©ABC 2013

Questions for discussion

U.S. Shutdown

1. Summarise the BtN U.S. Shutdown story.

2. List the sorts of places that were closed because of the U.S. government shut down.

3. Why were these places shut down?

4. What are the two major political parties in the U.S.?

5. What political party does President Barack Obama lead?

6. How did the people of America feel about the government shutting down?

7. What was the main reason for the U.S. government shutdown?

8. What is ‘Obama Care’?

9. Why do the Republicans think ‘Obama Care’ is not a good idea?

10. What did you find surprising about this story?

Write a message about the story and post it in the comments section on the BtN U.S. Shutdown story page. http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3870273.htm

Anti-Poverty Week

1. How do the volunteers help out at the centre in the BtN story?

2. What dessert do the volunteers make?

3. Approximately how many meals do they serve each year?

4. The majority of the people that work in the centre are paid. True or false.

5. Most of the food that Brenda and her team cook up is...

a. Donated

b. Bought

c. Grown at the centre

6. Where does their main sponsorship come from?

7. How does volunteering benefit the community?

8. Have you, your friends or family ever volunteered? If so, where? Discuss as a class.

9. Choose three adjectives to describe volunteers.

10. Brainstorm a list of ways your class or school could help homeless or disadvantaged people in your

local community.

Should the money we spend on overseas aid be spent on tackling Australian poverty instead? Have your say in the BtN online poll. To vote head to the BtN website http://abc.net.au/btn/polls.htm

Plant Bank

1. Before watching the BtN Plant Bank story, discuss what you think a seed bank is, as a class.

2. What is another word for plants?

3. How many species of plants can be found in Australia?

a. 240

b. 24,000

c. 2.4 million

4. Since European settlers arrived in Australia how many different types of plants have disappeared?

5. Someone that studies plants is called a...

a. Archaeologist

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b. Botanist

c. Astronomer

6. The idea of seed banks is a completely new idea. True or false?

7. List a reason why scientists store seeds?

8. Where in the world is the ‘doomsday vault’? Locate using Google Maps.

9. Why is it important that we look after our plants?

10. How are seeds prepared for the seed bank? Illustrate using a flow chart.

Check out BtN’s Plant Bank teacher resource. Students will investigate the role of seed banks in research, conservation, propagation and supply. http://www.abc.net.au/btn/resources/teacher/episode/20131022-plantbank.pdf

Test your knowledge in the Plant Bank quiz. Go to the BtN website and follow the links.

Kid Teachers

1. Describe the Kids Teaching Kids program.

2. In the story what did the kids teach their class?

3. Complete this sentence. To make sure they were well prepared they spent a lot of time ___________.

4. How did they make the presentation engaging and interesting?

5. What are some of the benefits of kids teaching kids?

6. If you could teach a lesson to kids your own age what would you teach?

7. What is the Kids Teaching Kids program trying to achieve?

8. What skills do you need to be a good teacher? Brainstorm as a class.

9. Have you had experience talking in front of a crowd? Describe your experience.

10. Write a message to the kids in this story via the Kid Teachers story page.

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3870301.htm

Check out BtN’s Kid Teachers resource. Students will develop their own educational and interactive lesson to teach their peers. http://www.abc.net.au/btn/resources/teacher/episode/20131022-kidteachers.pdf

Young Umpire

1. What is another name for an umpire?

2. Why is being an umpire such a tough job?

3. Eleni recently became the first girl to field umpire at an _ _ _ _ game.

4. In a season, the very best umpires can earn is up to...

a. $150

b. $150,000

c. $1.5 million

5. What is one of the trickiest jobs on the field for an AFL umpire?

6. Describe how a football umpire bounces the ball.

7. What does AFL stand for?

8. What are some of the rules in AFL?

9. Illustrate an aspect of the BtN Young Umpires story.

10. On your school oval practise bouncing a football. Did you find it difficult? Why or why not?

Write a message about the story and post it in the comments section on the BtN Young Umpire story page. http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3870315.htm

©ABC 2013

Activity

Plant Bank

Key Learning Students will investigate the role of seed banks in research, conservation, propagation and supply, through class discussion and a hands-on research project.

The Australian Curriculum Science / Science Understanding / Biological sciences

Living things have life cycles. Year 4. (ACSSU072)

Living things, including plants and animals, depend on each

other and the environment to survive. Year 4. (ACSSU073)

The growth and survival of living things are affected by the physical conditions of their environment. Year 6. (ACSSU094)

Science / Science as a Human Endeavour / Use and influence of science

Scientific knowledge is used to inform personal and community

decisions. Year 5. (ACSHE217)

Discussion Questions

1. Before watching the BtN Plant Bank story, discuss what you think a seed bank is, as a class.

2. What is another word for plants?

3. How many species of plants can be found in Australia?

a. 240

b. 24,000

c. 2.4 million

4. Since European settlers arrived in Australia how many different types of plants have disappeared?

5. Someone that studies plants is called a...

a. Archaeologist

b. Botanist

c. Astronomer

6. The idea of seed banks is a completely new idea. True or false?

7. List a reason why scientists store seeds?

8. Where in the world is the ‘doomsday vault’? Locate using Google Maps.

9. Why is it important that we look after our plants?

10. How are seeds prepared for the seed bank? Illustrate using a flow chart.

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Activities

Engage

Before watching the BtN Plant Bank story, discuss as a class what you

think a seed bank is?

After watching the BtN Plant Bank story, encourage students to

participate in and contribute to a class discussion.

Why might scientists keep seeds? (Consider research,

conservation, propagation, supply)

Why is it important for scientists to keep a seed bank?

What are heirloom vegetables?

Download the full transcript from the Plant Bank BtN story page. Highlight all the words that relate to seed

banks and biology in general. Circle any unfamiliar words. Create your own classroom glossary of words

with explanations.

Below is a list of words to start your classroom glossary. Students can refer to the classroom glossary

throughout their research.

Native and indigenous plants

Introduce the concept of native and indigenous plants to the class. For example, why they are special, why

some might be threatened (e.g. climate change, pests and diseases, pollution, habitat destruction), and what

animals rely on these plants for their existence.

Students will then conduct their own research either individually or in groups. To further students

investigation plan an excursion to your local botanic gardens or wildlife park to explore native plants.

Why do we need plants? (e.g. source of food and medicine, convert carbon dioxide into oxygen)

What is the difference between a native and an introduced plant?

Can you name any native Australian plants?

Are there any indigenous plants in your local area?

What things are threatening our native plants?

Name an animal or insect that relies on native plants.

Endangered

Threatened

Flora Native

Seed bank

Rare

Biology Ecology Diversity

Sustainability Preservation

Species

Botany

Seedlings Conservation

©ABC 2013

Seed banks are often referred to as an ‘environmental insurance policy’. What does this mean?

Conduct research into an native Australian plant

o How big does the plant grow?

o Describe the anatomy of this plant. Does it flower? What colour is it? Illustrate.

o What is its habitat (where does it live)?

o Is this plant threatened or endangered?

o What threatens it?

o Is anything being done to preserve this plant?

o What is your favourite thing about this plant?

o What surprised you about your research?

Display the student’s research and drawings around the classroom or make a book for the class library.

Interesting facts

What interesting facts do you know about seeds and seed banks? Learn more about...

There is a seed bank called the ‘doomsday vault’. The back-up collection of seeds from the world's food and fibre plants is hidden under a mountain in the arctic. It's known as the 'Doomsday Vault'… because if something terrible were to happen on earth these seeds would be safe for any remaining humans to start growing again. http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/purpose-of-norway-doomsday-vault

It is so rare the ABC cannot reveal is real name or exact location. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-16/melbourne-scientists-work-to-save-one-of-the-rarest-orchids-in-/5026454

The average strawberry has 200 seeds. ...Share any interesting facts you find, by leaving a comment on the BtN Plant Bank story page http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3870281.htm

Research project

Provide students with the opportunity to think and behave like a scientist.

