ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)



Questions for discussion

Election Campaign

1. Before watching the BtN story, predict what you think it is going to be about.

2. In 1972 what type of campaign helped win an election?

3. Why are TV advertisements not as effective as they used to be?

4. On which TV program do you see the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader nearly every night during an election campaign?

5. What US president was praised for running a great social media campaign?

6. Why do you think social media is so useful during an election campaign?

7. List some types of social media that politicians use to help their campaigns.

8. What type of social media uses tweeting?

a. YouTube

b. Facebook

c. Twitter

9. List three strategies that are used by political leaders in their election campaigns.

10. Name the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader.

Test your knowledge in the Election Campaign quiz. Go to the BtN website and follow the links.

Solar Future

1. Do you know where the electricity in your school comes from? Discuss as a class.

2. Where does solar energy come from?

3. Where would you find solar panels?

4. What are photovoltaic cells made from?

a. Aluminium

b. Silicon

c. Neon

5. A solar panel station has just been approved to be built in what Australian town?

6. It will be the biggest station built in the Southern Hemisphere. True or false?

7. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with solar panels?

8. Describe what baseload power is.

9. In Australia 85% of the baseload power comes from what resource?

10. Do you think more people in Australia should install solar panels? Why or why not?

Check out BtN’s Solar Future teacher resource. Students will investigate the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy.

Indonesian School

1. How much do you know about Indonesia? Discuss with another student.

2. Describe some of the similarities between the two schools in the BtN Indonesian School story.

3. Indonesia is Australia’s closet neighbour. True or false?

4. Look up Australia and Indonesia using Google Maps. Compare the land size.

5. Approximately how many people live in Indonesia?

6. What percentage of Australian students are learning Indonesian at school?

a. 5%

b. 15%

c. 50%

7. Why do Australian political leaders want more students to learn Indonesian at school?

8. Why is it important to learn about other cultures?

9. What is a sister school?

10. How do the schools in the BtN Indonesia story connect with each other? What do they learn?

Should all school kids learn Indonesian? Have your say in the BtN online poll. To vote head to the BtN website

Check out BtN’s Indonesian School teacher resource. Students will develop an intercultural understanding of Australia and Indonesia by exploring the cultural traditions, values and beliefs.

Top End Boarders

1. What is boarding school?

2. What instrument did the students learn about in the Top End Boarders BtN story?

3. For the musicians it’s a chance to share some of their __________ with their classmates at school.

4. Where are Winston and Leon from? Find it using Google Maps.

5. Make some comparisons between the geography of Arnhem Land and Sydney.

6. What is the name of the Aboriginal people that live in Arnhem Land?

a. Yolngu

b. Kaurna

c. Koori

7. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of going to boarding school?

8. Arnhem Land is in a remote part of Australia. True or false?

9. How many students are taking part in the Indigenous Education Program at Scots College?

10. What Aboriginal language does Leon help teach some of the other students?

Find out more about Indigenous language around Australia. How many Indigenous languages are represented in Australia? Explore using the ABC’s interactive Indigenous Language Map.

Boccia

1. In what country are the next Paralympic Games going to be held?

2. What year are the next Paralympics going to be held?

3. Describe the sport boccia.

4. What skills do you need to play boccia?

5. What condition does Lily have?

6. How does this condition affect Lily?

7. In what decade did boccia become a Paralympic sport?

8. Boccia is a mix between what two sports?

9. What is the aim of boccia?

10. Earlier this year Lily won a ___________ medal at the National Boccia Titles.

Send a message to Lily in the Boccia story. Visit the Boccia story page and leave your comment.

Activity

Solar Future

Key Learning

Students will discover that energy (renewable and non-renewable) from a variety of sources can be used to generate electricity. Students will investigate the advantages and disadvantages of solar energy.

