Topical Tuesdays – Free weekly news stories and teaching resources from The Week Junior

1. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry

Date added: 21/1/20

This week’s activities focus on the news that on 13 January, the Queen announced she would allow Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle to reduce their royal responsibilities.

The couple had released a statement on 8 January saying they wanted to “step back as senior members of the royal family” and it is believed that they wish to split their time between the UK and Canada.

Harry and Meghan are looking to focus on new projects, including their own charity, and hoped this move would enable them to raise their son, Archie, with “an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born” while also providing space to “focus on the next chapter”.

They said that although they still want to perform some royal duties, they want to explore opportunities to earn money and support themselves.

Currently, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expected to undertake certain royal duties, and in return they are paid a vast sum of money from the Sovereign Grant, money which the Government past to the Royal Family.

The total Sovereign Grant last year was £82.2 million.

However, most of Prince Harry’s money is given to him by his father, Prince Charles, whose income comes from the Duchy of Cornwall – a collection of farms, land and rental cottages in several places across the UK.

• As a class, discuss whether you think Harry and Meghan should be allowed to step back from royal duties. They are paid for the privilege, after all. Or should everyone have the freedom to choose their career and life?
• Write a pretend letter to the Queen, explaining why you would make a good candidate to take over the role. What parts would you be most interested in and qualified for?
• Write a short poem about this news, serious or funny, set to the tune of God Save the Queen
• Look into the kings and queens of England since 1800 and make a list of them all. Then list all royal family members currently in line to the throne

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2. New Year's honours

Date added: 14/1/20

More than 1,000 people, including celebrities, politicians, sports stars and members of the public, have been celebrated in the New Year’s Honours List.

The list recognises people who have done outstanding work in their communities or in their professions. They are chosen by the UK Government each year.

After the announcement was made, the Government was forced to apologise because its online list of those receiving honours revealed their full home and work addresses.

The list included celebrities and some people who work in the military and the Ministry of Defence (a Government department that looks after the UK’s defence and security), whose addresses should have been kept secret.

This PDF resource includes this article, as well as accompanying activity ideas:

• While most people probably agree that it is important to recognise public service and exceptional achievement, debate whether it’s time to change the sorts of honours we give? For a start, we don’t really have an empire anymore, and many bad actions were carried out in its name. What do you think?
• Write a pretend letter to the Government, using persuasive language, nominating someone who you think deserves a special award
• Write a set of instructions for becoming a knight in the UK. You can make them as serious or humorous as you like. Include the steps you need to take in order to deserve such an honour, as well as outlining what you have to do at the ceremony.
• The UK is not the only place to offer knighthoods (or something similar). Give an example of another country that awards such honours and briefly describe the ceremony.

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3. New apple variety stays fresh for a year

Date added: 7/1/20

A new super-sweet variety of apple, called the Cosmic Crisp, hit the shops in the US on 1 December. Apple growers from the state of Washington, in the north-western US, say that if you keep it in the fridge it will still be fine to eat a year later.

It’s taken more than 20 years for fruit breeders working at Washington State University to perfect this new kind of apple.

It all began in 1997, when breeders crossed the Honeycrisp and Enterprise varieties to create a tree that produced apples with naturally high levels of acidity (sharp-tasting chemicals) and sugar.

The sugar makes the Cosmic Crisp taste sweet, while the acidity stops the fruit from browning and creates a long-lasting crunchy texture.

By 2025, the growers aim to be selling two billion apples a year.

• Debate whether creating a new breed of apple is playing with nature, or if it makes healthy food more convenient and reduces food waste
• Design and write an advertisement for this new breed of apple, using powerful or entertaining language choices
• Imagine a conversation between items in a fridge when one of these apples is put in. Will they be impressed, jealous or sympathetic? How will the apple feel?
• Research other examples of cross-breeding, whether it’s for plants or animals. What were the original breeds and which characteristics were the breeders hoping to combine?

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4. Thousand of children don't own a book

Date added: 17/12/19

The National Literacy Trust recently carried out a survey of over 50k children in the United Kingdom aged between nine and 18 years old, which revealed nearly 400,000 young people in the UK don’t own a single book.

Just over 6% of the 56,000 who took part admitted to not having any books at home, leading to an estimate that this is the case for 383,774 children in Britain. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds were the most likely to be in this group.

