Questions for discussion

Basin Plan

  1. Discuss the main issues raised in the Basin plan story with another student.
  2. About how many species of native fish in the Murray-Darling system are endangered?
  3. Why is the Murray-Darling Basin important to agriculture in Australia?
  4. The amount of water taken out of the Murray-Darling system over the years has
  5. Decreased
  6. Increased
  7. Stayed the same
  8. What factors have contributed to the poor state of the river system?
  9. What is a water allocation?
  10. Describe both the farming and environmental side to the water allocation issue.
  11. What did the Murray-Darling Authority recommend in their draft report?
  12. How have the farmers and environmental groups reacted to the report?
  13. What do you think should happen? Should farming or the environment take priority?

`In the Basin plan should the farmers or the environment take priority?’ Vote in the BtN online poll

Chile rescue

1.  How long were the miners trapped underground?

2.  Briefly explain how the miners became trapped.

3.  Explain how supplies like food and medicine were being delivered to the miners.

4.  Which two minerals were being mined at the San Jose mine?

5.  Who helped the Chilean Government with the rescue?

6.  How were the miners taken up to the surface?

7.  Experts were lowered to the miners before they were rescued. Why?

8.  What concerns do some people have about the miners once the media attention finishes?

9.  The Chilean Government has been criticised for the way it handled the rescue. True or false?

10.  Brainstorm a list of emotions the miners and their families might be feeling during and after the rescue.

Test your knowledge in the online quiz.

Newspapers

  1. What are the different elements of a newspaper?
  2. What costs are involved in running a newspaper?
  3. How do they make money?
  4. Who are newspapers competing with for news and information?
  5. What part have newspapers played in history?
  6. Where are newspaper companies starting to publish news?
  7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of news in this format?
  8. How are newspapers and online news similar and different?
  9. Where do you and your family get news from? Which is your preference and why?
  10. What do you think the future of newspapers is? Explain your answer.

Create a timeline of the history of newspapers beginning with Acta Diurna, the first newspaper published in Rome.


Fred’s van

  1. Before you watch the Fred’s Van story, record what you know about homelessness.
  2. Approximately how many people in Australia are homeless?
  3. Describe the work that Fred’s Van does?
  4. Where did the name come from?
  5. How does working with the homeless make Emily and Bianca feel?
  6. Where does the food that is served to the homeless and disadvantaged come from?
  7. Choose three adjectives to describe volunteers.
  8. How does volunteering benefit the community?
  9. What do you understand more clearly since watching the BtN story?
  10. Brainstorm a list of ways your class or school could help homeless or disadvantaged people in your local community.

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

Rodeo kids

  1. Retell the story in your own words.
  2. When did rodeos first start?
  3. Describe the dangers associated with rodeo riding.
  4. How are rodeos helping some kids improve their lives?
  5. What opportunities does the rodeo industry provide?
  6. Why do you think some people might be opposed to rodeos?
  7. How have the horses involved in the rodeos been given a second chance?
  8. How did this story make you feel?
  9. What do you understand more clearly since watching the BtN story?
  10. Create a plus, minus and interesting chart about rodeos.

Use information from the BtN Rodeo kids story to create a quiz about rodeos. Students may need to use the internet to find more facts.

Basin Plan

Focus Questions

  1. Discuss the main issues raised in the Basin plan story with another student.
  2. About how many species of native fish in the Murray-Darling system are endangered?
  3. Why is the Murray-Darling Basin important to agriculture in Australia?
  4. The amount of water taken out of the Murray-Darling system over the years has
  5. Decreased
  6. Increased
  7. Stayed the same
  8. What factors have contributed to the poor state of the river system?
  9. What is a water allocation?
  10. Describe both the farming and environmental side to the water allocation issue.
  11. What did the Murray-Darling Authority recommend in their draft report?
  12. How have the farmers and environmental groups reacted to the report?
  13. What do you think should happen? Should farming or the environment take priority?

Basin Plan

Students will research issues about the Murray-Darling river system based on the activities they choose. Negotiate with students how many activities they will need to complete.