The Australian Curriculum

|Science / Science Understanding / Physical Sciences | |Science / Science Understanding / Earth and space sciences |

| | | |

|Energy from a variety of sources can be used to generate | |The Earth is part of a system of planets orbiting around a star (the |

|electricity (ACSSU219) | |sun) (ACSSU078) |

|[pic] | |[pic] |

|Science / Science as a Human Endeavour / Use and influence of science | |Geography / Geographical Knowledge and Understanding |

| | | |

|Science and technology contribute to finding solutions to a range of | |The classification of environmental resources and the forms that water|

|contemporary issues; these solutions may impact on other areas of | |takes as a resource(ACHGK037) |

|society and involve ethical considerations (ACSHE120) | |[pic] |

|[pic] | |The natural resources provided by the environment, and different views|

|Science / Science Understanding / Earth and space sciences | |on how they could be used sustainably (ACHGK024) |

| | |[pic] |

|Some of Earth’s resources are renewable, but others are | | |

|non-renewable (ACSSU116) | | |

|[pic] | | |

Discussion Questions

1. Do you know where the electricity in your school comes from? Discuss as a class.

2. Where does solar energy come from?

3. Where would you find solar panels?

4. What are photovoltaic cells made from?

a. Aluminium

b. Silicon

c. Neon

5. A solar panel station has just been approved to be built in what Australian town?

6. It will be the biggest station built in the Southern Hemisphere. True or false?

7. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with solar panels?

8. Describe what baseload power is.

9. In Australia 85% of the baseload power comes from what resource?

10. Do you think more people in Australia should install solar panels? Why or why not?

Activities

|What is solar energy? |

After watching the BtN Solar Future story invite students to participate in a class discussion. Find out what your students know about solar energy, what they learnt from the story and what questions they have about the topic. Hold a class discussion using the following questions and then provide students with the opportunity to conduct their own research.

Below is a list of different types of renewable and non-renewable energy. Ask students to categorise these types of energy using the table below. Students can then illustrate or find pictures to demonstrate the different types of energy and present in an interesting way.

|Solar panels |

[pic]

Students will find out if their school has solar panels. Students can conduct an interview with their principal or property manager to find out more about the solar panels in their school.

Students will collect and record the data they receive during their interview/s and then present the information in an interesting way. Consider designing a poster which educates the school community about the use of solar panels at their school. Students can present their findings in an infographic or a fast fact file. Here is an interesting infographic for inspiration

|Make your own solar oven |

Students will experiment with a solar powered oven to explore the mathematical and scientific relationship among reflection, transmission and absorption. Students will apply their knowledge to building and testing a solar oven of their own invention. Students can work individually or in small teams.

Refer to the following experiments for more information on designing and constructing solar ovens.

Use the Sun's energy to power an oven or cooker. Select design settings for a solar oven: cover, insulation and lining. Choose variables to reach different temperatures. These Scootle resources require a username and password.





Get your students involved in CSIRO’s Science by Email program! Find out more about solar energy and insulation by following this step by step pizza box solar oven experiment.

Further Investigation

Get your students involved in CSIRO’s Science by Email program! Try their hands-on solar water purifier experiment which looks at how the sun’s energy can purify water.

( Related Research Links

ABC News – Rapid uptake of solar panels puts dent in electricity market



National Geographic Education – Solar energy



Energy kids – Renewable Energy: Solar



Geoscience Australia – Solar Energy



ABC Splash – Solar Power



CSIRO – Solar power: energy from the sun



Clean Energy Council – About solar thermal energy



CSIRO Science by Email – Solar water purifier



Behind the News – Solar Cars



Behind the News – Solar Subsidies



Activity

Indonesian School

Key Learning

Students will develop an intercultural understanding of Australia and Indonesia by exploring the cultural traditions, values and beliefs. Students will develop their knowledge, skills and understandings about the histories, geographies, cultures, arts, literatures and languages of Indonesia.

The Australian Curriculum

|Geography / Geographical Knowledge and Understanding | |Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia |

| | | |

|The location of the major countries of the Asia region in relation to | |Asia and its diversity |

|Australia and the geographical diversity within the region (ACHGK031) | |Achievements and contributions of the peoples of Asia |

