Questions for discussionGun Control Campaigners

1. Discuss the BTN Gun Control Campaigners story as a class. What points were raised in the discussion?

2. Why have students been protesting in the United States recently?3. In which American state did the crisis occur?4. What percentage of homes in Australia have guns?5. What percentage of homes in the United States have guns?6. What powerful group is donating money to politicians in the hope they will support their

views about gun laws?7. What is the Second Amendment in the American Constitution?8. How do the people in the story feel about the issue?9. Do you think stricter gun ownership laws are needed in the US? Explain your answer.10. What questions do you have after watching the Gun Control Campaigners story?

Write a message about the story and post it in the comments section on the story page.

Chinese Recycling Ban1. Before watching this story, discuss in pairs what you think happens to the contents of your

recycling bin. 2. Summarise the BTN Chinese Recycling Ban story. 3. Why does Australia sell recycling waste to companies overseas? 4. How much waste does China take from Australia each year?

a. 6 tonnesb. 600,000 tonnesc. 6 million tonnes

5. What impact will China’s ban on recycling have on Australia?6. Where does rubbish end up if it’s not recycled?7. What European country has a very efficient recycling system?8. What percentage of their household waste ends up in landfill?9. What do you think can be done to solve the problem?10. Name three facts you learnt watching the BTN story?

Write a message about the story and post it in the comments section on the story page.

Doomsday Seed Vault1. Before you watch the BTN story, predict what you think it’s about.2. Describe what the seed bank and its surroundings looks like. 3. Why was the seed bank created?4. Why is the seed bank also called the Doomsday Seed Vault?5. How many different types of seeds are stored in the bank?

a. 9 thousand

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Episode 427th February 2018

b. 900 thousandc. 9 million

6. List some of the types of seeds that are stored in the seed bank. 7. Australia is about to make its biggest deposit to the seed bank. True or false?8. How old is the Doomsday Seed Vault?9. What did you learn while watching the BTN story? 10. What do you understand more clearly after watching the Doomsday Seed Vault story?

Write a message about the story and post it in the comments section on the story page.

How do eyes work?1. Before watching the BTN story, discuss what you already know about how your eyes work.2. What does the BTN story explain? 3. Who studies eyes?

a. Ophthalmologistb. Orthodontistc. Ornithologist

4. Try the simple eye test that Matt did in the BTN story. What did it teach you about how your eyes work?

5. Humans have binocular vision. True or false?6. Briefly explain how monocular vision works.7. How does having eyes on either side of its head help lizards?8. What did you learn while watching the BTN story?9. What questions do you have about how eyes work? Working in pairs, research a question

and share the information with the class. 10. Have you seen or heard something in the news you’d like explained? Send your question

into BTN Investigates.

Check out the How do eyes work? resource on the Teachers page.Do the quiz on the BTN website

Poetry Performance1. Discuss the story in pairs. Share your thoughts with the class. 2. What competition did Solli Raphael recently win?3. How old is Solli?4. How old was Solli when he wrote his first poem?5. What sort of challenges did Solli face when he first started writing poetry?6. What type of themes does Solli write about in his poetry?7. Briefly summarise how slam poetry works.8. How did Solli’s poetry make you feel?9. Do you have a question you would like to ask Solli? Go to the BTN Poetry Performance

story and leave a comment.10. Create an acrostic poem about yourself using the letters of your own name to begin each

line.

Check out the Poetry Performance resource on the Teachers page.

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Teacher Resource

How do eyes work?

1. Before watching the BTN story, discuss what you already know about how your eyes work.

2. What does the BTN story explain? 3. Who studies eyes?

a. Ophthalmologistb. Orthodontistc. Ornithologist

4. Try the simple eye test that Matt did in the BTN story. What did it teach you about how your eyes work?

5. Humans have binocular vision. True or false?6. Briefly explain how monocular vision works.7. How does having eyes on either side of its head help lizards?8. What did you learn while watching the BTN story?9. What questions do you have about how eyes work? Working in

pairs, research a question and share the information with the class. 10. Have you seen or heard something in the news you’d like explained?

Send your question into BTN Investigates.

What do you see, think and wonder?After watching the BTN How do eyes work? story, respond to the following questions:

- What did you SEE in this video?- What do you THINK about what you saw in this video?- What did you LEARN from this story?- What was SURPRISING about this story?

KWLHDiscuss the BTN How do eyes work? story as a class. What questions were raised in the discussion (what are the gaps in their knowledge)? The following KWLH organiser provides students with a framework to explore their knowledge on this topic and consider what they would like to know and learn

What do I know? What do I want to know? What have I learnt? How will I find out?

