News - from our home countries this week

Before the start proper, a quick word from our sports correspondent, who tells us that, as per his faultless prediction, Nadal 'thrashed' Federer in the French Open.  Now I am not a betting man.  Nor even a betting woman.  But if I were, I would surely now place a bob or two on Federer to win Wimbledon (it's on the green surface, you see).

Anyway, let us begin in Iraq this week and hear Danah's news.  It actually happened in Romania, where, she tells us, "There was this Iraqi girl in high-school and she has won a competition of computers." 

She ended by telling us that despite the war, Iraq loves life.

Moving on eastwards (Who remembers the mnemonic which we invented to help us remember directions?  Something about nice Evie sipping water was it?  Or was it the cautionary one about never eating squashy worms?) towards the Indian subcontinent, let's hear from Maya who wants us to go with her to Kerala in India, where communists.....

are leading the country and there is violence as the people are trying to stop them from leading the country.  Danah has an important question.  "What's a communist?" she asks.  "I don't know," is the prompt response from Maya.  But, she has promised that she will try find out; important, as a quick check round the class found that no one really quite understands.

Staying in India, but heading northwards now, where Tanmay tells us that in Assam "...lots of elephants had been coming and annoying people and taking a bath in their water and removing wet clothes off the drying place and stepping on it - and even killing people - so they put hot chillies.....

on the outside of the fence so when the elephants came they would smell the chillies and it would keep them away - and their plan worked!" (Let's clear up a little misconception at this point; to an American boy, chili is a tasty dish made con carne or with meat and red kidney beans. 

This is not what they used!)

Onwards and eastwards and Michelle tells us that many dinosaur bones have been found in Mongolia in a place called the Gobi desert. 

Scientists from many countries study them in  Mongolia.

Let's head south(ish) towards Australia now, where Per has some family news.  "In my family," he says, "my uncle found a huge long fish on a beach and he was in the newspaper and on the TV."  Which could be one of those odd coincidences that I like so much, because, would you believe it, Matthew Duke's story, "is sort of like Per's but my granddad he went fishing and he caught a fish (THIS big).....

  

and he went in the news and he has a picture."  What, I wonder, is it about Australians and fishing this week?

OK.  Zip across the Pacific Ocean and head for the US of A where, shock horror, Macdo (as we call it hereabouts) has been having a bit of bother with their tomatoes.  Over to you Joe.

"The tomatoes have a sickness," he begins.  He continues sotto voce, "If a cow poops in a stream then the water gets polluted.  If the farmers use the water to water the tomatoes, they will get this sickness (salmonella).  If someone eats the tomato, they will have stomach problems and diarrhoea and if you don't treat it with medicine it could be deadly; you could even die.  So McDonald's have had to remove tomatoes from the menu!"

"I don't go to McDonald's because my dad is a bit worried about the same thing," Evie tells us.

Matthew W next.  In Europe.  "UK scientists," he begins proudly, "have made a missile which they are going to send off to the moon.  And the scientists have put some instruments inside which will help them find out some information about the moon."

"Oooh!"  That's our space correspondent.  "In the US they are debating about sending a spaceship up to drop a satellite for the same reason."

Still in the UK.  A woolly story now.  From Fiona.  "Prince Charles, the next king of England, he has some sheep but the sheep get killed by foxes.  Instead he put other animals in the field that look like sheep but they have long necks (alpacas).....

(these are three from Walnut Creek)

and they kick the foxes."  We also read that they spit out something quite revolting - no, don't ask!  Cute and fluffy they may be, but I would advise keeping one's distance!

Our final story in this batch is the sad tale of the stranded dolphins, as told by Evie.  "In London (read England) on many beaches, some dolphins have been swimming too close to the tide and they got onto the sand and they can't get back to the sea - and so they die.

Lots of English people are trying to help but they are too heavy." 

We had lots of suggestions as to how to help, ranging from nets and trucks and hooks, to using a stretcher.  But the fact is that when a dolphin is out of the water, the weight of its own body is too great for the organs inside, and it kind of suffocates.

I said in this batch because (yawn).....

ALL of the pending stories have a similar sporting theme.  It cannot have escaped your attention (much as you might like it to!) that there is a bit of football being played in our midst at the moment.  Flags dangle out of every window on my route in to work!  Of every hue (but seemingly mostly Portuguese as it happens!)

But do you know what?  I am afraid you will have to wait until tomorrow's exciting episode because right now (all that yawning!) I really do have to call it a day.  Goodnight all!