|[pic] | |Asia-Australia engagement |

|Geography / Geographical Inquiry and Skills / Collecting, recording, | | |

|evaluating and representing | |

| | |and-Australias-engagement-with-Asia |

|Collect and record relevant geographical data and information, | | |

|using ethical protocols, from primary and secondary sources, for | | |

|example, people, maps, plans, photographs, satellite images, | | |

|statistical sources and reports (ACHGS041) | | |

|[pic] | | |

Discussion Questions

1. How much do you know about Indonesia? Discuss with another student.

2. Describe some of the similarities between the two schools in the BtN Indonesian School story.

3. Indonesia is Australia’s closet neighbour. True or false?

4. Look up Australia and Indonesia using Google Maps. Compare the land size.

5. Approximately how many people live in Indonesia?

6. What percentage of Australian students are learning Indonesian at school?

a. 5%

b. 15%

c. 50%

7. Why do Australian political leaders want more students to learn Indonesian at school?

8. Why is it important to learn about other cultures?

9. What is a sister school?

10. How do the schools in the BtN Indonesian School story connect with each other? What do they learn?

Activities

|Indonesia profile |

Students will be researching and developing a profile on Indonesia to gain a deeper understanding of the country.

Encourage students to gather information from a variety of sources. There are some website links at the end of this activity sheet that may be useful.

Working in pairs, ask students to brainstorm what they know about Indonesia and record their responses. Using the `who, what, why, when, where and how’ framework, ask students to write questions that they would like to find the answers to. Students share their questions with the rest of the class. Discuss how the students could find answers to the questions they generate.

Refer to BtN’s Indonesia Profile teacher resource for further activities.

Indonesia Profile story –

Indonesia Profile teacher resource –

|What is meant by the term culture? |

Students will write a definition of culture in their own words and their compare with other students. Students discuss how they would describe their own culture. They should think about their food, clothing, language, architecture, social behaviour and symbols. Students can work in groups or as a whole class.

Students will then investigate and research Indonesian culture, including for example food, clothing, festivals, traditions, beliefs and religion.

Students will investigate the types of foods eaten in Indonesia and Australia and then compare. Students will then choose one or more of the following activities to complete:

• Collect Indonesian recipes and make a recipe book – include an index of common ingredients used in Indonesian cooking. Include an Indonesian translation for the ingredients listed in the index.

• Teach another class in your school how to make gado gado. Introduce yourself to the class in Indonesian. Discuss the ingredients and the appropriate etiquette for eating.

• Grow mung beans.

• Write an Indonesian restaurant menu.

• Record the similarities between growing rice and wheat.

Refer to Scootle resource A Market Somewhere to take part in a range of interactive activities.

(this link requires a username and password)

[pic]

|Learn Indonesian in your classroom |

The websites below introduce students to everyday Indonesian greetings and phrases. Teachers may like to use some of the greetings etc in their daily classroom routines (for example good morning...selamat pagi... when the students arrive at school).

Digital dialects – Indonesian Language



Languages online – Indonesian



Asia Education – Bermain and Bahasa



|Get involved! |

Get your class involved in the Australia-Indonesia BRIDGE project.

Intercultural understanding assists students to understand their own cultural traditions, values and beliefs and to engage with the experiences and ideas of others. It is a prerequisite to develop responsible local and global citizens in our interconnected world. The challenge for educators is how to best enable their students to develop intercultural understanding and how to develop their own skills and capacities to lead this work in schools. 

BRIDGE schools participate in an in-country experience alongside their Australian/Asian partner school. This experience provides deep insight into the social, cultural, historical and educational aspects of the partnership country. It provides the opportunity to build personal and professional relationships and plan for partnership activity.



( Related Research Links

Asia Education Foundation – Australia-Asia Bridge School partnerships



Global Education – Indonesia



BBC News Asia-Pacific – Indonesia Profile



Digital Dialects – Indonesian Language



Behind the News – Asian Languages



Behind the News – Indonesia Profile



BtN: Episode 22 Transcript 13/8/13

On this week's Behind the News

• Why more and more Aussies are switching to solar for their energy.

• Learning more about Indonesia through a school buddy program.

• And what's it like to be a school boarder far away from home.

Hi I'm Nathan Bazley, welcome to Behind the News. Also on the show today we meet a young athlete, who's hoping to make the Paralympics in an unusual sport. But first.

Election Campaign

Reporter: Nathan Bazley

INTRO: The Federal Election campaigns are already in full swing. Politicians will be doing everything they can between now and the election to convince people to vote for them. So what makes a good election campaign? Let's take a look.

NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: Back in the day, this TV ad was revolutionary and wildly successful. It helped this guy win a whole election. It didn't take much to impress people back then, did it?

The reason a whole lot of people singing in a dark room had such a big impact on the country, is because this was one of the first real TV campaign ads in Australia. These days, they're everywhere. If anything, people just try to get away from them!

But people don't listen to ads as closely as they used to and fewer people are watching TV anyway. So they aren't the killer campaign strategies they used to be.

But what is? Well these days, the campaign battle is fought on lots of fronts. Okay so we've already taken a look at the advertising battleground. Next, let's check out the fight over the media.

Have you ever wondered why, during an election campaign, you see the PM and Opposition Leader on the news nearly every night? Don't these people sleep?!

Well for politicians, making it to the news is like getting a whole lot of free advertising every night. That's why politicians make sure that every move they make during a campaign is followed by more cameras than the Big Brother house.

These events are all planned to make the politician look good and let them talk about whatever they want. So making it to the news can be a vote winner. Assuming you do a good job of course. That's why this battleground is a powerful, yet risky one.

Next we head to the tech battleground, the newest of the campaign fronts, where over the past few years the fight has exploded. Some have even flown in expert help. Over in the US last year, Barack Obama was praised for running a great social media campaign.

The approach was so successful, the Labor Party has hired one of the brains behind it to work the same magic on Kevin. Expect to see both sides tweeting, YouTubing, Facebooking and Instagramming their way to as many votes as possible.

Finally, the last battleground has been around since time itself. It's an oldie but can be a goodie, it's actually talking to people! Meet and greets like this are the bread and butter of a campaign. Because you can have a big impact on someone, when you're right up in their grill. That's why, despite the advances in social media, pollies will still often go door to door or wander through a shopping centre or three.

So they are three of the key battlegrounds being fought during this election campaign. It's a lot of work and takes a lot of people behind the scenes to make it happen. So expect some tired faces as this campaign draws on.

PRESENTER: Let's see what else is making the news.

Here's Tash with the Wire.

The Wire

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott have gone head-to-head in the first election debate.

KEVIN RUDD, PRIME MINISTER: We must prepare for this great economic transition to an economy where we don't have the ability to put all our eggs in one basket.

TONY ABBOTT, OPPOSITION LEADER: If any of you can remember the debate with Mr Howard in 2007, he said the exactly the same thing and the trouble is we've just got the same waffle today that we had six years ago.

Most of the debate focused on the economy. Meanwhile, Tony Abbott has taken a swipe at Kevin Rudd saying he cheated by using notes. But the PM reckons he followed the rules.

They're now both back campaigning, ahead of the Federal Election on September 7.

*****

Six people have died, after a volcano erupted in Indonesia. It happened on the small island of Palue. Rescue workers have been trying to evacuate thousands of people to safety. Many roads have been blocked by ash and rocks, which were thrown up to 2-kilometres into the air.

*****

And it's been a year since NASA's Curiosity Rover landed on Mars. To celebrate the milestone it was specially programmed to play 'Happy Birthday'. Scientists have been using Curiosity to take samples of the red planet to find out if there was once life on Mars.

Solar Future

Reporter: Sarah Larsen

INTRO: One of the big issues in the election campaign is energy. Both sides of politics are promising to help families with the rising cost of electricity and to help the environment by cutting the amount of carbon pollution in the atmosphere. But how? Well solar is one option. So Sarah takes a look at some different types of solar technology and how they could change the way we get our power.

When you flick on a switch, do you think of where that power's coming from?

SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: Here at Mawson Lakes Primary, a lot of the power down here comes from up here!

KIDS: Our school uses solar energy by putting solar panels on the roof you can see up there a little bit it's a very important role for our school because we want our school to be as ecologically friendly as possible.

These are photovoltaic cells. They're made of stuff called silicon and when the energy of the sun hits it knocks loose tiny particles called electrons. When they start to flow that's when you get electricity. Chances are you've seen plenty of them before. According to a recent report one in ten Aussies now has solar panels on their roof.

And last week the New South Wales Government approved a massive solar power station in the outback near Broken Hill. With more than a million photovoltaic cells it'll be the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Solar power is making a pretty big dent in the Aussie electricity market and it's easy to see why.

