Popular, Science, Nature and Tech

Have you ever wondered…why leaves change colour in autumn?

Autumn is a season of change; the weather gets colder, there’s less daylight and leaves change colour and fall from plants. But why does this happen?

Why Do Plants Have Leaves?

Leaves contain a chemical called chlorophyll (pronounced KLO-ro-fil), which as well as giving them their lovely green colour also helps create food for the plant. The leaves act like tiny solar panels, and use the sun’s energy to convert water (from the ground) and a gas called carbon dioxide (from the air) into sugar and oxygen. This process is called photosynthesis (pronounced foto-SIN-theh-sis), and the sugar is what the plant lives on.

Language & Literature, Popular

The Great Vowel Shift

If you have learnt a foreign language, or if you are bilingual in another European language, you may have noticed that there are a number of words that are similar to words in English. Perhaps you may even have been told that some of them are derived from Latin or Greek, or that they have Germanic roots. But why is the pronunciation so often so different in English?

Home, Health & Style

Charity Work Experience

A few years ago, our contributor, Laura Montagne was an unemployed English Literature graduate looking for a break into administration or clerical work.

Finding a job was quite difficult, as she was not very confident and didn’t have much practical experience in an office environment.

She was given the opportunity to do work experience for the charity Age Concern, in their office in Christchurch, Dorset.

The job was voluntary; Laura did not get paid but it was a very valuable experience.

Science, Nature and Tech, Written By You

What Is a Raspberry Pi… and How Does it Work?

You may have heard of a Raspberry Pi – a credit card sized computer that plugs into your keyboard and monitor – but exactly what IS a Raspberry Pi, how does it work and what can you do with it?

12 year old Elspeth takes a closer look at the mini-computer and explains how even young kids can use it to learn how computers work and how to code.

Language & Literature

Egypt – The Land of a Soul of a God

Have you ever visited Egypt? Or even just travelled in your imagination to see the pyramids and the Sphinx? Well, now we are going to travel back in time along the path of the word itself, to see where it came from.