• Discuss whether we need to own books? There are libraries and ebooks that save on paper, after all. But of course, not everyone can afford a device for ebooks, and screens before bed has a negative effect on sleep.
• What’s a good book you’ve read recently? Write a review of it to say why you liked it.
• Who’s your favourite author. Why not write them a letter to show how much you appreciate and enjoy their work? Think of a few interesting questions to ask them about their books, characters or themselves.
• Research what the nation’s favourite 10 children’s books are. Make a list, and show which ones, if any, you have read.

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5. Viking Treasure Stolen

Date added: 10/12/19

This week’s big news story involves a historic heist of historic proportions, as George Powell and Layton Davies were jailed for the theft of Viking treasure believed to be worth £12m.

But if you’re picturing an Ocean’s 11-style heist, then the truth is rather more pedestrian.

The two men are avid detectorists, and found the treasure in a field in Herefordshire back in 2015, using their metal detectors.

“What’s the fuss then?” you might ask. Well, the law in the UK means that anyone finding historical objects must report it, and anything found to be treasure is technically the property of the Queen.

The two men instead decided to try to sell the collection of around 300 coins and items of jewellery, and so far only a small portion of it has been recovered.

• Discuss whether you think the rules of finding historic items are fair? Should it be finders keepers? Should it belong to the landowner? Or do these items belong in places like museums for all to see? Should independent metal detectorists be banned outright? Many historical items can be damaged if not recovered by a skilled archaeological team.
• Instructional writing: Detail what someone should do if their metal detector finds something of potential valuable, using sequencing conjunctions and imperative verbs.
• If you found a hoard of treasure while out with your metal detector, how would you feel? Write a diary entry about the day this happened, using powerful vocabulary to describe what you found, and your emotions as it happened.
• Investigate treasure finds in the UK, listing the three biggest ever, what they were, where they were found.

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6. TV debates

Date added: 3/12/19

This week we’re looking at the recent ITV political debate between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Your pupils will look at what a general election is, as well as the important topics in the buildup to the 12 December election that were covered in this debate.

The main points of interest were the future of the National Health Service, and the prospect of Britain leaving the EU.

This PDF resource includes this article, as well as accompanying activity ideas:

• Hold a debate in your class about voting. With voter turnout being low, should everyone be forced to vote, even if you don’t like any of the parties or candidates?
• If you were a politician standing in an election, what would your top 5 manifesto pledges be? Write down what you promise to do to improve the country, with persuasive reasons as to why they are good ideas.
• Should children be allowed to vote? What should the voting age be lowered to? Write pretend letters to your MP with solid arguments as to why you think they should be included.
• Undertake a research project into your local MP and create a factfile on them. Who are they? What party do they stand for? What are their main policies?

Click here to download.

7. Dramatic flooding

Date added: 26/11/19

In the latest topical Tuesday we’re looking at the heavy rain that caused widespread flooding across parts of northern and central England on 7 November.

At least one person has died; 500 homes have been flooded; and people from 1,200 properties have had to leave their homes.

More rain fell in 24 hours in the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire than would normally fall in a whole month. This caused rivers to flood, and several towns and cities were overwhelmed with water.

Some people whose homes have been ruined by the flooding are angry about what has happened. They say they were given little warning about the floods, and that more could have been done to stop the rivers from bursting their banks.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, and Jo Swinson, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, have both visited the areas that were worst affected. They say the Government should have done more to help those in need.

The Environment Agency, which works to protect and improve the environment, said it will assess the country’s flood defences to see if they need to be changed.

• Following these floods, there have been calls for the Government to do more to help. Debate whether you think this is fair, or if homeowners should have insurance that pays for the clean up rather than tax payers. Or is it partly the Government’s fault anyway? Should they be investing in better flood defences?
• Imagine your house has been flooded by rising river water. Write a recount of what happened, remembering to describe the sights, the smells and your feelings. Don’t forget, flood water is not clean and it ruins anything it affects.
• Write a powerful acrostic poem using each letter of the word ‘flooding’ to start a new line.
• 2012 was another very bad year for flooding in the UK. Investigate when the worst of the flooding happened and which areas were worst affected. If possible, find out what action was taken to try and prevent it happening again.

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8. Monkey behaviour

Date added: 19/11/19

The big story this week looks at two groups of monkeys in Southeast Asia, living on islands that are a mere six miles apart.

These long-tailed macaques have been studied by scientists in the way they use stone tools. They carefully select rocks to crack open the shells of various shellfish, so that they can eat the innards.

Strangely, one group would keep their tools for reuse, while the other on the neighbouring island would cast away their stones having used them just once.