KIDS: Solar panels are good for money on the electricity bills you don't have to pay as much. They're also good for the environment because they reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

So you might wonder why all of our power doesn't come from the sun.

REPORTER: Well, there is one problem with solar panels like this; they only work while the sun is shining.

If you wanted to use them on cloudy days or at night, you'd need to store the power in a giant battery. And you'd need heaps more panels which would be really expensive. That's why in Australia most people still rely on something called base load power, electricity that's available all the time.

In Australia 85% of that comes from coal. It's relatively cheap, the country has lots of it and it can generate power all day in any weather. But what if the sun could do the same thing? This is a concentrated solar thermal power plant. It uses the sun's heat differently to solar cells.

Inside that tower is melted salt, which is really good at holding heat. Hundreds of mirrors direct the sun's heat straight at the tower, heating up the salt which can then be stored and used to boil water and turn turbines to create electricity all day long.

At the moment there's a working plant in Spain and another being built in the US. And scientists at the CSIRO are working on perfecting the technology for Australian conditions. There's been a big push to build one here in Port Augusta in South Australia. Locals reckon it could replace these coal power stations which provide electricity to almost half the state. But it would cost billions of dollars. And as yet, no-one has been able to find the funds.

Still, many see solar as a big part of Australia's energy future, whether collected in sunny outback or on city rooftops, and they hope that one day sunshine can power even more of our lives.

Quiz 1

OK, let's have a quiz about the sun.

The question is:

What is the closest planet to the Sun?

Mercury

Saturn

Venus

Answer: Mercury

Mercury is about 58 million kilometres from the Sun. Toasty.

Indonesia

Reporter: Nathan Bazley

INTRO: Back to earth now, we're going to find out more about one of our nearest neighbours, Indonesia. One Aussie class has decided to buddy up with an Indonesian school so they can learn more about each other. So how did it work? Our Indonesian reporter Erwin, visited both schools to find out.

ERWIN, REPORTER: This is MIN Cempaka Putih Primary School in Indonesia.

And this is Marlborough Primary School in Melbourne. They're two schools that probably look like they wouldn't have much in common. They wear very different uniforms, speak very different languages and they're separated by thousands of kilometres.

They couldn't possibly know much about each other could they?

ERWIN: Hi my name is Erwin and I grew up here in Indonesia. But these days, I spend lots of time in Australia as a reporter. So I know a lot about the relationship between Indonesia and Australia. But how much do kids know about it?

But before we get to that, first, let me tell you a little bit more about my home country. Indonesia is one of Australia's closest neighbours. The countries are only separated by a few hundred kays.

But although much smaller in size, Indonesia has ten times as many people living there around 240 million. That makes it a huge country that's right near Australia. So you'd think it would be a big focus in Australian schools.

But fewer Australian kids are studying Indonesian than in the past. The leaders of both countries want this reversed, because they say a strong relationship between Australia and Indonesia is vital. And here's one way they're going about it.

Marlborough and MIN Cempaka Putih are sister schools, meaning they catch up online and learn more about each other.

TEACHER: The aim is just to build a bridge between the two countries, so to try to have connections between the two countries, learn about each other’s culture, and really the most important thing is to make connections with the people and see how they're so similar to us. Rather than looking for differences we're looking for similarities.

They've even dropped in for visits!

TEACHER: Over here this was one of our favourite moments.

ERWIN: Oh the look very scared! What is it about?

TEACHER: Well they're probably terrified because that's their first sample of tasting vegemite.

ERWIN: And many of them were very disgusted! Look at this girl!

TEACHER: One of the students ran out of the room and was spitting!

This week is hobbies week, where two kids from each school will show off their skills over Skype.

First up was Claire on the keyboard. Then Kyle showed off his amazing soccer skills. Then it was over to Indonesia to meet Jasmine and Kujang. Jasmine started off with some traditional dancing. Before Kujang gave an impressive karate demonstration. The kids say that catching up like this reminds them that they're not that different after all.

KYLE: I think it's good because when we do our hobbies to them, they can do their hobbies with us. And it's similar hobbies, like they did dancing and karate and I did soccer and Claire did the piano.

