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FirstNews Questions 1st - 7th Mar 2013
Issue 350
Resource Explanation
A set of discussion questions for each of the four simplified stories to engage children and ensure understanding. The questions ask pupils to identify key
facts, interpret the information in the story and look at how the article has been written. They therefore cover a balance of AF2 - 7 type questions to provide
assessment opportunities.
This week’s four stories
You will need to download this week’s simplified stories:
l Dolphins have names
FirstNews
Issue 350
FirstNews
8th - 14th March 2013
What do you think these
dolphins are called?
Experts have been listening to the sounds
that bottlenose dolphins make. Dolphins
don’t use words, they make whistles and
clicks to ‘talk’ to each other.
The experts found out that dolphins have
names. Instead of being called Jack or Katy,
each dolphin has its own special whistle.
Other dolphins use this whistle to call to
them.
Dolphins are the only animals known to
use names, other than us.
Experts are now trying to find a way to make this
part of the sea safe and less noisy for the whales.
www.FirstNews.co.uk
Space slime?
North Atlantic
Learning through news
Issue 350
What is a meteorite?
this is a lump of rock and metal which zooms around
space and sometimes comes crashing to earth.
www.FirstNews.co.uk
Learning through news
Just The Job
What I do
I am a model maker, so it’s my job to make the puppets that you see on
screen. I get to make everything from sheep to pirates, Wallace and Gromit,
and even talking fish! I also get to travel around the country running modelmaking workshops. It’s great! I get to play for a living!
What I love about my job
I love the variety! Some days are spent sanding sheep legs and mixing paint.
On other days I can be sculpting beards on pirates or putting spines on a
porcupine. I also get to work with lots of interesting people who show me
what the puppets need to do.
At this time of year, frogs are spawning. This means they are
laying their jelly-like eggs, called frogs spawn in ponds. If frogs
get disturbed when they are spawning, they can hop off before
the spawning is finished. This leaves clear jelly in the pond
instead of the black-spotted eggs we’re used to seeing. The
picture shows what normal frogs spawn looks like.
The space slime idea is great fun, but the expert’s answer
makes more sense! What do you think?
8th - 14th March 2013
Meet model maker Jim
“WhAT do you want to be when you grow up?” Lots of people will
ask you this question as you get older and you probably won’t
know the answer! This week, First News talks to Jim Parkyn to find
out about his job. Jim is a model maker. he works for the company
which makes fantastic animated programmes like
Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit.
It turns out that the answer to the mystery is not quite so
exciting or dramatic. Experts think the source of the slime is
probably just a frog.
Whales need to be able
to hear each other
Issue 350
FOCUS ON YOU
When gloopy slime was found at a nature reserve in Somerset,
some people thought it might have come from space. It was
found in the same week that lots of shooting stars were seen in
the sky and when a huge meteorite crashed in Russia.
Could this strange slime have come from space too?
Ships like these
make lots of noise
FirstNews
8th - 14th March 2013
HELP BOX
A mySteriouS slimy substance which was found at
a nature reserve is most likely frog slime, not space
slime!
Many whales live in a part of the sea which
is also very busy with ships. Ships often follow
the same path across the sea. These are called
shipping lanes. Shipping lanes are like roads on
the sea. They stop ships crashing into each other.
This is useful, but it does mean you can get lots of
ships using the same small area of sea. The ships
are very noisy and this is causing problems for the
whales.
Dolphins can hear these whistles from a
long way away. This means that if they get
lost they can call out their friends’ names
and find each other again.
FirstNews
8th - 14th March 2013
The noise from ships in the North Atlantic
is upsetting whales.
Whales use sound to talk to each other and find
food. Being able to hear is more important to a
whale than looking, smelling, tasting or touching.
The noise from the ships makes it hard for whales
to find food and find each other. The ships can
also be dangerous. They have sometimes hit
whales by accident.
l Just the job
CRAZY BUT TRUE
Too much noise
dolphins have names
Learning through news
Issue 350
l Space slime?