The following activity is a hands-on research-based project for students to work on individually or in groups.

The project encourages students to use research and inquiry based learning to discover more about

Australia’s native plants and the conservation of our environment. This project emphasises quality research,

collaboration (if working in groups) and effective presentation.

Students will go on a plant scavenger hunt

around their own school. Before students go on

a scavenger hunt the teacher will identify

several plants around the school that are

appropriate for picking and then describe the

©ABC 2013

characteristics and features of these plants to the class.

Send students on a scavenger hunt to look for the plants with the

particular characteristics as discussed in class. A combination of words

and/or drawings may be used for clues.

Students will collect samples of the plants and then remove the seeds

for storing.

Students will prepare the seeds for storing. Seeds need to be kept cool

and dry in either cloth or paper (if they are stored in plastic they may

overheat, sweat and start to germinate).

Make labels to identify the different seeds, including the following

information:

What is the botanical name of this plant?

What family group does this plant come from?

How many varieties of this plant are there?

When is the best time to sow this plant?

How far apart should the seeds or seedlings be planted?

CSIRO Science by Email. Try this experiment

to learn more about storing your own tomato

seeds.

http://www.csiro.au/helix/sciencemail/activities/tomatoseed.html

Students will swap seeds with other students in their class to build on

their seed bank.

Students will germinate a selection of seeds that they have collected, to

test seed viability and to re-plant into the school environment.

Students will keep a science reflection journal to reflect on their own

leaning. Provide regular opportunities for students to write individual

journal entries, using the following questions to help along the way:

What happened during this activity?

What did I learn?

What problems did I experience during this investigation?

How could I fix these problems?

What would I do differently next time?

One important fact I learned when doing this investigation

was...

Flow chart

Students will draw a flow chart or diagram showing the steps involved in preparing seeds for seed banking.

Refer to the Australian National Botanic Gardens website for their seed bank procedures

http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/seedprocedures.html

©ABC 2013

http://www.globaleducation.edu.au/verve/_resources/flow_chart.pdf

Further activity

Explore CSIRO’s Paper seeds activity – this Double Helix Science Club activity

shows you how to make a type of paper that will grow into a plant.

http://www.csiro.au/Portals/Education/Programs/Do-it-yourself-science/Biological-

sciences-activities/paper-seeds-activity.aspx

Adopt a seed held in the Kew Millennium Seed Bank. With four plant species at

risk of extinction every day, it’s never been more urgent to protect the endangered

plants which may be key to our survival. http://www.kew.org/support-kew/adopt-a-

seed/adopt-a-seed-now/index.htm

Related Research Links

ABC Splash – Native plant seed bank

http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/30807/native-plant-seed-bank

ABC Splash – Global seed vault

http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/103638/global-seed-vault?source=search

ABC Splash – Sending seeds into space

http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/103660/sending-seeds-into-space?source=search

Australian National Botanic Gardens – The National Seed Bank

http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/

©ABC 2013

Activity

Kid Teachers

Key Learning Students will develop their own educational and interactive lesson to teach their peers. This project will

develop student’s research, teamwork and community engagement skills.

The Australian Curriculum

English / Literacy / Interacting with others

Use interaction skills, for example paraphrasing, questioning and interpreting non-verbal cues and choose vocabulary and vocal effects appropriate for different audiences and purposes. Year 5. (ACELY1796)

Use interaction skills, varying conventions of spoken interactions such as voice volume, tone, pitch and pace, according to group size, formality of interaction and needs and expertise of the audience. Year 6. (ACELY1816)

Use interaction skills when discussing and presenting ideas and information, selecting body language, voice qualities and other elements, (for example music and sound) to add interest and meaning. Year 7. (ACELY1804)

English / Literacy / Interacting with others

Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations for defined audiences and purposes incorporating accurate and sequenced content

and multimodal elements. Year 5. (ACELY1700)

Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements for defined audiences and purposes, making appropriate choices for modality and emphasis. Year 6. (ACELY1710)

Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements to promote a point of view or enable a new way of seeing. Year 7. (ACELY1720)

Discussion Questions

1. Describe the Kids Teaching Kids program.

2. In the story what did the kids teach their class?

3. Complete this sentence. To make sure they were well prepared they spent a lot of time ___________.

4. How did they make the presentation engaging and interesting?

5. What are some of the benefits of kids teaching kids?

6. If you could teach a lesson to kids your own age what would you teach?

7. What is the Kids Teaching Kids program trying to achieve?

8. What skills do you need to be a good teacher? Brainstorm as a class.

9. Have you had experience talking in front of a crowd? Describe your experience.

10. Write a message to the kids in this story via the Kid Teachers story page.

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3870301.htm

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Activities

Discussion

After watching the BtN Kid Teachers story, encourage students to participate in and contribute to a class

discussion.

Why would it be useful for kids to teach kids? Explain your answer.

What would you teach if you were given the opportunity to teach the students in your class?

What would be difficult if you were to run a lesson for students in your class?

Kids teaching kids – workshop

Students will work in groups of 4-5 to design, plan and implement their own lesson/workshop. Each group

will present their workshop to the rest of the class. Refer to the Kids Teaching Kids - Education Kit for

workshop resources http://www.kidsteachingkids.com.au/downloads/education-kit.html

Provide students with the opportunity to create a mind map to brainstorm ideas for their workshops. Students

will need to consider the following:

What will we teach?

o A skill (e.g. sport)

o A concept

o Choose a theme – environmental issue relevant to their local community, like

recycling or water.

Who is your target audience?

How will you inspire the class through your workshop?

List different types of presentation (e.g. audio visual, physical activity, cooking, class quiz).

How can we make the workshop interactive and hands on?

Mind mapping tools

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school

/teachers/support/pages/mind.aspx

Bubbl: brainstorming made simple

https://bubbl.us/

©ABC 2013

Students will provide a ½ hour workshop for students in their class.

Students will need to decide what they will teach. Here are some ideas:

A sporting technique

Debating skills

Environmental topic that is relevant to your local community.

Cooking – learn a recipe for a different culture

Provide students with the opportunity to conduct research to find out

more about the topic and collect information. The group will need to

consider the following:

What sorts of questions might the class ask when you are

teaching?

How will you prepare for the workshop?

What equipment will you need?

Provide students with a workshop lesson plan template, based on the

following.

o Your group name

o Teacher name

o Workshop title

o Describe your presentation

o Type of presentation

o How will you use the above presentation types in your interactive

presentation?

o Workshop aims – what do you want your audience to learn?

o What will you need to teach your workshop?

o What are the roles for the presenters when teaching the class

Refer to the Kids Teaching Kids Workshop plan template via the

following website

http://www.kidsteachingkids.com.au/downloads/education-kit.html

As a group rehearse the workshop. Students will need to consider:

Timing – does the workshop run over or under half an hour?

Practise clear speaking skills

Students will deliver their workshops.

Provide students time to provide feedback on the workshops they have

participated in, and self-evaluate the workshops they have run.

Get the class to give you feedback

o What did you learn?

o What did you enjoy?

Self evaluation

o What did you find surprising?

o What would you change?

o What did you learn?

o Did our workshop go over time?

o Was the workshop interesting and interactive?

Related Research Links Kids Teaching Kids – Home

http://www.kidsteachingkids.com.au/

©ABC 2013

BtN: Episode 29 Transcript 22/10/13 On this week's show:

I'm washing dishes for a good cause.

I'll be finding out about a bank that no-one would want to rob because it's full of tiny plants!

And I'll get some tips on the perfect Aussie Rules centre bounce from an up and coming umpire. Oh that's terrible!

Not a good effort James. Welcome. Also today, we're catching up with some kids who are having a go at being teachers. See how they got on later in the show. First, let's jump straight into the big news story of the week the massive bushfires near Sydney.

