Science, Nature and Tech

How to Clean Water

With poor living conditions and water shortages increasing every year across the world, the question of how to clean water efficiently is becoming ever more important.

Does Everyone Have Clean Water?

When you have clean, safe water available at the turn of a tap it’s very easy to take it for granted. But almost 750 million people don’t have access to clean water; that’s one person from every ten in the world’s population. There are many reasons for this, from poverty to poor management by governments.

But almost 750 million people don’t have access to clean water; that’s one person from every ten in the world’s population. There are many reasons for this, from poverty to poor management by governments.

There are many reasons for this, from poverty to poor management by governments.

Science, Nature and Tech

Do Carrots Help You See In The Dark?

In the first of a fab new series called #factORfable, we take a look at some stubborn myths and find out if they are true! First up – do carrots help you see in the dark?

Language & Literature

Is Black Really White?

Science will tell you that black is not a colour, rather it is the absence of colour or the fact that there is no colour there. I expect that makes you think of white, rather than black!

And that’s the interesting thing about the word black: it was nearly white. And in fact in several other languages, the same root did develop to mean white.

Travel

Exploring Australia – Marvellous Melbourne

Continuing on my Australian adventure, I thought I’d tell you about Melbourne, my new favourite city. Whilst I’m in Australia, I’m going to be staying here in Melbourne, then moving on to Sydney next week. Sydney, I know about; there’s a big harbour, famous for its bridge and its opera house. But Melbourne? Before I came here, I didn’t know a thing about it.

The first thing I found out is that Melbourne is in the South East of Australia, in the state of Victoria. It’s on the coast and like Sydney is a harbour city. The climate in Melbourne can be a bit like the UK; it changes often and can start raining out of nowhere! Although it gets hotter than the UK, it doesn’t get quite as hot as the rest of Australia.

Language & Literature

Should Kids be Taught the International Phonetic Alphabet?

Have you ever flicked through a dictionary to find a word, and then noticed that right next to it there is a set of symbols, some of which resemble the letters you are used to using, but some of which are completely different?

These symbols are there to give you a guide to how the word is generally pronounced, and they are part of the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA.