Questions for discussion
School standards
1. Discuss the issues raised in the School Standards story with another student and record the main points of your discussion.
2. Why are people concerned with Australia’s performance in subjects like science, reading and maths?
3. Who put out a report into Australia’s education system?
4. How does Gonski want to make education fairer in Australia?
5. Julia Gillard wants Australian schools to be back in the top ____ by the year ______.
6. The Prime Minister wants to make it easier to get into teaching at university. True or false?
7. About how much will the changes cost?
8. How have most people responded to the plan?
9. What aspects of the plan have been criticised?
10. What do you think about the government’s planned changes to education?
Post a message on the Behind the News Guestbook http://www.abc.net.au/btn/
Citizen Surveillance
1. Briefly summarise the BtN story.
2. What is an ISP?
3. How can online activity be monitored?
4. In what circumstances could the information collected be useful?
5. If the Government’s plan goes ahead, ISP’s and phone companies would keep information for ______years.
6. What are some concerns people have about the suggested changes?
7. What is hacking?
8. Complete the following sentence: Storing large amounts of information is expensive so internet prices will…
9. What do you think about the suggested changes?
10. Think about how your own internet use is monitored. Who currently monitors what you see/do online?
`Should the government be allowed to store the internet data of all Australians?’ Vote in the BtN online poll http://www.abc.net.au/btn/
Test your knowledge in the Citizen Surveillance quiz. Go to the BtN website and follow the links.
Anti-venom
1. What is venom?
2. Why are some animals venomous?
3. When was anti-venom first introduced in Australia?
4. Anti-venom works a bit like a ______soaking up poisonous stuff in a person’s body.
5. How is the venom from funnel-web spiders collected?
6. Complete the following sentence: To make anti-venom, small amounts of venom are injected in animals like…
7. What does the immune system produce to help make the anti-venom?
8. What unusual request did a wildlife park make recently?
9. What should children remember when it comes to venomous animals?
10. What was surprising about this story?
Write a short explanation about why some animals produce and use venom. What are the different body parts used to deliver venom?
Agriculture school
1. What was the main point of the Agriculture School story?
2. What is stopping young people from choosing a career in agriculture?
3. How might some people view a career in farming?
4. Using the images in the story, describe the sorts of things students are learning at Ag school.
5. Agriculture graduates start on very good salaries. True or false?
6. Why was agriculture tough in the 1990’s?
7. Why is the future of farming brighter these days?
8. Why is it important for people to study Agriculture?
9. How do you think people could be encouraged to study Agriculture?
10. What do you now know about studying agriculture that you didn’t know before?
Compare the reporting of the Agriculture School story with another story on BtN this week. Share your comparisons with other students.
Bushcare kids
1. What is the aim of `Bushcare Major Day Out’?
2. How do `forget-me-nots’ spread through the wildlife park?
3. What is an introduced species?
4. Why is it important to remove introduced species’?
5. The native animals like eating the weeds. True or false?
6. Name three of the worst weeds in Australia.
7. What does koala poo smell like?
8. Why is it important to get rid of the seeds as well as the plants?
9. Illustrate an aspect of the BtN story.
10. What do you understand more clearly since watching the Bushcare Kids story?
Choose an introduced (invasive) plant species and find out the impact it has on the environment.
Anti-venom
Focus Questions
1. What is venom?
2. Why are some animals venomous?
3. When was anti-venom first introduced in Australia?
4. Anti-venom works a bit like a ______soaking up poisonous stuff in a person’s body.
5. How is the venom from funnel-web spiders collected?
6. Complete the following sentence: To make anti-venom, small amounts of venom are injected in animals like…
7. What does the immune system produce to help make the anti-venom?
8. What unusual request did a wildlife park make recently?
9. What should children remember when it comes to venomous animals?
10. What was surprising about this story?
Anti venom
Watch the BtN Anti- venom story again and ask students to circle the key words as they hear them. Students then clarify their understanding of the key words by writing down what they think the word means. Swap definitions with a partner and ask them to add to or change the definition. Check them using a dictionary or other source.
Venom
Venomous
Toxins
Poisonous chemicals
Anti-venom
Milking
Antibodies
Immune system
Students can choose one or more of the following activities:
Write a short explanation about why some animals produce and use venom. What are the different body parts used to deliver venom?
Create a profile of a venomous animal.
Include information about:
Name of animal
Type of animal (eg reptile)
Physical description
Habitat
How venomous is the animal?
How does it deliver the venom?
How does venom affect our bodies? Different parts of the body react to different types of venom. For example, the venom from a funnel-web spider affects the nervous system. Find out how venom affects different body systems: Nervous, muscular, circulatory, respiratory and the skin.
How do you treat venomous bites and stings? Choose an animal and find out what the symptoms are if a person is bitten or stung, what first aid and medical treatment is needed. Students can demonstrate the information by creating a graphic, role play or power point presentation.
8 Related Research Links
ABC News – Venom shortage sparks call to hunt funnel-webs
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-02/anti-venom-shortage-sparks-call-to-catch-deadly-spider/4239024
The Venom Patrol - Interactive
http://venompatrol.info/index.html
Australian Venom Research Unit – About venom
http://www.avru.org/general/general_main.html
Australian Reptile Park – Venom production
http://www.reptilepark.com.au/about-us/research-venom/venom-production/
Australian Museum – Funnel-web Spiders
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Funnel-web-Spiders-group/
Australian Museum – Spider bites and venom
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Spider-bites-and-venoms/
Agriculture School
Focus Questions
1. What was the main point of the Agriculture School story?
2. What is stopping young people from choosing a career in agriculture?
3. How might some people view a career in farming?
4. Using the images in the story, describe the sorts of things students are learning at Ag school.
5. Agriculture graduates start of very good salaries. True or false?
6. Why was agriculture tough in the 1990’s?
7. Why is the future of farming brighter these days?
8. Why is it important for people to study Agriculture?
9. How do you think people could be encouraged to study Agriculture?
10. What do you now know about studying Agriculture that you didn’t know before?
Agriculture School
Negotiate with students how many activities they need to complete.