The Wire Things are really bad in NSW where bushfires have done a massive amount of damage over the past week. Here's where they've been burning. As you can see, they're pretty much surrounding Sydney. It's so bad a state of emergency has been declared meaning authorities now have special powers. They can order the public to leave and cut gas and power supplies if needed. It's all far from over too. Predictions are that conditions will get worse before they get better. There's also a chance the two biggest fires could merge into one mega-fire burning across hundreds of kays. Here are the numbers. All up around 58 fires have been burning around the state. 2000 fire fighters are on the ground trying to protect people's houses. But so far 200 homes have been destroyed. And one man has died whilst trying to protect his. While there is clearly a long way to go in this emergency. Authorities are saying quick evacuations and good bushfire action plans have made a big difference already. Thousands of people have escaped to evacuation centres and safety. And last week students were kept in their school as a bushfire burnt through their area. Here's what they had to say after they go out. KID: There was a big fire and we were all told to stay in the hall for like two hours. KID: It was a bit scary because we didn’t know where to go you know, we were in the hall and we could see smoke rushing past, and we couldn't actually see the fire cos the walls were there. But we were freaking out in the hall and then we moved.

©ABC 2013

PRESENTER: Not good news. We'll have an update on that story next week.

US Shutdown Reporter: Sarah Larsen INTRO: Now, have you ever been in an argument and no one would back down? Well, that's what's been happening between the two main political parties in America. They couldn't agree on something so it meant the government had to shut down. Sarah found out how that kinda craziness can even happen. In the US (and most places) the game of politics can get pretty intense. But imagine if politicians could do this: KID: What are you doing? KID: I turned this game off because you're cheating. KID: You're the one that's cheating. Believe it or not, a few weeks ago politicians in the US actually shut down the government! They still went to work but a whole bunch of other government employees were forced to take an unpaid holiday and all sorts of things closed; national parks, national monuments, war memorials, libraries, zoos, even NASA! KID: How could that happen? Well, before the US can pay for anything (like keeping the government open) both houses of parliament have to agree to an annual budget. At the moment one house is controlled by the Democrats (that's President Obama's party) and the other is mainly Republican and the Republicans refused to sign which meant the government had no money to pay its employees! Americans were angry. Business and the stock market suffered. The president was furious and even some Republicans didn't agree with what happened but then there were those that blamed Obama. KID: Wait, why would it be his fault? It's all got to do with health care. You see, in the US getting sick can cost a lot of money. That's why companies sell health insurance. You pay them while you're healthy and if you get sick they cover the bills. Except not everyone can afford that. So Obama wanted the government to help by providing its own, cheaper health insurance. Americans called it Obama Care. But not everyone thought it was a good idea. Many Republicans said it would be too expensive and that taxpayers shouldn't have to help pay for other people's health care. There was a lot of fighting about it, especially in the lead up to the last election. But Obama won and Obama Care was passed and then this happened.

©ABC 2013

Republicans like this guy said they wouldn't sign the budget unless Obama made changes to his health care plan. But the president refused to budge. He said people had voted for Obama Care and he wasn't going to let his opponents hold the country to ransom. Believe it or not US government shutdowns have happened before. The last one was in the 90s when this guy was president and it lasted for almost a month! But this time it was particularly scary for a lot of people. The US is in a lot of debt. It spends more than it earns in taxes so it has to borrow all the time to pay its bills. If the politicians didn't make up and sign the budget the US couldn't borrow or make repayments and that would have been disastrous for the economy - both in the US and overseas. KID: So what's going to happen? Well, luckily, at the last minute the Republicans agreed to release enough money to get the country working again. They signed a temporary budget which will give the government enough to pay the bills until early next year. For the first time in weeks art galleries, museums, monuments and parks opened their doors and workers got paid again. The leaders say they'll work out their differences so this doesn't happen again. And around the world people are hoping that's true because the game they're playing could affect us all.