A guide - to creating a guide book

Regular readers (or at least those with a decent memory) will know that we are pretty well along in the process of making our brochures, or guide books, to that place in Our Local Area, Chateau de Penthes. 

They will know that each group has already prepared a map (complete with key) plus clearly written directions on how to get there.  That task (and now many other tasks) can be ticked off on our all-important checklist.....

(made following a closer look at guide books written by others).

 

They will know that we spent a very jolly afternoon there taking photographs (with our own as well as school cameras) and sketching some of the places of interest.

They might not know that we have 'checked out' the Military Museum

but not (so far at least) the restaurant - where, I am led to believe, they sell ice cream in many flavours.....

 

Well, the directions have been tested out, edited and printed.  The photographs (including 197 taken by Giulia alone, of which this is just one.....)

have been cropped, tuned and sharpened where necessary and saved heaven knows where (well, actually, those that I downloaded onto a PC have been uploaded to a web album; I know just where they are; and I am trusting that Mira, who 'works' the Mac, knows where the others are).

And still we have been busy.  Very busy indeed.  First we brainstormed a list of every (single) place in Chateau de Penthes that we though others might like to see.  It is a very long list! 

Then we set about the task of writing about those places.  We thought that it would be important to write in such a way as to make other people intrigued; hence a need to learn about and then to have enormous fun with our use of voice. 

Who, for example, could resist visiting the 'tissue' tree after reading this from Dangi?

Do you have no tissues at your house?  Do you have no handkerchiefs at your house?  Do you have a cold and are you always sneezing?

Well, go to the ‘tissue’ tree in Chateau de Penthes, pick up the tissues from the ground and sneeze on them.

Aaah, Aaah, Achooooo…..

Why not take some spare ones home afterwards?

How much more exciting does the otherwise rather dull wooden bridge sound after reading this?

Don’t know the story of the Three Billy Goats gruff? Well, go to Chateau de Penthes to the troll bridge and you will hear it.

Trip, trap, trip, trap, trip, trap….

Who is it walking over MY bridge?

We have finally reached the stage where most of the writing is done. 

Each separate place to visit has its own (very carefully chosen) photograph

or equally carefully drawn picture.  Front covers are being designed. 

Spellings are being checked.  Fevered brows (mine!) are being mopped.

And still the task is not quite over.  You see, there is our online interactive map to update; but more of this later.

Finally, of course, the whole reason for making a guide book is so that others may use it.  Invites to the Class 2i Picnic and all-important Guide Book Trial at Chateau de Penthes will be forthcoming.....weather (which has been atrocious of late) permitting!

Hurray, it's Tuesday again!

Let's begin by hearing what Chris had to report.  "It's about astronauts," he began.  Immediately Joe's ears pricked up! 

"Their toilet (on the ISS, explained Joe) is blocked because something is broken."  The enormity of this struck when Chris shared a bit of a joke with us; he had read it on the 'newsround' website.  "You know what it's like when you need the loo (translation: toilet) and you can't find one close by?  Well, imagine what it would be like if you were all the way in space with no toilet!"

But what Joe then told us, was something of a relief.  "A spaceship went up yesterday with a new pump.  But at the moment they are using plastic bags; and anyway, there is a fan that blows the....."  Well, my mind began to boggle a bit when he went into (great) detail, about quite exactly how these bags and fans work; I think I had better spare you the details!

Giulia was itching for me to add a space-related link to Chris' news.  With the words, 'To infinity... and beyond!' Buzz Lightyear will head up into space - for real!  Here you can see the preparations he has had to undergo. 

Joe in his own right now.  "There is an event called a 10 kilometer swim in open water.  It is usually held in the ocean.  25 men and 25 women will compete in the race. There is a 16 year old girl who has just qualified.  She will represent the US in the Olympics.

"I heard my news on the BBC," started Maya.  "Here is my headline: Train Crashes into School Bus.  It happened in France.  A train has crashed into a school bus and six children died."  A brief silence ensued as we, particularly those of us who travel to and from school by bus, thought about this.  A terrible thing to have happened.

"Mothers and fathers have been sad that their children have died."

Naoya doesn't have any more near-relatives, I am afraid.  However, his news was, again, from his home-country.  "The Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Fukuda has visited Germany, UK and Italy."  They will talk about the food crisis amongst other things.

