Look Closer HOME NEWS FirstNews Issue 643 12 18 October 2018 SCIENCE NEWS BLACKPOOL Penguins arrive Blackpool Zoo WORLD NEWS USA Zoological Society of London Five female Magellanic penguins have travelled from Germany and Italy to their new home at Blackpool Zoo. A specialist animal transportation vehicle was used to ensure they travelled in style at a constant temperature of 10 C, with experts checking on their progress every few hours. The animals are now getting used to their new pool-mates and surroundings. THE BIGGEST BIRD Boozy birds MEET Vorombe titan, the largest bird that ever lived. Police have warned residents to be on the lookout for a group of young drunken residents causing trouble. They ve been seen falling out of trees, wandering into the road and flying into windows. Yes, these drunken menaces are in fact the local bird population! Due to an early frost, the berries in the town have fermented and become alcoholic. The birds have been munching on them, getting drunk and very confused. The police say not to call them if any birds land nearby, and to just leave the creatures alone so that they can sober up. This delightful winged creature stood almost three metres tall, weighed up to 800 kilograms, and is thought to have roamed the island of Madagascar until about 1,000 years ago. Vorombe titan, which is Malagasy (the national language of Madagascar) and Greek for big bird, was 20cm taller than the largest ostrich. While it would have been much taller and heavier than human beings and most other animals, it posed no threat, because it was vegetarian. A new study of the bird has been published in the journal Open Science. Experts reckon it might have been made extinct by human hunting, but on one thing they are certain: there is no way Vorombe titan could have flown, because it was way too heavy to support its own weight. This is the 16th species of elephant bird to be confirmed. These are giant, flightless birds that lived on Madagascar up to about a thousand years ago, when deforestation and hunting led to their extinction. The heaviest are thought to weigh more than 800kg. Dr James Hansford of ZSL s Institute of Zoology was one of the lead researchers behind the find. He said that elephant birds had a huge impact on the wider ecosystem, saying: Madagascar is still suffering the effects of the extinction of these birds today.
Science News GLOSSARY Species one type of animal or plant. For example, robins, blackbirds and barn owls are different species of birds. Deforestation the destruction of large areas of forest by people. Zoology the scientific study of animals. Ecosystem a community of plants and animals living in one area, and all the ways they connect and depend on each other and their environment. Fermented when the sugar in a fruit or other food has turned into alcohol. 1. Summarise the bird news from each country in one sentence, if you can. UK USA MADAGASCAR Look at the article Penguins arrive. 2. What journey has just been made by five Magellanic penguins? 3. What special technology was needed for their journey and why? 4. Who, or what, does the word pool-mates describe? Other penguins living in this enclosure The five Magellanic penguins It s the name of the penguin transportation system Look at the article The biggest bird. 5. The word titan is Greek for big, strong, powerful. Now you know this extra fact, explain why the bird has been given the name Vorombe titan? 6. Find three facts about Vorombe titan. 7. Which of these are known facts and which are estimations, or best guesses, by the scientists? Where it lived The date of the bird s extinction Why it became extinct The bird s inability to fly Fact Estimation or best guess Look at the article from the USA. 8. Why is a weather event the cause of these birds becoming drunk? 9. Look at the way this story has been told. How has it been written to make it seem surprising and funny? Think about all the stories. 10. Newspapers are usually organised into sections. Which news report would be the most appropriate story to put in the two newspaper sections below? Explain your choice. Headline Reason Crazy But True (a section for unusual and amusing news) Science News
Science News GLOSSARY Species one type of animal or plant. For example, robins, blackbirds and barn owls are different species of birds. Deforestation the destruction of large areas of forest by people. Zoology the scientific study of animals. Ecosystem a community of plants and animals living in one area, and all the ways they connect and depend on each other and their environment. Fermented when the sugar in a fruit or other food has turned into alcohol. 1. Summarise the bird news from each country in one sentence, if you can. UK USA MADAGASCAR Look at the article Penguins arrive. 2. What journey has just been made by five Magellanic penguins? 3. What special technology was needed for their journey and why? 4. Who, or what, does the word pool-mates describe? Other penguins living in this enclosure The five Magellanic penguins It s the name of the penguin transportation system Look at the article The biggest bird. 5. The word titan is Greek for big, strong, powerful. Now you know this extra fact, explain why the bird has been given the name Vorombe titan? 6. Find three facts about Vorombe titan. 1.... 2.... 3...
7. Which of these are known facts and which are estimations, or best guesses, by the scientists? Where it lived The date of the bird s extinction Why it became extinct The bird s inability to fly Fact Estimation or best guess Look at the article from the USA. 8. Why is a weather event the cause of these birds becoming drunk? 9. Look at the way this story has been told. How has it been written to make it seem surprising and funny? Think about all the stories. 10. Newspapers are usually organised into sections. Which news report would be the most appropriate story to put in the two newspaper sections below? Explain your choice. Headline Reason Crazy But True (a section for unusual and amusing news) Science News
Extension Activities Activity A: GET YOUR CREATIVE JUICES FLOWING Use one of these news reports on very different bird stories as an inspirational source for a fictional story. Who knows where it might take you? The whole Madagascar film series begins when zoo animals are sent off to another destination and the trip goes wrong! Are you going to take a particular point of view? Here are some ideas to get started. You could be The last elephant bird left on Madagascar An archaeologist discovering the elephant bird for the first time A zoo animal on a crazy journey A zoo keeper responsible for taking an unusual animal on a long journey (imagine the stress) A bird seeing the world from a drunken perspective for the first time Activity B: ENGINEERING FOR ZOO ANIMALS It must be difficult transporting zoo animals to new locations and keeping them happy and healthy on their journey. Each animal will have very different requirements. Can you design a transportation device for a particular zoo animal? Choose your animal. Think about the environment it lives in and what sort of needs it will have on a journey. Design a brilliant home to transport your animal safely. Label all its special features. You will need to have your vet hat and your engineering hat on at the same time!