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Episode 427th February 2018

November 2016

Students will investigate and explain how the eye works.

Science – Year 5Light from a source forms shadows and can be absorbed, reflected and refracted

Living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment 

Science – Years 5 & 6Scientific knowledge is used to solve problems and inform personal and community decisions

Communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts

GlossaryStudents develop a glossary of words and terms that relate to the eyes. Below are some words to get them started. Students will add words and meanings to their glossary as they come across unfamiliar words throughout their research. Students may want to consider using pictures and diagrams to illustrate meanings.

Lens Pupil Retina Iris

Optic nerve Vision Rods Cones

How does the eye work?Students will investigate the parts of the human eye and what each part does. Students will use the following as a guide during their investigation.

Draw a diagram of the human eye. Label the features of the eye including the cornea,

pupil, lens, iris, retina and optic nerve. Create a glossary on each of the features of the eye. Create a model of the eye. Explain to another student how our eyes work.

Students will develop their own question/s for inquiry, collecting and recording information from a wide variety of sources (internet, books, newspaper and magazines). Alternatively, students can respond to one or more of thefollowing questions.

How does the brain and eyes work together to give us our sense of sight? How do our eyelids, eyelashes, eyebrows and tears protect our eyes? What is our blind spot? What is short-sightedness? What is long-sightedness? Why are some people colour blind? How can cats see in the dark?

How vision helps us balanceStudents investigate how vision helps us to balance. Watch the ABC Education video Trick your eyes, lose your balance What three things help with our sense of balance? What happens when the people in the video focus on the moving disc?

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Source: Ask A Biologist, Seeing Colour

Dominant EyeMost people have a dominant eye. About 80% of the population is right eye dominant, 10% are left eye dominant and 10% have no dominance. Students conduct the following experiment to find out their dominant eye.

Choose a tall, narrow or small object in the distance, for example, a pole or lamp post. Make sure the object is at least 10 metres away.

With both eyes open, hold out your hand with your index finger pointing up and align it to the object.

Close one eye. If the object appears to move, you just closed your dominant eye. If it stays still, you are looking through your dominant eye. Source: ABC Science

Find your blind spotFind a spot in your eye where you can’t see anything. Students can try the Find your blind spot experimentAfter they have conducted the experiment, they can then research why they have it.

Eyeball ChallengeStudents investigate how different animals see in different ways. Take the Eyeball Challenge: Eye factsand answer the following questions:

What does `field of view’ mean? Why do humans have a limited field of view? What is binocular vision and what does it allow

us to do? Which animal has a good field of view? How do dogs see colour differently to

humans? Find out three facts about a cat’s vision.

The BTN Eye Issues story looks at the condition of short-sightedness. Watch the story and then answer the following questions:

1. What was the main point of the BTN story?2. Glasses and contact lenses help correct a

person’s________________.3. Using words or pictures, explain how the

eye works.4. Why do some people have blurred vision?5. What are the two most common eye

problems for kids?6. If you are long sighted you have problems

seeing things...7. What is short-sightedness?8. Short-sightedness is also called…

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BTN – Eye Issueshttp://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4455904.htm

BTN – Eyesighthttp://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3314154.htm

BTN – Colour Confusionhttp://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4191136.htm

Child and Youth Health – Eyes – how your eyes workhttp://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?p=335&np=152&id=1730

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Teacher Resource

Poetry Performance

1. Discuss the story in pairs. Share your thoughts with the class. 2. What competition did Solli Raphael recently win?3. How old is Solli?4. How old was Solli when he wrote his first poem?5. What sort of challenges did Solli face when he first started writing

poetry?6. What type of themes does Solli write about in his poetry?7. Briefly summarise how slam poetry works.8. How did Solli’s poetry make you feel?9. Do you have a question you would like to ask Solli? Go to the BTN

Poetry Performance story and leave a comment.10. Create an acrostic poem about yourself using the letters of your own

name to begin each line.

What is a poem?Before watching the BTN Poetry Performance story, ask students what they already know about poetry. Use a mind map to record students’ responses.

What is a poem? What is the difference between poetry

and a story?

What do you think?Students will reposnd to one or more fo the following questions:

What do you THINK about what you saw in the BTN Poetry Performance story?

What does this story make you WONDER? Think of three questions you have about the

Poetry Performance story. Remember that good questions are open-ended (have no right or wrong answer and can’t be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’).