CLAIRE: The connection between Australia and Indonesia is growing thicker and thicker and most people are going across and doing exchange programs and it's really good that we're doing that.

KYLE: I think it's a good country. We need to learn more about it.

And having a sister school looks like a fun way to do it!

PRESENTER: Great report. Thanks Erwin! OK let's make that our poll this week.

Online Poll

The question is:

Should all schoolkids learn Indonesian?

To vote just head to our website. Last week we asked you if smacking children should be banned.

75% said yes it should be banned. And 25% thought it shouldn't. Thanks for voting

Top End Boarders

Reporter: Sarah Larsen

INTRO: Around Australia there are lots of kids who go to boarding school. If you're one of them you'll know that it can be kind of scary but fun too. At one of Sydney's oldest and most respected schools there are 17 boarders who are studying a long way from home. They see it as a chance to get the best education possible and become role models for their communities. Here's Sarah.

SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: Here in one of Sydney's oldest schools kids are listening to what could be the world's oldest wind instrument.

For the musicians it's a chance to share some of their culture with their classmates here at The Scots College.

Winston and Leon are from Arnhem Land, the area here at the top of the Northern Territory where their Yolgnu ancestors have lived for tens of thousands of years.

Coming to boarding school in Sydney was a huge change.

LEON: It's different here, big change, big cities, at Arnhem Land, just little houses and little community, about 200 houses and Sydney is big, bigger, very big.

But it was also a chance for a good education, something many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids miss out on. When it comes to school the statistics show a big gap between indigenous and non-indigenous kids. Only around half as many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids finish school and in remote places like Arnhem Land it can be hard to get a good education.

FIONA MARIKA, WINSTON'S MOTHER: There's a lot of bad issues in the community that I didn't want my son to get involved in and see and yeah I just wanted my son to be away and what's best for him, for his life when he grows up.

Winston's mum lives here on the Gove Peninsula and while it's sad for the family to be apart, she reckons boarding school will give Winston opportunities he wouldn't have at home.

WINSTON: I wanted to make my Mum proud for coming here and wanted me to get out of the place because there was a lot of things happening that my Mum didn't want me to do there. She wanted me to come to this school and get a better education, get good life, get a good future.

The Scots College has 17 students in its Indigenous Education Program. Their school fees are paid for partly by the government and partly by the parents of other children. For them it's a chance to help these guys and to give their own kids a chance to learn about indigenous culture.

JONNY SAMENGO, EXECUTIVE OFFICER, INDIGENOUS EDUCATION AT THE SCOTS COLLEGE: The boys adore those indigenous boys the boys have taken to their hearts completely and become great friends with them and they are enormously respected

LEON: I got plenty of friends they like me I teach Yolngu language they know my Yolngu name and they're my best friends

Like every student at Scots the boys are expected to work hard and achieve big things. And these guys reckon they're up to the challenge.

LEON: So I'll get more education and get better at English. And learn different types so I can speak proud and can't shame for like speaking in front of, in front of lots of people, 1000 people. So I can just be like top boy in Arnhem Land.

WINSTON: When I finish school I'd probably like to go to university. I want to become a mechanic or learn how to fly a plane.

The hope is that these guys will go on to be leaders and role models for other kids.

WINSTON: I would love to go back home get the younger boys to come to this school so they can get a better education and better work when they grow up and I would also like to help out with the community stop the bad things in the community.

OK, time for the latest sports headlines in the Score.

The Score

The fastest man in the world Usain Bolt has won the world 100-metres title in Moscow. Just two years ago, he was disqualified after false starting. But this time around Bolt finished the race in 9-point-7-7 seconds to claim the title.

***

This sport isn't for the faint-hearted! Some of the world's strongest men and women have competed in the National Powerlifting Championships in Tasmania. Powerlifting is similar to weightlifting but only has 3 categories, the bench press, dead lift and squat.

FIRAS, POWERLIFTER: It's never you versus the other lifters, it's you versus a bar. So even your stiffest competition could be right there yelling his head off for you to get that lift.

Competitors are so strong they can lift up to 5 times their bodyweight.

***

And the world's largest fun run The City to Surf was back for another year in Sydney. Eighty-five thousand people took part in the event and some of the younger runners put the older ones to shame.