Anti-Poverty Week Reporter: Nathan Bazley INTRO: When someone says 'poverty' and hunger we often think about all the people doing it tough in Africa and places like that. What we don't often think about are all the people doing it tough heaps closer to home. So for Anti-Poverty Week, I decided to get involved and along the way I met a young girl who'd decided to do the same thing. NATHAN BAZLEY, REPORTER: This is Daphne and she's just arriving for her fourth day of work experience. Usually work experience is designed to let you try something you might want to do as a career. But this kitchen doesn't make a cent of profit and most of its workers aren't paid. So why would Daphne want to do work experience here, at a centre that feeds the homeless and disadvantaged? I dropped in to find out and lend a hand. NATHAN: What are you working on here? DAPHNE: Making a trifle! NATHAN: Lovely, looks good! Can I help? DAPHNE: Sure, we have two more that need doing so that's good! NATHAN: Okay so these are the two trifles we're going to be working on? Well we're just going to be sprinkling them at the moment.

©ABC 2013

NATHAN: To be honest, sprinkling is about the level of my cooking ability so that's probably good. Next up, it was time to get our trifles spooned out. NATHAN: So what sort of things do you think you'll take home from your work experience here? DAPHNE: Well I have learnt how to make a trifle! NATHAN: I've learnt sprinkles, so I've learnt something too! DAPHNE: Well most of the people here are just very genuine people, like they're really nice. NATHAN: So tell me what your experiences have been like here so far. DAPHNE: They've been amazing, when I first came here, I was so overwhelmed, I didn't expect any of it. NATHAN: When it comes down to it, why did you choose this over going to an accounting firm or a law firm for your work experience? DAPHNE: Cos I like to see the other side of life. Because you don't really see that in, I really had no idea before I came here about the issues and it’s good experience. While we were taking care of dessert, the head of the kitchen, Brenda, was frying up some schnitzels. It's her responsibility to make sure around 50,000 free, tasty meals go out each year. BRENDA: I've been here 19 years, love every minute Pretty much everything Brenda and her team cook up has been donated in some way or another. Of course, while money helps, Brenda says volunteers are what keeps this place ticking. BRENDA: It's great to get students like Daphne to come in, they are our future, our future volunteers and the future of Australia and we want them to get a real handle on the poverty and the stress and the marginalised people that are out there. Soon, the other volunteers arrive to put the finishing touches on the meal. And not long after, the first two diners arrive. CLIENTS: How are you finding the food? Beautiful! And that's something Daphne will hear again and again during her time here. PRESENTER: And thanks Daphne for looking after me for the day! OK, I want to know what you're thinking about poverty.

©ABC 2013

Online Poll This week we're asking: Should the money we spend on overseas aid be spent on tackling Australian poverty instead? Let us know what you think by hitting up the website.

Plant Bank Reporter: Sarah Larsen INTRO: Banks look after our money right. But what about a bank that looks after seeds from plants instead? Sounds like a bank no one would want to break into. Well these plant seeds might not be worth much to a robber but they are super important. Sarah's got why. SARAH LARSEN, REPORTER: Welcome to Australia. Home to one of the biggest populations in the world. Of plants that is. More than 24,000 species have their roots in Aussie soil, which makes this country a superpower of sorts. It's one of 15 countries classified as Mega-Diverse, meaning there are heaps and heaps of different types of living things here. The trouble is there's also a growing number of humans, which doesn't always bode well for our leafy neighbours. REPORTER: Since European settlers arrived in more than 60 different types of plant have disappeared forever and more than a thousand others like this Whibley Wattle are listed as endangered. To make sure all of our plants are available in the future, scientists have a plan: Seed banks. At the Australian Botanic Garden at Mt Annan outside of Sydney scientists have been collecting, sorting and filing Aussie seeds and storing them away so they'll be ready to grow in the future. The idea of seed banks isn't new REPORTER: Even in ancient times farmers would store seeds in vaults where they'd be safe just in case a flood or some other disaster washed away crops. Today there are many reasons to store seeds for the future. One is climate change. Scientists worry about how rising temperatures could affect plants. There are also pests and diseases which can threaten entire species. And seed banks are a great place to research plants, find out how they grow in certain conditions and look at which species are best suited to different climates. Right around the world seed banks are working together to collect and store as many plant species as possible. There's even a back-up collection of seeds from the world's food and fibre plants hidden under a mountain in the arctic. It's known as the 'Doomsday Vault' because if something terrible were to happen on Earth these seeds would be safe for any remaining humans to start growing again. REPORTER: Because of course, plants aren't just nice to look at they're essential for life. They convert carbon dioxide into oxygen so we can breathe they provide food and medicine.