Teacher Answers AIM OF THE NEWS COMPREHENSIONS: News reports are unique non-fiction texts. Being real, they naturally engage students, and with the range of topics that are covered, help to develop pupils knowledge and understanding of the wider world outside the classroom. The reports are ideal for short, focused comprehension or discussion activities. Along with the opportunity to find fascinating facts and appreciate the opinions of those involved, there is plenty to be inferred and deduced to understand in more depth what is being reported. Like authors, journalists play with language, so news stories are rich nuggets of text to investigate and provide the opportunity for literacy programmes. TEACHER ANSWER GUIDE: The teacher answers are intended to provide a guide to the reading skill each question is practising. Suggestions are given for a starting point for responses that students would be expected to give at the start of KS3. Further suggestions then give fuller, more developed responses that students will work towards by the end of KS3, in preparation for the non-fiction elements of GCSE English language. 1. Summarise the bird news from each country in one sentence, if you can. READING SKILL Summarise information from more than one paragraph (NC 2e) UK Five Magellanic penguins have arrived at Blackpool Zoo from Germany and Italy. USA MADAGASCAR Police are warning residents to watch out for birds drunk on alcoholic berries. A new study about the largest bird that ever lived has just been published. Look at the news Penguins arrive. 2. What journey has just been made by five Magellanic penguins? READING SKILL Find and explain information (NC 2a) The penguins have travelled from Germany and Italy to their new home at Blackpool Zoo. 3. What special technology was needed for their journey and why? READING SKILL Find and explain information (NC 2a) They had to travel in a specialist animal transportation vehicle to keep them at the right temperature 10 C. This is obviously a cool temperature that these penguins feel most comfortable in. 4. Who, or what, does the word pool-mates describe? READING SKILL Understand vocabulary in context (NC 2a) Other penguins living in this enclosure
Look at the news The biggest bird. 5. The word titan is Greek for big, strong, powerful. Now you know this extra fact, explain why the bird has been given the name Vorombe titan? READING SKILL Infer information and justify with evidence (NC 2c & 8) The name is Malagasy and Greek for big bird. Development Titan means big in Greek and so Vorombe must mean bird in Malagasy the language of Madagascar. As this Madagascan bird was the largest bird that ever lived, this is a very appropriate name. 6. Find three facts about Vorombe titan. READING SKILL Find and explain information (NC 2a) Any of: 1. It was the largest bird that ever lived. 2. It lived on Madagascar. 3. It was almost three metres tall. 4. It weighed up to 800 kilograms. 5. It went extinct about 1,000 years ago. 6. It was 20cm taller than the largest ostrich. 7. It was a vegetarian. 8. It could not fly. 9. It was a type of elephant bird. 10. It is the 16 th species of elephant bird to be discovered. 7. Which of these are known facts and which are estimations, or best guesses, by the scientists? READING SKILL Infer information and justify with evidence (NC 2c & 8) Where it lived The date of the bird s extinction Why it became extinct The bird s inability to fly Fact Estimation or best guess Look at the news from the USA. 8. Why is a weather event the cause of these birds becoming drunk? READING SKILL Infer information and justify with evidence (NC 2c & 8) A frost made the berries become alcoholic. Development An early frost caused some berries to ferment and become alcoholic. The birds then became drunk by eating these berries.
9. Look at the way this story has been told. How has it been written to make it seem surprising and funny? READING SKILL Recognising effect of language choices (NC 2f & 3) The writer doesn t tell you they are birds. The writer says the police are giving out warnings about the birds, which is a funny idea. Development The writer doesn t explain that the trouble makers are birds until the third sentence. You presume the police are talking about drunken people, making it surprising and funny to then find out they are actually birds! The writer describes the birds as drunken residents to hide the fact that they are birds, not people; says they are causing trouble and lists some of their drunken behaviour. All these descriptions make the reader think that people are being described. 10. Newspapers are usually organised into sections. Which news report would be the most appropriate story to put in the two newspaper sections below? Explain your choice. READING SKILL Make comparisons between texts (NC 1e & 1f) Headline Reason Crazy But True (a section for unusual and amusing news) Boozy birds Drunk birds are very funny, but this is also true! Science News The biggest bird This is about a science report. Development Crazy But True (a section for unusual and amusing news) Headline Boozy birds Reason The idea of drunk birds is very funny, so this is unusual and amusing news. Vorombe titan is a very unusual bird, but this story is not funny and is too serious for the Crazy But True section. The story about penguins isn t funny or particularly unusual, so this wouldn t fit either. Science News The biggest bird This article is about a new study by zoology scientists. It includes lots of interesting scientific facts from the research, so would fit well on the Science page. The other two articles are about animals but they are not about science or research.