spacex success!jerryclayacademy.wakefield.sch.uk/wp-content/... · who get free school meals....

Sea Creature Builds Home out of Snot! p.12

Marcus Rashford Campaigns for Kids’ Meals. p.4

Sloth Robot Will Watch At-Risk Animals. p.10

Last month, NASA and SpaceX launched astronauts from the US for the first time in 10 years! Find out more inside. p.6

SpaceX Success!

July 2020

visit twinkl.comJuly 2020 | Monthly News

Thunberga Greta

Note from the Editor

Dear Reader, Have you been enjoying the Sun? It’s been getting warmer and sunnier this month and hopefully you’ve had a chance to get out in it!

This last month has brought many changes. Some of you might have gone back to school for the first time in a while. If you’re learning from home, you might have had the chance to get out and see some people again — from a safe distance of course!

Whatever you’ve been up to, Twinkl NewsRoom is here to share some exciting news from across the world. We’ve got news stories which will send you up in space and down to the deepest parts of the oceans.

In fact, we’ve got a story about the first person to do both of those things! Check out our report on Kathy Sullivan and her amazing achievements.

We’ve also got a few rather different football stories! From the incredible work of Marcus Rashford to the ways people are remembering footballing superstar Lily Parr, footballers have been busy making the news.

So sit back, relax and enjoy some of the fascinating (and sometimes completely bizarre) news stories we’ve covered this month.

EditorJon

Animal of the month This newly discovered species of spider was named after climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg! Spider expert Peter Jaeger named the spider after Greta because of her commitment to the fight against climate change.

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Daily News

Marcus Rashford, the talented Manchester United and England footballer, has persuaded the government to provide children with vouchers over the summer who get free school meals.

Currently, some children receive free meals when in school. However, during lockdown, these children’s families have been given vouchers to buy food at shops instead.

At first, the government was going to stop giving out these vouchers during the summer holidays.

When Marcus Rashford heard this, he decided to take action. He wrote a letter to all MPs in parliament. He wanted them to make sure that those in need could get help during the summer holidays too.

In his letter, he asked MPs to think again about their “decision to cancel the food voucher scheme over the summer.”

After they received Marcus’ letter, the government changed its mind. The vouchers will now be available over the summer during the holidays.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he thanked Marcus Rashford for “what he had done,” during a phone call with him. Manchester United, his team, posted online that he was “A hero.”

This is not the only action that Marcus Rashford has been taking. So far, Marcus has helped the charity FareShare to raise almost £20 million.

The money has been used to feed schoolchildren that get free school meals.

Footballer Campaigns for Kids’ Meals

Glossary

government Group of people who run a country.

MPs Members of the UK parliament, elected to represent their area.

parliament Where laws for a country are debated and passed.

scheme A big plan to deal with something.

Who is Marcus Rashford?

• Marcus Rashford is a professional footballer.

• He plays football for England and Manchester United.

Illustration: Marcus Rashford.

Marcus Rashford

19th June 2020Politics UK News

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Write to Your MP About Something Important to You

Dear

Congratulations on your successful election. As one of your constituents I would like to introduce myself.

My name is

I would like to know what you are planning to do about

This issue is important to me because

I think you should

Yours sincerely,

visit twinkl.com of 20


Write to Your MP About Something Important to You

Dear

Congratulations on your successful election. As one of your constituents I would like to introduce myself.

My name is

I would like to know what you are planning to do about

This issue is important to me because

I think you should

Yours sincerely,



Daily News

It is an exciting time for space fans at the moment. A new era of space flight is underway.

Last month, NASA and SpaceX launched astronauts from the US for the first time in almost ten years.

Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were the crew on the spaceship. They travelled at about 17 000mph to the International Space Station (ISS).

They will stay on the ISS helping to carry out scientific studies. They think this could take up to four months. It means they will eat, sleep and work on the ISS in space.

After their mission, the astronauts will go back to the spaceship. It will undock from the space station, return home and splash down in the ocean not far from where they took off.

This is a huge step in current space flight and future space travel.

It is the first time a commercial company has blasted humans into space using its own rocket.

It also will help with ‘‘future missions to

the Moon, Mars, and beyond,” according to the SpaceX website.

This is a big step because humans have never set foot on Mars. There has also only ever been six manned missions to the Moon. Apollo 17 was the last, way back in 1972.

The success of this launch means that companies like SpaceX are on track to return people to the Moon by 2024.

With more missions exploring space, who knows where we will be able to travel to in the future?

SpaceX Launch Astronauts to ISS

Glossary

era A long and significant period of history.

