When you’re in the savannah you have to keep hydrated! This month’s magazine is all about the African savannah and we’ve got the perfect competition prize, enter to win one of six ION8 water bottles!
We’ve teamed up with ION8 to keep your little one hydrated all summer long.
These brilliant water bottles are 100% leakproof when closed and made from either stainless steel or BPA-free RECYCLON, (made from organic materials from plants instead of fossil fuels). These refillable and reusable drinks bottle are food safe, odour resistant, easy to hand wash, and keep drinks fresh and full of flavour. Find out more about ION8 products here.
For your chance to win one of six water bottles, simply answer the question below andtell us which design you’d like to win: Cats, Ecologi, Space, Camping, Bugs Life, Frog.
Which is the largest desert in Africa?
A) Namib desert B) Kalahari desert C) Sahara desert
Good luck!
This competition closes at midnight on 31st August 2023 and is open for UK residents only. For full terms and conditions visit whizzpopbang.com/terms
This gorgeous new picture book is a great way to help young children learn to look after their own wellbeing. Hello Mefollows a young boy as he learns to love and accept himself.
The story’s relatable characters and gentle storyline introduce the concept of mental health in an engaging way. While it’s a perfect bedtime read for younger siblings and friends, there are important lessons that we can all learn from this clever book.
Hello Me‘s author, Dr Naira Wilson is a child psychologist and a Whizz Pop Bang science advisor. We’re so excited to have three copies of her book to give away to Whizz Pop Bang fans!
To enter the competition, simply answer the following question in the comments:
Which of these is a hormone that makes you feel happy?
Have you ever wondered how to play mancala? It’s an ancient game with lots of variations, but this brilliant video explains how to play one version of it.
If you’d like to try playing mancala, why not start by making your own upcycled set from planet-friendly materials?
Find out how to turn an egg box into an awesome African mancala game in Whizz Pop Bag: Safari!
You’ll be able to print leopard-print paper and craft a safari diorama, complete with its own watering hole and real live grass! Discover ten awesomely amazing safari animals, find out how walkie talkies work and get up close with one of the largest and most ferocious predators around – the glorious lion! Meet an elephant keeper at a very special Kenyan animal sanctuary, find out about Thomas Odhiambo who used science to find Earth-friendly ways to control pests on crops and see if you can spot the camouflaged creatures hiding in our photo gallery!
This autumn (November 2023) we’ll be celebrating 100 issues of Whizz Pop Bang magazine! We’d love to showcase some of our biggest fans in the Issue 100 Wonder Club pages.
Send us a photo of you with your favourite edition of the magazine or tell us your favourite facts, experiment or joke from Whizz Pop Bang by September 20th 2023 to be in with a chance of appearing on our special superfans page!
Send your photos, facts, experiments and jokes to Y@whizzpopbang.com or Y, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ.
For a chance to appear in Whizz Pop Bang 100’s extra-special Wonder Club pages, we must receive your email or letter by 20th September 2023 – but we love hearing from our readers all year round, so please get in touch any time!
Don’t forget to include your name, age and address. We can’t return any post, sorry.
PVA glue is often used in crafts but it’s made from petrochemicals, the production of which is bad for the environment. Here’s a recipe for glue made from natural materials that works just as well!
You will need:
45 g plain flour 15 g sugar 5 ml (1 teaspoon) vinegar 100 ml warm water Bowls Spoon Jug Jar or tub with lid
What you do:
Put 50 ml of warm water into a jug and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved.
Add the vinegar.
Put the flour into a bowl and slowly add the liquid, stirring all the time, until it is combined together. Keep stirring until there are no lumps.
Add the rest of the water and stir thoroughly.
Store the mixture in a jar or tub with the lid closed in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Are you teaching the topic coasts and want to include some science? We have a great lesson pack that explains coastal erosion and different types of defences which can be used to protect our coastline.
How is engineering used in sea defences?
Coasts is predominantly a geography-based topic, however it fits with STEAM teaching too. In this lesson pack, we look at different types of engineering used to help stop damage to our coastline. For example, sea defenses such as groynes, sea walls, breakwaters, etc. are built using hard engineering to reduce the damage done to beaches and cliffs by the force of the waves. Using our lesson pack called ‘Hold back the tide’, pupils will experiment by creating a pretend beach and their own waves, then trying to build a sea wall to see if it can stop the sand being washed away.
How will the Whizz Pop Bang lesson produce sticky knowledge?
In this lesson, pupils will create a 3D beach scene and will be working through trial and error when building their sea defence. This will encourage pupils to ask questions and adapt their own engineering until it works. By physically creating the model, this will make the lesson more memorable so the learning will be accessible for the next lesson, when pupils could be given a budget to plan sea defences for a stretch of coast.
How to evidence the lesson
If your planning isn’t enough evidence, pupils could use the Keynote app on an iPad and record themselves describing their sea defences, explaining how they work and suggesting other defences that could be used. If you need evidence in their books, you could print photos of the models; during morning work the next day, pupils could label and annotate them. This would mean that they go back over their learning from the day before, helping the knowledge to stick.