Summarise the story
Have students pair-up and write three or four summary statements about what they have learned watching the Agriculture School story. Then partner up two groups and share what has been written.
True or False
After watching the Agriculture School story, ask students to write three true and three false things from the story. Pass them around so others can read them and explain why they are false.
Brainstorming
In small groups, ask students to brainstorm and record three important things they have learned watching the Agriculture School story on a sheet of paper. Students can share their ideas with other class members.
Quick Quiz
Working in pairs, students write a multiple choice quiz with ten questions about the Agriculture School story or agriculture in Australia. Students can then take turns quizzing each other. Multiple choice quizzes can be submitted to Behind the News Quiz Page – Quizzes by Whizzes http://www.abc.net.au/btn/quiz.htm
Matching facts
Ask students to find a partner and collect two sheets of paper. One person in each pair writes a question about a fact from the Agriculture School story. The other person writes the answer. Place the questions in an empty hat and the answers in another one. Ask each student to pick a question or answer and then move around the room to match the questions to the corresponding answers. Once they have found the student with the corresponding answer they sit down and think of another question, which could have the same answer.
Respond to the story
Why do you think the story was chosen to be on BtN?
What do you think the producers/journalists want kids to know about the topic/issue?
Describe the main issue/message in the story.
What changes would you make to the story? Consider the words, pictures, music and graphics. Explain why you would make the changes.
Rewrite
Working in pairs or small groups, provide students with a transcript for the Agriculture School story and ask them to rewrite it for another television program or a different audience. Give them a choice about how they present their new transcript. It might be a reading or they may choose to act it out.
Compare
Ask students to compare the reporting of the Agriculture School story with another story on BtN this week. After they have made their comparisons, students can share their results.
8 Related Research Links
Behind the News – Farm Uni
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2219583.htm
ABC 730 SA – Students aiming for careers in agriculture
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-03/students-aiming-for-careers-in-agriculture/4240550
BtN: Episode 26 Transcript 11/9/12
On this week's Behind the News
· A new plan to keep track of your internet use but is it an invasion of privacy?
· We see how anti venom is made as some warn that these life-saving stocks are running low.
· And we're off to agriculture school to meet the future of the industry.
Hi I'm Nathan Bazley, welcome to Behind the News. Also on the show today, I head into the bush to learn about how we can take better care of these areas. But first today:
School Standards
Reporter: Sarah Larsen
INTRO: We're very lucky in Australia to have access to education and our schools are really good. But over the past decade Aussie schools have fallen behind some other countries. The PM has come up with a plan, which she hopes will make our school system amongst the best in the world. So what is it? Here's Sarah.
SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: We're a pretty competitive lot, Australians. No matter what the event, we like to be first or as close to first as we can get. But there's one area where Australia's falling behind the competition and it could affect the whole country. It's education.
While there are plenty of smart Aussie kids, when tests from around the world are compared Australia doesn't score as high as some other places. In reading and in science, Australia is sitting at seventh place. In maths there are twelve places where kids perform better. While that might not sound too bad the big worry is that Australia seems to be slipping behind.
KID: Considering that we were high, high up and we've got lower as the years have gone by it's kind of bad for Australia.
KID: It's sort of appalling because we're a really rich country and we should learn to do better.
KID: Because there's a lot of things a country needs maths for and to be able to trade with other countries and things you need skills in maths.
KID: I guess we can't be the best at everything but countries that are ranked high up they might not have enough jobs in their country and they might come here and they might have first choice because they've done a bit better.
While these guys reckon they've got it pretty good there are lots of schools that are struggling and most people agree that something needs to be done.
Earlier this year we told you about a report put out by this guy; David Gonski. He said education in Australia isn't as good as it should be. One big problem kids who go to schools in wealthy areas tend to do better than kids at disadvantaged schools. Gonski wanted to make this fairer by giving more money to the schools that need it the most.
Well, now the Prime Minister has responded to the report. While she's not doing everything Gonski suggested, she's announced some big changes to the way schools are funded. And she says there'll be more money for kids that need extra help.
JULIA GILLARD: By 2025 I want Australian schools to be back in the top five nations in the world that give us 13 years the time it usually takes a child to complete their primary school education.
The PM says she'll also make it harder to get into teaching at uni so only the best end up in the classroom.
JULIA GILLARD: I want all of you to join me in a crusade to change the future of our children.
It won't come cheap. The PM's changes will cost about six and a half billion dollars and she's not saying exactly where that money's going to come from. And some say 13 years is too long to wait for a better education system. Still, many say it’s a huge step in the right direction.
KID: I think it's a little bit disappointing that we haven't got that chance and the government hasn't stepped up to that sooner but it's good to think that the future will be good as well.
KID: In the long term our country is going to go very high because of this improvement but as long as the money is spent on proper education.
KID: Everyone should have a good education.
Many people are hoping that by the time you guys graduate, you'll be leaving an education system that's ahead of the race.
Presenter: Let's see what else is making the news. Here's Matt with the Wire.
The Wire
The Prime Minister got some sad news on the weekend. Her father John died while she was away in Russia for the APEC forum. World leaders gave their sympathy as she flew home to be with her family.
John Gillard moved to Australia with his family when Julia was 4 years old. She says her dad was a big inspiration to her. Mr Gillard was 83 years old.