©ABC 2013

KID: Plants are kind of people's lives and without a lot of trees and plants we won't be able to breathe and they also ruin animals’ habitats too. The kids from Douglas Park Primary school were at Mt Annan recently for the opening of a new addition to the facility, a plant bank. You see, not all plants reproduce with seeds. At the plant bank samples can be frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored for the future. KAREN SOMMERVILLE, HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH SCIENTIST: If you put them into the storage at minus 196 everything stops, so you don't get any aging of the tissue that way and when you pull them back out of storage, then you've got a live plant. At the moment the Mt Annan seed and plant banks hold samples of around 20 percent of Australia's plants, but the aim is to one day have every single species in the collection. It's all part of making sure that Australia stays a plant superpower for many generations to come. PRESENTER: Hmmm interesting story. Let's open it up to a quiz.

Quiz 1 Which is the world's fastest growing plant? Sunflower Bamboo Royal Palm Answer: Bamboo Some bamboo can grow up to a metre a day. Crazy.

Kid Teachers Reporter: Natasha Thiele INTRO: Now, have you ever thought about being a teacher? It's a pretty hard job. You have to stand up in front of a classroom and try to have all the answers to everyone's questions. So how do you feel about this school program that's making kids teachers for the day. Tash went along to a lesson. NATASHA THIELE, REPORTER: Notice who's missing in this lesson? There's no teacher! Instead, these guys are the ones giving their classmates a lesson! They're taking part in a program called 'Kids Teaching Kids'. The idea is for teachers to take a step back and let the students teach each other - this time about the environment. Amy's been involved in the program for a few years now. She says it's a great way for kids to learn.

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AMY PARKS, KIDS TEACHING KIDS: Peers really appreciate hearing from other peers, they can relate better. The people who are presenting the workshop know what's going to work and what's going to be engaging for people of their own age to hear about. This group decided to teach students about the water cycle. To make sure they were well prepared, they spent a lot of time researching. They also came up with an engaging way of getting their information across. They used a 3D display, a poster game and some test tubes! These guys also researched water issues, in particular pollution. REPORTER: And so researching this project, was it quite hard? ETHAN, STUDENT: Yeah it was. (REPORTER: Yeah, why's that?) Because you had to do a lot information and we only had two days to finish it off and we kind of got there for the last time and then we presented it to our school. Just like teachers, they needed to test the students by asking questions and getting them involved. As you can imagine, talking in front of a crowd isn't easy. But a lot of these guys were happy with their results ANNA, STUDENT: Well I know it takes a lot of work, kind of understand my teachers now. But you know it pays off in the end if the students or kids learn something and it feels good that way to kind of teach them. NETHLI, STUDENT: I think they actually got it like quite well. I think they understood like most of it, they probably drifted off a bit but I think it was quite good. So what's it like being taught by other students? RYAN, STUDENT: It was really good and I liked the diagrams that they did. I thought it was very good for students. CLARE, STUDENT: I feel more involved if it's people my age because they kind of know what we're going through trying to learn this thing but teachers they've been, they been an adult for a while so they might've forgotten how hard it is to actually gather this information. TYSON, STUDENT: It's much easier because teachers go through long things, they just go through short things that like kids know. And what do they rate them out of ten? CLARE: Ten out of ten, amazing! GIRL: Ten probably. TASH: And what do you boys rate what the kids taught you? RYAN AND TYSON: Ten out of ten. Eight. Many students have walked away from these workshops with more confidence. And who knows, they might even be back next year to teach kids their age something new!