How to get more science into your reading sessions
Using science texts in guided reading or whole-class reading sessions is an easy way for children to delve further into the subject matter and acquire more knowledge. Here are the reading comprehensions that link with this topic:
Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant for enhancing your school’s science teaching:
We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading comprehensions written by primary school teachers.
Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology and PSHE.
Prices from as little as £197.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.
We also have individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year.
You’ve probably seen the incredible Dr Ronx on Operation Ouch! on CBBC – now they’ve written a book called Little Experts: Amazing Bodies. We asked them all about it, and about their exciting job as a doctor in a hospital’s Accident and Emergency department. Want to win a copy of their book? Keep scrolling to find out how!
Dr Ronx Ikharia Emergency medicine doctor, TV presenter and author
I first realised I wanted to be a doctor when I was 12
It’s a lighthearted but informative book introducing the human body to kids. I never ever thought I would write a book, but now that I have I want to write more! I sometimes found it difficult to focus and concentrate, but would take myself to a quiet place, and write little and often. I also enjoyed learning new facts about the human body, and remembering facts I learnt at medical school and had forgotten!
Winning a gold Blue Peter Badge was the most exciting moment of my career
I won it with Operation Ouch! on behalf of the NHS.
I like meeting different people every day
It’s part of the job of being a doctor – especially when you work in A&E: you don’t know what’s going to come through the door and what problems they’re going to have. I really enjoy talking to them and working out how to make them better.
There are lots of challenges in my job…
My personal challenges are timekeeping, and making sure I go home on time! I also have to make sure I’m looking after myself: eating well, sleeping properly, doing exercise… And at work, it’s very very busy! Sometimes there are more people than we have time to see, meaning that people get upset because they’re left waiting a very long time, and we have to manage their expectations.
If you want to be a doctor, you have to work hard at school
Make sure you’re good at biology, maths and sciences, but keep up your interests outside of science too: sport, music, and so on. Make sure people know you want to be a doctor so that parents, teachers and caregivers can help you and give you advice. Always be kind. Remember, medicine is great but hard, so it’s not a bad idea to have a back up. Stay curious, keep interested, and ask questions.
Emergency doctor and TV presenter Dr Ronx has written a book all about our amazing bodies, and we’ve got FOUR copies to give away to Whizz Pop Bang fans!
Amazing Bodies by Dr Ronx is part of the new Little Experts series, where experts share their knowledge with readers like you! Take a tour around the human body, discovering why we have skin, how our joints work and how long it takes for blood to pump around our bodies along the way. This gorgeously-illustrated book covers spongey brains, gooey guts and everything in between!
Helen Scales is a marine biologist, writer, broadcaster, teacher and scuba diver who stars as our Science Hero in Whizz Pop Bang 96: Coasts. Read more about her in this issue, now available in our shop. She tells us all about her exciting job, including some of the books she has written, and we’re so excited to have five sets of two of these books to give away to mini marine biologists!
Scientists in the Wild: Galápagos by Helen Scalesfollows a group of marine biologists as they set sail to study the amazing wildlife and habitats of the Galápagos. To get the job done they will climb volcanoes, get sneezed on by marine iguanas, watch dancing birds, launch a deep-diving submersible and explore the dazzling underwater wonders of Galápagos.
Great Barrier Reef by Helen Scales (released 6th July 2023) introduces this incredible, intricate Australian ecosystem to young readers. Discover the plant and animal inhabitants of the Great Barrier Reef in this beautifully illustrated book, then find out what we can all do to ensure its survival.
To enter the competition, simply answer the following question in the comments:
Are you looking for planning resources for teaching forces in year 5? Here’s how you can use our new downloadable pulley investigation resource to easily create a memorable lesson that produces the sticky knowledge Ofsted will be looking for…
An investigation into pulleys
Our pulley investigation requires pupils to build a simple pulley and then add more to create a pulley system. They will compare the difference that adding more pulleys makes to the force used by measuring. A bucket is added to one end and pupils use a form of measurement, e.g. weights from the maths cupboard or a non-standard unit such as Unifix™ cubes, to record the results and help them come to a conclusion about why pulleys are useful.
How should the lesson be recorded?
Should pupils record every step of a practical lesson? From my experience, no, as this kills the enjoyment and does not reflect what they have learned. However, there are benefits to revising learning to help the knowledge to stick. Revisiting the lesson the next day is beneficial. In upper key stage two, pupils should be practising writing up part of their investigation in a passive voice.
To help consolidate pupils’ learning, why not introduce some forces-themed reading into your English sessions? Download our fascinating reading comprehensions linked to this lesson pack.
Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant ways to enhance your school’s science teaching:
We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading comprehensions written by primary school teachers.
Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Art, Design and Technology and PSHE.
Prices from as little as £197.99 per year for a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month and whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins.
We’ve also have an individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing downloadable resources for just £20 for the whole year.