ISS A space station that orbits the Earth which astronauts can live on.

undock Detach from another craft in space.

commercial company

A company that is organised to make money.

Why did they launch from Florida?

• Florida is on the east coast of the USA.

• If rockets launch easterly over the Atlantic ocean, they get a boost from the Earth’s spin.

Illustration: SpaceX spaceship.

SpaceX Success

2nd June 2020Science World News



SpaceX say they want to launch missions to ‘the Moon, Mars and beyond.’ Other space programmes are working to land astronauts on the Moon and are also exploring whether they could land people on Mars. Should they send astronauts to Mars?

Let’s Debate! Should We Send Astronauts to Mars?

TheQuestion

Space exploration is all about discovery. We learn new things about our galaxy, our planet and ourselves. Sending people to Mars is the next step. The discoveries and new technology could help us here on Earth, and we could learn new things about this amazing planet.

Yes!

Space travel costs a lot of money, especially to go to somewhere as far away as Mars. We could instead spend the money on schools, hospitals and things we need here.

No!

What do you think? Write your opinion underneath!

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Daily News

Lily Parr, the top footballer, will be honoured with her own gallery in the National Football Museum, in Manchester.

Lily Parr was one of the first paid female footballers. She played between 1919 and 1951.

In her footballing career, she scored a massive 986 goals. That’s more than Ronaldo or Messi!

She was the superstar of her time. She played in the first women’s matches against other countries. Her team, Dick, Kerr Ladies, played for England and beat France 4-0!

Women’s football was once more popular than men’s. In 1920, 53,000 people went to see her team play. This changed in 1921 when the FA banned women from playing on their pitches. This ban lasted until 1971!

A statue of Lily Parr was revealed in the National Football Museum in Manchester a year ago. Now, there will be a gallery opening celebrating her life.

Lily Parr’s statue was the first of a female footballer! The FA say that there are 110 statues of male footballers.

Belinda Scarlett, the curator of the gallery, said that Lily’s influence ‘‘is highly significant and under-represented.’’

Hopefully, shining a light on Lily and her amazing achievements could just inspire the next football superstar of the future.

Footballing Legend Gets Gallery

Glossary

gallery A room or rooms in a museum.

career A job or occupation taken for a significant amount of time.

FA Football Association — the body which governs the rules of football in England.

curator A person who is in charge of what goes in a gallery.

Who was Lily Parr?

• Lily Parr was a professional footballer who played for over 30 years.

• She was the first woman to be featured in the Football Hall of Fame.

Illustration: Lily Parr scored 986 goals in her career. Lily Parr

8th June 2020Sport UK News



Design Your Own Football Strip

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Daily News

When you think of a robot ... I’d guess that you don’t think of a sloth?

Yet, that’s what the robotics engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, thought of.

They have built a robot inspired by these very slow-moving animals.

“SlothBot embraces slowness,” said professor Magnus Egerstedt. It is designed to be “slow and hyper-energy efficient”.

The funny-looking shell protects the solar-powered equipment inside. It can track temperature, weather, and carbon dioxide levels.

The robot is programmed to avoid moving if possible. But, it will search out sunlight when its batteries need recharging.

They know that it may look a bit silly. But, they hope it will do a better job than a land-based robot.

These might scare away or damage the species they are trying to watch, or get stuck on bushes, roots or rocks.

The SlothBot is about a metre long and currently hangs from a 30m long wire in the Atlanta Botanical Garden, USA. The engineers chose to put SlothBot there to show off their idea to adults and children who go to the garden. Professor Magnus Egerstedt hopes that the SlothBot “will get an entirely new generation interested in what robotics can do to make the world better.”

SlothBot Built to Watch Animals!

Glossary

embrace To accept or welcome something.

solar-powered Using energy from the sun’s rays to make electricity.

programmed A set of instructions that a computer follows in order to perform a task.

generation A group of people who are of a similar age.

What are sloths?

• Sloths are furry mammals that live in the rainforests of Central and South America.

• Sloths spend 15 to 20 hours a day asleep.

Illustration: SlothBotRobot Sloth

26th June 2020Technology World News



rainforest

habitat

canopy

understory

layer

tropical

endangered

deforestation

climate

tribe

ecosystem

creatures

sustainable

rainfall

Rainforestq d u l z e b i r t n l o d

r s t r o p i c a l s p t z

e d e f o r e s t a t i o n

y w v c l i m a t e i i p h

a g t z x i t a d t c i q t

l c b y r o t s r e d n u s

z w s u s t a i n a b l e e

h q n c r e a t u r e s c r

a p z h a b i t a t i i q o

x r a i n f a l l u p g d f

f l y e n d a n g e r e d n

a t c a n o p y v v b y n i

w g k z f h o l i p f a t a

b l e a m e t s y s o c e r

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Daily News

Giant larvaceans use their own mucus (snot!) to make their homes. A team of scientists from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute think these structures could help people make better 3D printers.