Remember and understand

·  Learn more about the Murray-Darling Basin by completing the following quiz http://www.abc.net.au/science/games/quizzes/2008/murray-darling/

·  Create a timeline showing how people’s use of the Murray-Darling river system has changed over time.

·  Play the Catchment Detox online game http://www.catchmentdetox.net.au/. The challenge is to manage a river catchment so that after 50 years you have a healthy environment and a healthy economy. Record what the game taught you about balancing the environment with the economy.

·  Create an illustrated glossary of key Murray-Darling basin words.

Apply and Analyse

·  How have Aboriginal people used the Murray-Darling river system? Research ways they protected and preserved it.

·  Write a response to the following statement ` Water allocations should be maintained at their current level.’ Read your response to the class or small group and discuss.

·  Water from the River Murray is used to irrigate crops. Suggest ways to reduce the amount of water needed to grow crops, for example genetic modification to make them more drought tolerant.

Evaluate and create

·  Choose a native fish or animal that lives in the Murray-Darling Basin. Create a profile that includes pictures, key information and an explanation about why the fish/animal is unique. Display the research findings in a Power Point presentation or poster.

·  Paint or draw a river scene showing a healthy river environment.

·  Investigate irrigation practices in the Murray-Darling Basin. Comment on the efficiency of each and make some recommendations about future practices.

8 Related Research Links

ABC Behind the News – Food Bowl

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2823678.htm

ABC Behind the News – Water licences

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2219596.htm

Murray-Darling Basin Authority – The Basin Plan

http://thebasinplan.mdba.gov.au/

Murray-Darling Basin Authority - FAQ’s The Basin Plan

http://www.mdba.gov.au/basin_plan/faqs/basin-plan

ABC News – Murray-Darling Authority bows to pressure

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/18/3040678.htm

ABC News - Inquiry called as basin plan anger grows

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/14/3038506.htm

ABC News – Murray-Darling regions already making cuts

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/15/3039062.htm

Newspapers

Focus Questions

  1. What are the different elements of a newspaper?
  2. What costs are involved in running a newspaper?
  3. How do they make money?
  4. Who are newspapers competing with for news and information?
  5. What part have newspapers played in history?
  6. Where are newspaper companies starting to publish news?
  7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of news in this format?
  8. How are newspapers and online news similar and different?
  9. Where do you and your family get news from? Which is your preference and why?
  10. What do you think the future of newspapers is? Explain your answer.

Newspapers

Hold a class discussion/brainstorm about the different types of newspapers. They could be national, regional or local. Discuss the types of stories they cover.

Look at the range of newspapers provided and record the common features of each. These include:

·  Headline article – features on the front page

·  News articles

·  Feature article

·  Entertainment section –reviews books, movies and games

·  Advertisements

·  Sports report

Students will create their own class newspaper. As a class they will need to make decisions about the following:

·  Who is the target audience?

·  What style of paper will it be (consider language)

·  Ideas for articles

·  Layout

·  Who will write the stories/articles (journalists)

·  Who will put the final product together (editorial team)

For students taking on the role of journalist, the following websites provide information on how to write a news report. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/news_plan.pdfhttp://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jeather/writingfun/writingfun.html

The inverted pyramid at the following website may help students to plan their news report http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson249/pyramid.pdf

Other roles to consider include editor, sub-editor/s and graphics/layout. Each news report will need to be checked by the sub-editor. Their job is to make sure the facts are correct and to check spelling and grammar.

Promote and distribute the class newsletter in the school and local community.

Self assessment

What worked well with your class newspaper? What changes would you make? Why?

8 Related Research Links

ABC Stateline – The write stuff

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/10/01/3027582.htm

ABC Behind the News – Net News

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2653913.htm

Australian Government – The birth of the newspaper in Australia

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/newspapers/

BtN: Episode 29 Transcript 19/10/10

On this week's Behind the News:

·  A miraculous escape as Chile celebrates the release of their trapped miners.

·  Water-borne anger over a new plan to save our biggest river system.