ANIMAL NEWS
ANIMALS
A study of dolphins has discovered
that they use names to call each
other, just like humans.
l Too much noise
Could this slime have come from space?
www.FirstNews.co.uk
Where to start
The best piece of advice to anyone who would like to work in animation is
keep playing. I played with modelling clay as a child and never really stopped!
Learning through news
Jim creates
the models for
TV shows like
Wallace and
Gromit
HELP BOX
What is animation?
Animation is when you take lots of pictures of models and
put them together to make a video. Each time you take
a picture, you move the model just a tiny bit. When the
pictures are put together it looks like the model is moving!
www.FirstNews.co.uk
Linked activities
l Guided reading: Can be used as a guided reading activity independently, in pairs or as an adult led discussion.
l Literacy starter: As a whole class, read one story and discuss the related questions for a five minute literacy starter activity.
l Wider reading: Give pupils all four stories and let them choose which story they are going to answer the questions on to help develop pupils’ personal
reading choices.
www.FirstNews.co.uk
FirstNews
FirstNews Discussion Questions
Dolphins have names
1) Which sort of dolphin is this article about?
river dolphin
FirstNews
Issue 350 1st - 7th Mar 2013
black dolphin
FirstNews Discussion Questions
Too much noise
1) Which animal is this story about?
whales
bottlenose dolphin
dolphins
turtles
2) Which sense is most important to a whale?
2) What have experts been studying?
sight
taste
touch
hearing
smell
the way they swim
the sounds they make
what they eat
3) Do dolphins really ‘talk’ to each other?
4) What does a dolphin name sound like?
3) Why are the whales getting upset?
5) The people who found out that dolphins have names are called
‘experts’. What do you think an expert is?
4) What do whales use sounds for?
6) Why is it useful for dolphins to be able to call each others names?
7) What two animals use names to call each other?
8) Think of three people who call your name out loud. Why do they call
your name? What do they want?
5) What do you call the path that ships follow across the sea?
shipping lane
boat path
ship motorway
6) What words has the writer used to show the ships didn’t hit whales on
purpose?
7) What do the experts want to do now they realise the whales are unhappy?
8) Can you think of a way to help the whales? How could you make this part of
the sea less noisy?
Learning through news
Issue 350 1st - 7th Mar 2013
www.FirstNews.co.uk/teachers
Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk/teachers
FirstNews
FirstNews Discussion Questions
Space slime?
school
Shropshire
nature reserve
a
back garden
FirstNews Discussion Questions
Just the job
Sussex
Somerset
He writes stories
He makes models
a satellite
Shaun the Sheep
Thomas the Tank Engine
Pingu
Wallace and Gromit
a meteorite
3) Why did people think it might have come from space?
4) Find three words which have been used to describe the slime.
5) Why is ‘gloopy’ such a good word to describe the slime. What do you
imagine when you read the words ‘gloopy slime’?
6) What are a frog’s eggs called?
frogs spawn
He draws pictures
2) You might have seen some of Jim’s models. Which of these has Jim
worked on:
2) What crashed in Russia last week?
an aeroplane
Issue 350 1st - 7th Mar 2013
1) What is Jim Parkyn’s job?
1) Where was this slime found?
in
FirstNews
Issue 350 1st - 7th Mar 2013
3) What word does the writer use in the first paragraph which shows she
thinks that Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit are really good?
4) Why does Jim love his job?
5) Find three things that Jim does as part of his job.
6) Tick the headings that Jim uses in this story:
jelly prawns
slime eggs
7) What do normal frog eggs look like?
8) What do experts think is the real reason for the clear slime?
What I do
How I got my job
What I love about my job
What’s difficult about my job
My favourite models
Where to start
7) What do you find out in the section called ‘Where to start’?
8) Do you think you would like to do Jim’s job?
Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk/teachers
Learning through news
www.FirstNews.co.uk/teachers