Giant larvaceans use their mucus to inflate ‘snot palaces’ around themselves which can measure up to almost a metre.

The creature, though, isn’t that giant. It’s really quite small. They are only a little over 10cm long and look a bit like see-through tadpoles.

If the little larvaceans were the size of a person, these balloons of mucus would be the size of a five-story home!

These ‘snot palaces’ are so flimsy they can’t be studied on land. Instead, the team used lasers mounted to an underwater robot to help them look more closely at the animals. By finding out how the little animals do it, we might be able to design homes on the Moon or Mars.

“It could be the most kind of complex structure that an animal makes,” said the leader of the study Kakani Katija. Adding “It’s pretty astonishing that a single animal is able to do it.”

When the ‘snot palace’ gets clogged up, they discard it and build a new one. This happens every day or two.

So what happens to their big snotty homes? Well, they get eaten by other marine animals… yuck!

Scientist Examine ‘Snot Palaces’

Glossary

inflate Increase something by a large amount like a balloon fills with air.

mounted Fixed on to something else.

clogged up Blocked so that little or nothing can pass through.

discard Get rid of or throw away.

What are giant larvaceans?

• Giant larvaceans are sea creatures that look almost see-through.

• They are around 10cm long and are famous for building their own homes using mucus.

Illustration: A giant larvacean.

‘Snot Palaces’

22nd June 2020Animals World News



Gooey Gelatine Snot Slime

You will need:3 sachets of unflavoured gelatine

120ml glucose (corn) syrup

120ml water

food colouring (optional)

Instructions:1. Pour 120ml boiling water into a bowl. Tip: this part will have to be done by an adult

for safety.

2. Slowly, add the gelatine to the bowl and mix with a fork. Leave to stand for five minutes.

3. In another bowl, measure out 120ml of the glucose syrup. Mix in a few drops of food colouring here if desired – green works especially well if you want an ogre’s snot-coloured slime!

4. Slowly, add the gelatine mixture to the glucose syrup and stir until it reaches the consistency of snot.

5. Now have fun with this snotty, runny, gooey, gloopy, sensory slime!

We hope the information on our website and resources is useful. However, some ingredients and/or materials used might cause allergic reactions, so if you have

any concerns about your own or somebody else’s health or wellbeing, always speak to a qualified health professional. Remember, activities listed within the

resource should always be supervised by an appropriate adult.



Daily News

Over 550 people have been into space; only eight have been to Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the ocean. Now, though, Kathy Sullivan has become the first person to do both!

Kathy Sullivan used to be an astronaut. She recently went down to Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean. It’s the deepest point in the world’s oceans!

She was only the eighth person to ever reach the deepest part of the ocean and she was also the first woman to do so.

Kathy slowly went down for almost 11 000m into the Mariana Trench.

That is so deep that you could hide the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, in it.

You wouldn’t see the mountain, though. Its peak would still be more than 2km below the waves.

The journey down took around four hours. But, she couldn’t stay for long because of the enormous water pressure down there. At that

depth, it is like having 2200 tonnes of force pushing down on their small submersible.

So how does it feel to have been in space and visited the deepest point? Kathy said, it was “a once in a lifetime day, seeing the moonscape of the Challenger Deep and then comparing notes with my colleagues on the ISS [International Space Station]”.

This is because, when Kathy made it back to the ship, she put in a call… to the International Space Station!

Kathy Sullivan Visits Deepest Point

Glossary

trench A deep area of an ocean.

peak The pointed top of a mountain.

water pressure The force that the weight of water puts on an object as it goes deeper.

submersible A small craft designed to operate under water.

What is the Mariana Trench?

• The Mariana Trench is a crescent-shaped trench in the Pacific Ocean.

• The deepest known point in it is called Challenger Deep.

Illustration: Kathy Sullivan.

Record Breaker

17th June 2020Inspirational World



Questions1. How long did it take for the submersible to reach the deepest point in the ocean?

2. When Kathy said “A once in a lifetime day, seeing the moonscape of the Challenger Deep and then comparing notes with my colleagues on the ISS”, what do you think she meant by the word ‘moonscape’? Tick one.

She means that she has been to the Moon. She means that the bottom of the Mariana Trench is made of cheese. She means that the Mariana Trench is on the Moon. She means that the bottom of the Mariana Trench looks like the Moon’s surface.