Why is this important? Well, these behavioural differences are examples of culture, something that’s typically just a human trait. It implies that different groups of monkeys can develop their own traditions of behaviour in their own environments.

Researchers also believe this could be helpful for any scientists exploring how early humans used stone tools.

• Debate, if we could communicate with animals, whether we should? Or would that just lead to humans exploiting them even more?
• Imagine you are a long-tailed macaque who has just discovered how to use stones to get seafood out of shells. Write an advertisement that you would use to persuade your fellow macaques to use stones too
• Write a short funny sketch in the form of a playscript in which one macaque is trying to get his friend to use stones to crack open shells but the friend doesn’t like the idea of using this new ‘technology’
• Research another example of animals learning a new behaviour, especially if it shows them adapting to the human world.

Click here to download.

9. Found painting sells for £20m

Date added: 12/11/19

In the latest Topical Tuesday we’re looking at a painting that was found in a French that sold for £20 million.

The painting was created in the 13th century, and became the most expensive medieval painting ever sold.

It was discovered as an elderly woman was preparing to move out of her home in the French town of Compiègne. She said she didn’t know where the painting had come from.

• Debate whether rich collectors should be allowed to keep artistic masterpieces locked away in private homes where the general public can’t see them
• Write a funny story about something you’ve painted being found years later and sold for millions
• Have you been to a gallery or museum? Write a descriptive piece about it and the things you saw
• Research the five most expensive paintings ever sold, listing the title, artist and price, and writing a brief description of each

Click here to download.

10. Kapow

Date added: 5/11/19

This week, we’re looking at how language evolves, and how and why new words and phrases are added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

Updated four times a year, and the October 2019 version includes 203 new words.

This list is dominated by words from the Star Wars universe, including lightsabre and Jedi.

The word kapow (representing the sound of an explosion, gunshot, hard punch or blow, commonly found in comics) also made the list.

Other additions include slang terms, such as sumfin (something), whatevs (whatever), chewy (chewing gum) and chillax (to calm down and relax).

• Debate whether it’s necessary to evolve the language when we have over 170,000 words already
• Write a short story that includes the following words: kapow, padawan, ange, nomophobia and summum malum
• Create your own dictionary definitions for these three imaginary words: breffingle, nopperhast, yoochitrat
• Investigate and define three English words that originated from each of the following cultures: Anglo Saxon, Norman, Viking and Indian

Click here to download.

11. 50p coins

Date added: 29/10/19

This week’s, the main focus is on the Royal Mint celebrating 50 years since the launch of the 50p coin by revealing the rarest 50p coins ever made.

The first 50p coin was introduced on 14 October 1969. Made in the shape of a heptagon, it was the world’s first seven-sided coin. The initial reaction to it was mixed – one newspaper at the time called it “a monstrous piece of metal”.

The coin was introduced as part of a process called decimalisation. This is when a currency is changed to be based around multiples of 10 or 100.

Students will learn all about this history.

• Debate whether it’s time to get rid of physical currency for good and become a cashless society
• Write a persuasive article proposing a famous person or special event that you think should be commemorated on a 50p coin
• Using ‘Halfway Down’ by AA Milne, rewrite that poem about a 50p piece, as if it is a child’s favourite coin
• Research five other significant events from 1969, put them in order of importance (in your view) and give a brief, two- or three-sentence explanation of what happened for each

Click here to download.

12. Staying the distance

Date added: 22/10/19

This week’s feature looks at perseverance vs giving up. Its main story is Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s recent gold medal in the heptathlon.

She waited a long time to win a gold medal, and says that her years of disappointment helped her to keep trying and prevented her from giving up.

Other stories include a Russian singer in Los Angeles who reached a new audience when a police officer filmed her busking, and a 17-year-old Syrian who taught himself English by reading the Harry Potter books who has won a scholarship to study in Wales.

This PDF resource includes this article, as well as accompanying activity ideas:

• Debate whether we should follow Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s example of never quitting, or whether sometimes it’s good to give up. When is the right time, and how do you know?
• Write a story about a time when you didn’t give up. Describe the emotions you went through.
• Write a short play script about the possible positive and negative thoughts Katarina might have had, as the proverbial angel and devil on her shoulders
• Katarina took part in the heptathlon, but in men’s athletics there is an event called the decathlon. Investigate what this is and what’s involved.

Click here to download.

13. Rise of the robots

Date added: 15/10/19

This week’s feature is all about a robot called Atlas. Built by a robotics company in Massachusetts called Boston Dynamics, he is described as being ‘the world’s most dynamic humanoid robot’.