Staying in Japan, Giulia, had something to share with us.  "In Japan they made a robot called ASIMO (ASIMO, she explained, stands for Advanced Step in Innovative MObility).  They took him to an orchestra and he conducted the orchestra.  He conducted well-enough.  But not as well as a human because he only kept the time of the music.  Most of the audience said he was very stiff.  He bowed very stiffly and he said hello to people."  Have a look and see what you think!

"How did the robot know how to do that?" wondered Evie. 

"I don't really know but I think it is like a computer," answered Giulia.

"I think they have installed a special system," said Joe. 

Giulia continued on a serious note, "They wanted to test him because they wanted him to be helpful and to see if he could rescue people."

Danah had a bit of last-minute help to find her story.  Mightily relieved, she was able to tell us, "It happened in London.  It's about Big Ben.  That's a tall tower with a clock on it (.....or is it?)  They made a Big Ben out of Coca Cola cans."

Obvious question this; Why?  After a bit of discussion, we hit upon the probable reason, which we thought was to do with recycling.

Isabella's news was also can-related.  "It happened in London.  There's a tunnel and above the tunnel there's a train station.  Taxis used to wait to pick people up and it was a very boring tunnel because it was all black.  (Maybe a bit like this.....)

A man had an idea and the idea was to draw lots of things and he got lots of kids to draw things and he asked the people on the street to help, with this kind of spray." 

"I like the graffiti," said Rekik.

By the way, if you look really closely at the man in the picture, you might be a bit surprised.  Is he real - or is he graffiti too?

Staying in the UK for Fiona's news.  "It's about a dog who got his head stuck in a garden pot.  His name was Hector and he was five years old.  The pot was so heavy that the poor little thing couldn't even move his head.  Some firemen had to come and free him.  They had to cut a little hole in it to set him free. 

Someone wondered; Did he choke?  "No," said Fiona.  "He is fully recovered."

So now here I am trying to find some pictures for Fiona's story - and I have another one of those 'Oh my goodness, there's something odd going on here' moments.  I looked up Dog gets head stuck in pot on Google and came up with this dog.....

.....who was released by animal rescue experts after getting his head stuck in a garden pot.

Then I looked back at the picture Fiona had brought in and thought that her Hector looked a bit different from my dog.  Sort of browner, fluffier and much smaller.  The pot was different too. 

More research needed I think!  And now, here we have the real Hector, before.....

and after.....

getting his head stuck in a garden pot.

And would you believe it?  Dangi's story (which, due to time restraints, we had to wait until today to hear) was about a cat - who got its head stuck.  Read on.  "A cat was chasing a mouse (remember the mouse please!).  The mouse jumped into a jam jar and then the cat put its head into the jam jar and got it stuck."  (Funnily enough we had been talking a while earlier about how a cat's whiskers usually prevent such mishaps).  "The cat's name was Lindy and her jaws were just millimetres away from the mouse.  They took her to a police station where they tried to take the jam jar off the cat's neck.  They smashed the jar (ouch!) on the floor.  Luckily the cat (and the mouse!) were safe.  A police spokeswoman said it was like a scene from Tom and Jerry....."

Oh and that mouse?  Apparently Hector the (brown, fluffy, small) dog was also chasing a mouse when he got his head stuck in that garden pot.  And I thought that it was cats that chased mice.  Oh well.....

By the way, Umar had also found the story of Hector.

Vaishnavi's story had a cat in it.  She told us that a girl and her brother in the US have been selling lemon juice at the side of the road to raise money so that their cat can have surgery.  It has been suffering from a spinal cord injury. 

Staying in the US but a change of species now.  There, as Michelle told us, "Scientists are studying the language of dolphins.  They 'talk' through whistles and clicks."

Tanmay's news was about a baby leopard.  "A baby leopard was found in a house in India.  The mother had left it alone.  The man took good care of the leopard.  How would you feel if you found a baby leopard in your home?" he asked.

Cries of either 'Ooh scared' or Ooh cute' resounded!  I think that although it might very well look 'Ooh cute' it would be a bit better to feel 'Ooh scared' - just in case the mum came back!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7428955.stm

Actually, having seen the video clip, I think I might just have switched to the 'Ooh cute' camp.  Because my goodness, he is very 'Ooh cute' indeed!

Our sports editor next.  Justin explained, "It's the final of the eight best players.  (Tennis, he added when we asked!)  The first one (the first seed) is Federer and I think he will play against Nadal in the final.  If they play on the red surface (clay) then Nadal will win.  If they play on the green surface (grass) then Federer will win.  Grass goes faster. (So there you have it; put your money on Federer to win at Wimbledon!)

