EPISODE 31 US President 4TH NOVEMBER 2008 1. Who are the presidential candidates? 2. Why is the President of the United States sometimes called `the world’s most powerful person’? 3. How many Presidents have there been? 4. Who can run for presidency? 5. Who is responsible for protecting the President? 6. Why do they need protection? 7. Describe the White House. 8. What was surprising about this story? 9. Do you think Australia should be concerned about what happens in the US election? Explain your answer. 10. How has your thinking changed after watching the BtN story? Investigate how the candidates have used the Internet to campaign for the presidency. Phone fears 1. Briefly summarise the BtN phone fears story. 2. Describe the importance of mobile phones in Australia. 3. Explain in your own words how a mobile phone works. 4. What else emits radio waves? 5. What is the health concern associated with mobile phones? 6. Why can’t scientists agree on how safe mobile phones are? 7. Why do some scientists say that children under sixteen are at increased risk? 8. What do they recommend children do to use mobile phones safely? 9. Has your thinking about mobile phone safety changed after watching the BtN story? Why or why not? 10. Do you think the benefits of using mobile phones outweigh the potential risks? Explain your answer. Brainstorm text messaging language. What codes do people use for texting? Create a text message using code and ask another student to decipher it. Apprentice jockeys 1. Write a brief outline of the BtN story. 2. Describe the training schedule for an apprentice jockey. 3. Apart from riding and looking after horses, what training is involved in becoming a jockey? 4. What qualities do jockeys need to be successful? 5. What is the ultimate goal for many jockeys? 6. Why is height and weight an important factor for jockeys? 7. Why can horse racing be dangerous? 8. What do you understand more clearly about jockeys and horse racing after watching the BtN story? 9. What was surprising about this story? 10. Create a plus, minus and interesting chart about horse racing or being a jockey. Test your knowledge in the online quiz. 1 Pygmy crocs 1. What was the main point of the story? 2. Where in Australia are pygmy crocs found? 3. What do scientists think has made the crocodiles smaller? 4. What makes scientists think that their genes have changed? 5. How can they test this? 6. What animals are threatening pygmy crocs? 7. What else could have an impact on the pygmy croc population? 8. What is being done to help them survive? 9. What do you think should happen next? 10. Do you think it is important to protect pygmy crocs? Explain your answer. Send a message or tell us what you think on the BtN Guestbook. Facebook campaign 1. Summarise the story in your own words. 2. How does Nathan Cawley’s family describe him? 3. Name some of the sports Nathan is involved in. 4. What upcoming events is he training for? 5. Describe the symptoms of Nathan’s medical condition. 6. What might happen as Nathan gets older? 7. Why do people find him so inspirational? 8. Why was the group on Facebook set up? 9. What has the response been? 10. How did this story make you feel? Go to Nathan Cawley’s Facebook page http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php/?gid=28829201047 and read some of the wall posts. How have people responded to him? 2 US President Americans are about to go to the polls to decide who will be the next President of the United States. But what does it mean to be President and what do the candidates think about particular issues? EPISODE 31 TH 4 NOVEMBER 2008 Focus Questions Learning Area Society and 1. Who are the presidential candidates? Environment 2. Why is the President of the United States sometimes called `the world’s most powerful person’? 3. How many Presidents have there been? Key learning 4. Who can run for presidency? Students will 5. Who is responsible for protecting the President? investigate the 6. Why do they need protection? candidates for the 7. Describe the White House. US presidential 8. What was surprising about this story? election and their 9. Do you think Australia should be concerned about what happens in the US position on certain issues. election? Explain your answer. 10. How has your thinking changed after watching the BtN story? Meet the candidates Students will be investigating the candidates running in the US election. Ask students to brainstorm what they already know about the candidates and what they would like to find out. Students will be using the Internet to research who the candidates are and what each stands for on particular issues. Encourage students to choose issues they think are important. The following can be used as a guide: Environment Education Health care Immigration Students need to: Summarise what each candidate’s position is on the issues. Explain the similarities and differences between the views of the Democrats and Republicans. Describe why the issues are important to them and where they stand on the same issues. Who they would choose as President with a statement supporting their choice. Students present their information in an electronic format. This can include: PowerPoint presentation Web page Animation/Short film 3 Further investigations Investigate how the candidates have used the Internet to campaign for the presidency. Write a one-minute speech arguing the importance of the US election for Australia. Create a bumper sticker that supports one of the candidates. Students can think of a slogan that will catch people’s attention. Related Research Links ABC Behind the News – US Elections story http://www.abc.net.au/news/btn/story/s2358468.htm 730 Report – Obama maintains momentum as US Election looms http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2402631.htm Children’s BBC – US Elections http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6120000/newsid_6126200/6126250.stm Children’s BBC – US Elections cyberspace battle http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7680000/newsid_7686600/7686614.stm Barack Obama official website – Issues http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ John McCain official website – Issues http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/ Nickelodeon’s Kids pick the President http://www.nick.com/kpp/ Brainpop – Presidential election information http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernmentandlaw/presidentialelection/ 4 Phone fears Mobile phone use is increasing amongst young people. But how safe are mobile phones? A recent study showed they may be particularly harmful for kids under the age of 16. EPISODE 31 TH 4 NOVEMBER 2008 Focus Questions Learning Area Mathematics, Society 1. Briefly summarise the BtN phone fears story. and Environment 2. Describe the importance of mobile phones in Australia. 3. Explain in your own words how a mobile phone works. 4. What else emits radio waves? Key learning 5. What is the health concern associated with mobile phones? Students will design 6. Why can’t scientists agree on how safe mobile phones are? a survey about 7. Why do some scientists say that children under sixteen are at increased risk? mobile phone use and 8. What do they recommend children do to use mobile phones safely? collate and present 9. Has your thinking about mobile phone safety changed after watching the BtN the data. story? Why or why not? 10. Do you think the benefits of using mobile phones outweigh the potential risks? Explain your answer. How do you use your mobile phone? Students will be designing a survey to find out how other students in their class and across the school use their mobile phone. Working in pairs, students brainstorm what key information they want to find out. They need to pose questions for the survey and determine how many students they will interview. They will also need to decide how they are going to display and represent the data (using digital/electronic technologies or other methods). Here is a possible survey structure: Reason for using a mobile phone Rank in order from Text or most to least important speaking To communicate with parents/family To communicate with friends Play games Clock/alarm Email/Internet Are you concerned that using a mobile phone may be bad for your health? (Yes/No/Comment) Self Assessment What worked well with your investigation? What might you do differently next time? 5 Further investigations Brainstorm text messaging language. What codes do people use for texting? Create a text message using code and ask another student to decipher it. Create a facts sheet about mobile phones. Create a ten question true or false quiz about mobile phones. Related Research Links ABC News – Mobile use increases child tumour risk: study http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/23/2372421.htm ABC News – Mobile phones unlikely to cause brain tumours: study http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/03/24/1880722.htm EPA Mobile phone radiation http://www.epa.sa.gov.au/basestation.html Children’s BBC – Mobile phones health fears eased http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4430000/newsid_4437500/4437511.stm Howstuffworks – How cell phones work http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone.htm 6 TRANSCRIPT 04/11/08 Episode 31 On this week's Behind the News Are kids at risk from mobile phones? Saddling up for a career on horseback. And will cane toads create havoc for pygmy crocs? Hi I'm Nathan Bazley welcome to Behind the News. Also on the show today the Facebook campaign helping a kid to battle a tough disease.