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PRESENTER: I tried teaching a class once, never again. You can see me fail on our website. All right, missed any sports results over the last few days? Well here's your catch-up.

The Score Aussie Tim Cahill has scored the quickest goal in major league soccer history in the US. It happened during the first 7 seconds of the match between New York Red Bulls and Houston Dynamo. Cahill's team the New York Bulls went on to win the game 3-nil. *** It wasn't quite so good for the Aussie women. They lost to the US in a friendly 4-0. The boss of the US team spent the previous 7 years coaching the Matildas so no doubt would have enjoyed getting a win over his old side. *** Australia's beaten India in their third one-day match in Mohali. They ran down India's target of 304...with three balls and four wickets to spare. Australia now leads the seven-match series...2-1. *** And the Wallabies have lost Bledisloe Cup series to the All Blacks, 3-nil. The Aussies went down 41 to 33 against the New Zealand side. It means the All Blacks have claimed the cup for the 11th time.

Quiz 2 OK, a story on sports umpires is up next. But first let's see if you even pay attention to them. The question is: What colour flags does an AFL goal umpire wave? White Red Yellow Answer: White

Young Umpire Reporter: James Bartold INTRO: More and more kids are picking up the whistle to become umpires or referees. James went to meet a young umpire who recently became the first woman to take charge

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of a major professional footy match. But she had the tougher challenge of teaching James to do a centre bounce. JAMES BARTOLD, REPORTER: When it comes to sport, all eyes are firmly fixed on the players. But there are some other people who are also at the centre of the action. Umpires aren't always the most popular, but they're very important. REPORTER: It's not always easy being the one to make the big decisions and umpires often cop a lot of abuse for their choices but without them you wouldn't have a game! With such a tough job, it's been hard to get enough people picking up the whistle. That's meant more younger kids are getting involved. And it's not just guys! Eleni's hoping her skills with the whistle could take her to the top! ELENI, SANFL UMPIRE: I've always just loved football, so just being able to be a part of the game is something that was really important to me. She's already well on her way to umpiring stardom. Eleni recently became the first girl to field umpire at an SANFL league game. ELENI: The players responded quite well to me, obviously a lot of them have seen me at reserves level, so at the end of the day you're just an umpire making decisions. It's a big deal for Eleni and the sport and while umpiring can provide a bit of pocket money on the side it's also a serious career. The very best umpires can earn up to 150-thousand dollars per season. And Eleni's already caught the eye of the AFL umpiring boss. JEFF GIESCHEN, AFL UMPIRES BOSS: It's the first step along the way, she's on a journey now and I just hope for Eleni’s sake that she can continue the way she is. Eleni not only has to deal with angry fans and insults from the crowd, she's also got to keep the players in line when things get pretty heated! ELENI: As long as you know your rules you’re pretty confident they're going to listen to your decision. One of the trickiest jobs for a football umpire on the field is bouncing the ball. So I thought I'd get Eleni to show me how the pros do it! ELENI: So the main thing is to have a nice firm grip of the ball, everyone has a different grip, me I like my thumbs going down the seam. You can start in a relaxed motion and then it’s a number of steps making sure you land with your dominant foot at the front. Ok so it's not as easy as it looks and neither is umpiring! But Eleni's proof that with a lot of hard work you can make it to the top level. ELENI: In the junior ranks now there are so many females, it’s just fantastic, it’s a great way to be involved in football, fitness, some pocket money and just a great way to see the game.

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So instead of dreaming of kicking or shooting those goals, maybe you should set your sights on signalling them!

Closer

And that’s it for our show. If you have any interesting thoughts about any of our stories we have in this week’s show, you can leave your comments about them on our website. There are heaps of kids commenting so get involved. That’s it from me. See you next week.