·  And how the daily newspaper is faring in a web-enabled world.

Hi I'm Nathan Bazley, thanks for joining us again on Behind the News.

Also on today's show, we'll go to work with some generous kids lending a helping hand.

But first today let's have a look at what could be this year's biggest good news story.

Chile Rescue

Reporter: Kirsty Bennett

INTRO: After 10 weeks stuck underground Chile's 33 trapped miners are now celebrating.

When the mine collapsed most people were afraid the miners would already be dead.

But Kirsty explains how the biggest mine rescue ever ended up a huge success.

KIRSTY BENNETT, REPORTER: This is the moment the world was waiting to see. Florencio Avalos, the first miner to be winched to the surface and to his family. One by one the miners were rescued. For some, sixty nine days of high humidity and darkness didn't drain their spirits! It was a rescue that brought the entire country to its feet and put these men into the record books. With most of the miners fit and well, let's track back to how they got stuck down there in the first place.

The San Jose mine is near the town of Copiapo in Chile and produces gold and copper. On August the 5th, the roof of an access tunnel collapsed and trapped the men about 700 metres underground. It wasn't until a note surfaced 17 days later that everyone knew they were all alive. So far they had survived on just two days worth of food rations. Three holes were drilled to give them fresh air and to send down food, water and medicine. Then an extremely difficult rescue plan got underway. They had to get the miners out quickly and carefully.

To get the men, the Chilean Government got lots of technical help from the country's Navy and organisations like NASA. A 600 metre long tunnel was drilled down close to the emergency shelter where they were staying but the miners couldn't simply climb through, they had to send down this capsule which is kind of like a one person elevator.

KIRSTY: The capsule was about this big. I'm a bit smaller than those guys so try to imagine a full grown man sitting in one of these. They wore overalls and had to put on sunglasses to protect their eyes from the light. They had to lay like this for about fifteen minutes, with only a small light to keep them company.

A mine rescue expert and a paramedic were lowered in first to suss out the miners' health and to help in the operation. The miners were put in order with the healthiest ones to go up first. After 22 hours the last miner reached the surface where everyone joined together to sing the national anthem.

There were around 2000 media there from all over the world and the frenzy isn't likely to go away just yet. The miners will probably be offered television interviews, and movie and book deals. But the worry comes after the media attention dies down and the excitement of being rescued fades. Some experts reckon that the miners could experience psychological problems because they spent so much time trapped in the mine. So for the next six months at least, the Chilean government has offered counselling.

The government has been given the thumbs up for how it handled the rescue. It cooperated with other organisations and countries to bring the men to safety, despite all the risks. The next step the government will take is to look over mining safety. It's all to make sure that the lid to this rescue tunnel, won't have to open again.

Presenter: I think they'll be celebrating for a while.

OK, let's catch up with what else has been happening in the news with Alfie.

The Wire

Australian Catholics celebrated their first saint on the weekend after Mary MacKillop was canonised at the Vatican in Rome.

With those words Mary MacKillop became Saint Mary of the cross, the highest honour in the Catholic Church.

And those that had travelled all the way from Australia loved every minute of it.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie oi, oi, oi.

*******************

Southern NSW is cleaning up after floods hit there last week, the worst in almost 80 years.

From the air these farms look more like lakes, while on the ground the fight is on to keep water out of houses.

200 properties are affected so far, while more are in danger of flooding as the flood waters move downstream.

*******************

Farmers are fighting back after the release of a draft plan which recommended cuts to the amount of water they can take from the Murray-Darling Basin system.

The plan is aiming to restore the river system to full health but farmers have protested during public meetings that the cuts go too deep and will lead to many of them being forced off the land.

That's what it deserves!

Farmers are planning more protests over the coming weeks and months.

Basin Plan

Reporter: Nathan Bazley

INTRO: Farmers are under pretty severe stress right now but so is the Murray-Darling Basin.

Years of overuse has left the system in really bad shape.

But while everyone agrees there is a problem, it's now up to one government group to come up with a solution.