School & Career

What is The Point of Learning English?

learning english

Have you ever sat in a Maths class wondering why you will ever need to be able to do long division without a calculator? Or silently cursed your Geography teacher while learning about the formation of oxbow lakes? And History? That’s all in the past and irrelevant, isn’t it?
In this series of articles, we will look at some of the subjects we learn at school, and try and answer the question: What’s the point in learning this?

Last time we looked at uses of Maths, both in day-to-day life, and for your future career. Today we will focus on learning English. Once we have learned how to read, write and spell, what is the point? Will we ever need to quote Shakespearian sonnets? And who, other than writers, needs to be able to write stories and poems?

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Written By You

Life… in Reverse

We love to publish contributions from our young readers. This was written by 8 year old Janvi, from Cardiff.

If there were to be a parallel universe I think there would be people who lived their lives, like us, only in reverse!

You would start off old with white hair, pains almost everywhere and maybe even glasses and/or a walking stick. You would live in a retirement home with lots of old people, like you. You would spend your time sitting in your favourite chair snuggled up with a quilt and would take medical pills daily. But one day when you would get up to have your daily walk you could get up much easier and you could walk around faster and more swiftly.

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Toys and Games

Geeky Accessories for Girls and Boys

Here at Jump!Mag we can get pretty geeky – and we’re proud of it too! We love wearing things that show people what our interests are, whether that’s books, superheroes or Doctor Who. Read on to find out about our ten favourite accessories to help you express your inner (or outer!) geek.

 

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We all hate Professor Umbridge and how she treated Harry. Now you can freak out your mum and your friends with this temporary tattoo from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (#1).  And for those of you who like wearing clothes inspired by your fave books, try this lovely Very Hungry Caterpillar rucksack from Asda (#3), or scare away snakes, foxes and owls with these Gruffalo slippers (#2) – complete with purple spikes and the wart on the end of his nose!

 

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If you’re a comic book lover, you’re spoilt for choice! We love this Batman umbrella from M&S (#4) and this Spiderman water bottle rocks (#7). (Ignore the ‘for boys’ and ‘for girls’, and just get what YOU like.) Sport your favourite superhero on your iPhone with a comic book phone cover like this one from Louby Kapow (#5) – made from real comics! – or go for Thor-inspired shoes with these ace lightning shoelace attachments from Tesco (#6).

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Science, Nature and Tech

Why do we get Hiccups?

why do we get hiccups

Everybody gets hiccups (also sometimes spelt ‘hiccoughs’). Even when babies are still in the womb they hiccup, which can feel very odd to their mother! But why do we get them and how can you stop them?

What are Hiccups?

Hiccups are caused by the diaphragm (pronounced DYE-uh-fram). This is a large, dome-shaped muscle that sits at the bottom of your chest cavity, below your lungs. When we breathe in the diaphragm tightens, helping to pull air into the lungs, and when it relaxes it forces the air back out again. Sometimes the diaphragm becomes irritated and instead of tightening smoothly it does it in a jerky way, which makes air suddenly rush into your throat. This air is stopped when it hits the voice box and makes the opening between the vocal cords close very suddenly. This is what produces the sound of the hiccup.

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