenced you without you even realising it!
This is an ad. And so is this.
Each one is shown during ad breaks and is really easy to tell apart from the program it was shown during.
But can you see one here?
This was broadcast during the 2007 ARIA awards - the music industry's night of nights and a TV spectacular shown live across Australia.
But did you spot the ad?
NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Okay I can't blame you if you didn't, but trust me, it's in there. Let's take another look, but this time we'll slow it down. There! That's a brand of car and it was flashed up on screen for only a tiny fraction of a second.
Other brands were flashed up in the show too.
All up during the 2 hour ARIA broadcast, 45 brands were flashed on screen.
So what is going on?
It's called Subliminal Advertising and it's basically when ads are shown so quickly, that you're not even aware they appeared.