Topical Tuesdays – Free Weekly News Stories and Teaching Resources from The Week Junior

1. 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

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2. 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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3. 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.

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4. Volcano Island

Date added: 25/4/19

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.