KID: It was fun. Had to wait for mummy a long time though.

Ben Moreau from England took out the race in 41 mins and 47 seconds. More than 3-and-a-half million dollars was raised for Australian charities.

Boccia

Reporter: Natasha Thiele

INTRO: The Paralympic Games in Brazil might still be three years away but athletes are already training hard to make the Aussie squad. One of those athletes is a 14-year old girl from Tasmania who plays a sport called 'boccia'. What's that? Tash went to find out.

NATASHA THIELE, REPORTER: It's a game that requires precision, concentration, determination and patience. And Lily has all those skills going for her in the sport of Boccia.

LILY: I'd been looking for a sport for ages that I could actually do and then boccia came along and I can do it and I love doing it.

Lily has a condition called spinal muscular atrophy. She's never been able to walk and she's been in a wheelchair since she was a toddler. But that hasn't stopped her from playing boccia.

It's played in more than 50 countries around the world and it became a Paralympics sport in the 1980s. It's a bit of a mix between lawn bowls and bocce. And the aim is to get as close to the white ball or jack as possible. People with similar disabilities compete against each other and those who can't throw the ball like Lily use a ramp.

LILY: It's not just aiming up for the white ball, you don't really know what your competitor is going to do next shot, so it's always good to get your good shot in first.

She has someone helping her move the ramp, but they can't help aim.

KEVIN FAULKNER, COACH: The ramp assistant has to face, has to have their back to the game at all times they cannot ask the athlete any questions, what it comes down to is the athlete is in control.

Lily's ramp assistant is her dad Mark.

MARK KELLY, LILY'S DAD: Every time the ball goes down the ramp you just want to go and have a look but you're not allowed to look, not allowed to speak.

Lily's done pretty well in the sport since taking up boccia 2 years ago. She was soon spotted by the Australian Paralympics Committee and put in a training program. And earlier this year she won a silver medal at the national boccia titles. But her sights are firmly on Brazil for the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games in 2016.

LILY: I would like to go to the Rio Games, but more competition before that happens.

KEVIN FAULKNER: From when she started playing two years ago to now, her understanding of the game, strategically and competitively, she's got that glint in her eye when she's playing that she's here to win and do her best.

Her coach Kevin hopes to see boccia played by more kids, who can't take part in other sports. He's been going around to schools showing them how to play the game.

KEVIN FAULKNER: My goal is just basically to give people with disabilities the opportunity to play sport, if I find a person who goes on to be a Paralympian yippee, if I find a person who plays socially every week yippee as well.

And that might mean more young players like Lily having fun in a sport they enjoy and perhaps one day competing against the world's best!

Closer

That's it for the show. You can jump onto our website if you want to get more info on any of the stories. You can send us your comments and don't forget to vote in this week's poll. I'll see you next time.

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Episode 22

13th August 2013

Episode 22

13th August 2013

Discussion questions

• Where does solar energy come from?

• How does life on Earth depend on the sun’s energy? Think about plants, animals and humans.

• How do you use the sun?

1.

Research questions

• What types of energy can solar energy be turned into?

• Is solar energy a renewable or non-renewable energy source?

• Solar energy is a sustainable resource. What does this mean?

• Research the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy.

• What are the benefits of solar energy?

• Can you list any other types of renewable energy?

Questions for class discussion and further research

• What are solar panels used for?

• What colour are solar panels? Why?

• How do solar panels work? Describe and then illustrate the process.

• What are the best locations for solar panels?

• Should we have solar panels on top of all our buildings?

• What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of solar panels?

• What do you think the future is of solar energy? (Refer to this ABC news story to help with your predictions).

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Interview questions

• Where are the solar panels located? Draw a map of your school and include the location of the solar panels.

• How many solar panels are there?

• How much electricity do the solar panels generate?

• How much did the solar panel system cost?

• How long will it take for the solar panel system to pay for itself?

Research

• What shape will your oven be? Find out what shape best captures the sun’s energy.

• Will your oven have insulation? How does insulation increase the temperature?

• What direction will it face?

• What colour will the surface of the oven be (white, black or reflective)? Consider that some colours reflect heat while others absorb it.

Episode 22

13th August 2013

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