Justin goes on.  "There is one French player in the last eight called Monfils.  If they meet I don't know who will win.  Federer has no muscles but he's really good.  The French player has lots of muscles and he's fast."  Justin has promised to keep his finger on the pulse of French tennis.  That and the soccer.

And now.  Strong stomachs needed for Matthew's news.  "Scientists," he explained, "think that eating bugs is good for your health."

Pause while the entire class collapses into a noisy group 'eugh'.

"But lots of people in the world eat lots of tasty bug snacks," persisted Matthew.  "People in 113 countries are already tucking in."

Now how about a plateful of wriggling maggots or worms for supper?

Talk rapidly moved on to that delicacy beloved of the French; quite a few children in the class have tried them. 

Somewhat fewer enjoyed the experience.  Giluia's mum collected lots once when she was a little girl and they cooked and ate them.  Patricia used to like them when she was four, but now she thinks they are disgusting.  To me they just taste like rather chewy buttery garlic.....but that owes somewhat more to the addition of garlic and butter than to the 'escargot'.  Bon appetit!

 

Photo by Adrian Moore

STOP PRESS: I have just read this on the BBC news website:

'World number one Roger Federer will play Gael Monfils in the French Open semi-finals after both men came through their last-eight matches in four sets.

Top seed Federer struggled early on against Fernando Gonzalez before coming through 2-6 6-2 6-3 6-4

And he will face Monfils for a place in the final after the unseeded Frenchman beat David Ferrer 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-1'

I note that Federer has beaten Monfils on each of their three previous meetings.....

Oh dear - remember what I 'promised' about materials?

Danah raced over to where I was sitting this morning when she arrived at school.  In her hand she was clutching something.  Obviously something pretty exciting.

"Look!" she exclaimed all-in-a-rush.  "I've got something.  It's glass."

Ooh-er, thought I.  Glass?  Not good!  Open up Danah.

But, on closer inspection, while it was glass, I was not overly worried.  You see, there was something different about this glass.  Let's see if we can remember what.

Once we had all had the chance to look at it, we agreed we had seen something similar before (and had in fact written about it in an earlier post, no less!) Yes, it was glass.  But where did the glass come from?  It had been broken, but instead of dangerous shards, it had formed into chunks, or cubes with no really sharp edges. 

We asked Danah where she found it.  "I found it when I got out of the car.  It was in the parking place."

That got a few 'sharp' minds whirling.  Justin began by trying to explain.  "It's from a car when you open the window."

Fiona clarified.  "I think it's from the broken window of a car."

Then Joe remembered what it is that is special about glass in cars.  "It is laminated," he said.  "Laminated means that there is a layer of plastic on the glass (actually there is usually one layer of plastic in between two pieces of glass) which means that it doesn't break into sharp pieces; the plastic holds the glass together and that makes it safe."  The glass is also toughened which means that if there are any pieces, they are just the relatively harmless chunks that Danah found. 

So mystery solved!  However, there is still the mystery of how a car windscreen got broken in the school car park.....

What to do with a classroom full of hot, fidgety children.....

There are some times when you just have to abandon even the most carefully made plans.  Such a time was this afternoon.  It was hot.  We had worked hard all morning and (well, present company excepted) been racing about all lunchtime.  And now, back inside, we began to steam.  Damp hair stuck up in sticky spikes.  An interesting aroma began to rise ominously.  Not a good time, then for too much mental strain.

OK.  How about a bit of creative fun (with a smidgeon of maths and PE thrown in for good measure)?

• Take a rectangle of card

• Choose some lovely bright coloured markers

• Make a bold design on your card - back and front

 

• Have a grown-up (no severed fingers, thank you!) score one or two lines across the card, using sharp scissors and a ruler, to make it easier to fold

• Find scissors and string

• Measure (carefully) exactly one metre of string (ask a friend to help is you like)

• Poke a tiny hole in your card and thread the string through.  Make a little loop and push the end through to tie it securely

 

• Go outside (where at least there was a bit of a breeze) and test out your spinner.  Hold the string at arm's length and.......run like the wind

 

and watch

 

as it spins

round and round.

OK - so we all got hot and bothered again - by at least by now it was home time!

And now that we have cooled down somewhat, a bit of science to think about.  Whose spinners spun the fastest?  Were they the fastest runners?  What was it about their design that made them spin faster than yours?  Where did they have their lines scored?  How many folds did they have?  Whereabouts did they tie their string? 

How would you improve your design to make a new one spin even faster?