3. Tick to say whether each statement is true or false. True False

The Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall.Kathy Sullivan still works as an astronaut.Kathy Sullivan was the first person to reach Challenger Deep.Kathy Sullivan was the first woman to reach Challenger Deep.

4. Reread the paragraph beginning ‘The journey down...’ Find and copy a word that means the same as ‘large’.

5. Why do you think Kathy Sullivan phoned the International Space Station?

6. Write a summary of the story in 20 words or fewer.

Record Breaker

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Daily News

Scientists found a strange rhythm given off by a supermassive black hole. It has continued like a heartbeat for more than ten years.

Across almost the whole universe, you’re unlikely to find anything as mysterious as a black hole!

Black holes have such immense gravity that they suck everything towards them. Even light.

No light can escape a black hole which makes them invisible. The only way we know about them is by studying light and objects near them.

Scientists believe that as the black hole sucks matter towards itself, it pulses like a heartbeat. When this happens, it releases a huge burst of energy.

This burst of energy is repeating every hour.

Which begs the question… what is it eating?

The team is hoping that they can work out what is near the black hole. They also want

to see how it compares to other black holes closer to home.

Luckily for them, the closest ever black hole to Earth was discovered only a few weeks ago.

It is 1000 light-years from Earth. Although this sounds far away, it dances with two stars that can be seen from Earth without a telescope.

Scientists Record Black Hole Pulse

Glossary

gravity The force by which a planet or other body draws objects toward its centre.

immense Extremely large or great.

matter Everything that has mass and takes up space.

light-year The distance that light travels in one year (nearly 6 million million miles).

How are black holes made?

• When some stars die, they collapse in on themselves in a spectacular explosion. This is called a supernova.

• As the the stars fall in on themselves, the gravity created is so strong that it sucks everything nearby into it.

Illustration: A black hole.

Black Hole Heartbeat

12th June 2020Science World News



Answer Pages

Rainforest

rainforest

habitat

canopy

understory

layer

tropical

endangered

deforestation

climate

tribe

ecosystem

creatures

sustainable

rainfall

q d u l z e b i r t n l o d

r s t r o p i c a l s p t z

e d e f o r e s t a t i o n

y w v c l i m a t e i i p h

a g t z x i t a d t c i q t

l c b y r o t s r e d n u s

z w s u s t a i n a b l e e

h q n c r e a t u r e s c r

a p z h a b i t a t i i q o

x r a i n f a l l u p g d f

f l y e n d a n g e r e d n

a t c a n o p y v v b y n i

w g k z f h o l i p f a t a

b l e a m e t s y s o c e r

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Answer Pages Answers1. How long did it take for the submersible to reach the deepest point in the ocean?

It took around four hours.




The Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall.

Kathy Sullivan still works as an astronaut.

Kathy Sullivan was the first person to reach Challenger Deep.

Kathy Sullivan was the first woman to reach Challenger Deep.

4. Reread the paragraph beginning ‘The journey down...’ Find and copy a word that means the same as ‘large’. enormous

5. Why do you think Kathy Sullivan phoned the International Space Station? Accept any answer that refers to the fact that she was an astronaut or that she became the first person to go into space and to visit Challenger Deep, e.g. I think she phoned the International Space Station because she used to be an astronaut.

6. Write a summary of the story in 20 words or fewer. Accept an answer of 20 words or fewer which includes the main facts from the story. E.g. Kathy Sullivan has become the only person to go to space and visit Challenger Deep.

Record Breaker

visit twinkl.com

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Answers1. How long did it take for the submersible to reach the deepest point in the ocean?

It took around four hours.




The Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall.

Kathy Sullivan still works as an astronaut.

Kathy Sullivan was the first person to reach Challenger Deep.

Kathy Sullivan was the first woman to reach Challenger Deep.

4. Reread the paragraph beginning ‘The journey down...’ Find and copy a word that means the same as ‘large’. enormous

5. Why do you think Kathy Sullivan phoned the International Space Station? Accept any answer that refers to the fact that she was an astronaut or that she became the first person to go into space and to visit Challenger Deep, e.g. I think she phoned the International Space Station because she used to be an astronaut.

6. Write a summary of the story in 20 words or fewer. Accept an answer of 20 words or fewer which includes the main facts from the story. E.g. Kathy Sullivan has become the only person to go to space and visit Challenger Deep.

Record Breaker

visit twinkl.com


Not every news story you see shared online can be trusted! Look at these news stories – one is completely made up! Can you spot the fake news story? Can you tell your fact from your fiction – your news from your nonsense?

Think about it carefully, which news story can’t be trusted?

Did you spot it? Why do you think that news story can’t be trusted?

Fake NewsQuiz

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