Despite standing at 1.5m tall and weighing 80kg, Atlas is a nimble gymnast, and there are videos to prove it.

This PDF resource includes this article, as well as accompanying activity ideas:

• Debate whether we should stop trying to make robots and AI smarter at any point. Is there a danger they’ll become smart enough to try to take over?
• Write instructions for safely performing a forward roll. Imagine your instructions will be converted to computer code to programme a robot to perform the manoeuvre.
• Imagine you are a robot with feelings. Write a diary entry about the day you were programmed to do a handstand.
• Investigate how robots are helping humans today, and pick one to write an account about.

Click here to download.

14. Alien life

Date added: 8/10/19

This week’s feature looks at the possibility of alien life, specifically on a planet known as K2-18b.

It’s not a very catchy name, no. But it’s also known as ‘Super-Earth’ as it is twice as large as our planet, and has eight times the mass.

More importantly, scientists at UCL recently found water vapour in its atmosphere, making it the most likely destination for alien lifeforms.

This PDF resource includes this article, as well as accompanying activity ideas:

• Imagine we had the ability to travel to K2-18b in a very short time. Debate whether or not we should we go there? Is it important for humans to keep exploring or should we just leave other planets alone?
• Write a short travel review from the perspective of an alien from K2-18b who had visited Earth for a holiday
• Write a short, humorous poem about an imagined conversation with an alien from K2-18b
• The article states that water is essential to all life on Earth. What else does all life have in common? List the seven characteristics of living things. For each one, give an example for both a plant and an animal.

Click here to download.

15. Greta Thunberg and climate action

Date added: 1/10/19

This week’s feature looks at the global climate change action that took place on the 21 September, the International Day of Peace.

Students will discover what the aim of the International Day of Peace is, how climate change affects peace, what the UN is doing about climate change and how young people can get involved.

• Debate the ethics of the recent schools strike led by Greta Thunberg. Is any issue important enough for children to miss out on education, or is this sort of protest better left to adults? Or are children, the future of this world, the best people to protest its destruction?
• Put together a five-point plan to get world leaders to do something about climate change
• Create clever protest signs by writing three slogans to go on them
• Research a recent extreme weather occurrence that forced people to leave their homes and write a summary of the events

Click here to download.

16. Organ donation

Date added: 24/9/19

This feature looks at organ donation and how it can save lives.

Students will learn about what the major organs do in the body, and how problems with them can affect someone’s health. They will also find out about the first ever organ transplant, and how transplants work.

• Debate issues around organ donation, such as ‘should we refuse to donate to smokers’ and ‘should people who have looked after their body get priority on donation lists?’
• Imagine you’ve had organ donation surgery and write a thank you letter to your donor
• Write an imaginary diary entry for the day you’re about to have donation surgery
• Investigate heart donation surgery, which is the most complex procedure of all the major organ donation surgeries

Click here to download.

17. Amazon Fires

Date added: 17/9/19

This week’s feature looks at the devastating fires in the Amazon rainforest, and the global protests that are taking place to ensure their protection.

Students will learn what caused the fires, how many fires there have been, why this is so important, how the world has reacted and how Brazil has responded.

• Hold a debate on whether other nations have a say in how these fires are dealt with, or whether it should be up to Brazil alone.
• Write an imaginary account of the fires from the perspective of an animal living in the rainforest
• Write a poem using the metaphor of the Amazon rainforest being the lungs of the world
• Investigate how much oxygen the Amazon rainforest produces, and how this happens

Click here to download.

18. Life Without Electricity

Date added: 10/9/19

In this week’s article students will learn about a power cut that affected 1,000,000 people in England and Wales, the biggest in a decade.

Activities include holding a debate on our reliance on electricity and whether we should be forced to go without electrical appliances for two hours each day, writing instructions on what to do in the event of a power cut, investigating how much power you use by keeping a mini-diary of all your activities that require electricity, and more.

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19. Plastics, Animals and the Environment

Date added: 3/9/19

This instalment introduces children to the effects of plastic bags on animals in the ocean, discussing how traditional plastic bags can stay around for 1,000 years.

It also looks at what alternatives we have for a greener future.

Click here to download.

20. Volcano Island

Date added: 27/8/19

This first instalment introduces children to Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai – an island that sprung from the sea five years ago, and which scientists have just discovered is teeming with life.

How did it get there, and where did the animals come from?

Explore these questions and more in these activities.

Click here to download.