What did you learn from the BTN story? Leave your comment on the Poetry Performance story page.

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Episode 427th February 2018

November 2016

Students will understand and experiment with sound devices and imagery in poetry. Students will identify how a poem builds emotional connection and engagement.

English / Literature / Examining Literature – Year 5Understand, interpret and experiment with sound devices and imagery, including simile, metaphor and personification, in narratives, shape poetry, songs, anthems and odes.

English / Literature / Examining Literature – Year 6Identify the relationship between words, sounds, imagery and language patterns in narratives and poetry such as ballads, limericks and free verse.

English / Literature / Examining Literature – Year 7Understand, interpret and discuss how language is compressed to produce a dramatic effect in film or drama, and to create layers of meaning in poetry, for example haiku, tankas, couplets, free verse and verse novels.

GlossaryCreate your own classroom glossary about poetry. As a class, brainstorm terms related to poetry and then find definitions for each word. Students will then write their own example to demonstrate each term.

Meaning Example

Alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of the beginning sounds of words

She sells sea shells by the sea shore

Onomatopoeia

Rhythm

Rhyme

Metaphor

Simile

Imagery

Personification

Interpret poetryAs a class choose and read aloud a poem. Refer to Australian Poetry Library for a selection of poems for kids, or consider reading one of Solli’s poems.

Reading poetry aloud will help students to hear the language and sound patterns within the poem. Before reading the poem discuss the title of the poem, and how the poem looks on the page (e.g. punctuation, number of stanzas). Students will re-read the poem individually and respond to the following questions.

What is the structure of the poem? (E.g. Haiku, acrostic, free verse) What patterns do you notice in the poem? (E.g. verses, line structure, rhyme, sound) Highlight any metaphors or similes that you notice. What words or imagery are used in the poem to convey feeling and emotion? How did you feel after reading the poem? What images does the poem evoke? Illustrate an aspect of the poem.

Blackout poetryThis fun classroom activity is a great way to get your students excited about poetry. Provide a collection of old books and/or newspaper articles which can be cut-up and drawn on, as well as a selection of coloured markers and pencils. Students will then follow these steps to create their own blackout poem:

Choose one page of text from an old book or newspaper to create your own blackout poem. Scan the page of text, looking for prominent or striking words which will form part of your poem.

Circle your first word using a pen or pencil.

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Continue scanning the text and circling words, sentences and letters to create a poem. Scribble over or black out any words that aren’t part of your poem. What you will be left with are the

prominent words which form your blackout poem.

Watch this YouTube video to learn how to make a newspaper blackout poem.

ABC News – Slam poetry champ Solli Raphael is Australia’s youngest ever winnerhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-19/meet-australia27s-12-year-old-slam-poetry-champion/9065068

Australian Poetry Slam – Our storyhttp://www.australianpoetryslam.com/welcome

ABC Education – What is poetry?http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/2116673/what-is-poetry

ABC Education – Why do we create poetry?http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/2118089/why-do-we-create-poetry-

Australia Poetic Library – Poetic Formhttps://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poems-poetic-form

©ABC 2018

BTN: Episode 4 Transcript 27/2/18Hey, Amelia here. Thanks for joining me for another episode of BTN.

Coming up today.

Discover why some recycling schemes have hit a bump in the road.

We'll reveal what's hidden in this secret underground vault.

And have you ever wondered how your eyes work? Matt's looking for the answer, and biscuits, it seems.

Gun Control Campaigners

Reporter: Matthew Holbrook

INTRO: All that and more soon. But first, we're taking you to the US where tragedy has inspired a group of kids to campaign for stricter gun controls. The young leaders of this movement were caught up in last week's school shooting in Florida. Now they've taken their message right to the President's door.

These students have marched out of school, and come to the nation's capital with one goal in mind. Changing their country's gun laws.

PETER, STUDENT: Me and my friends just kind of came to the realization that we need change and we need it now. No one else is going to do it for us, so we might as well do it ourselves.

Here, and in other parts of the country, many kids and adults have shown their anger, frustration, and sadness after another school shooting this time at a Florida high school. It's the sixth shooting this year in the US which has hurt or killed students.

FABIANA, STUDENT: The fact that we can't go to school and feel safe every day when we're supposed to feel safe is a problem.

ANGELINA, STUDENT: Personally, I've cried a lot and it's turned into anger and not violence or anything, just anger as a motivation to actually do something not only for my community but for everyone who lives in the United States.

See, US gun laws are very different to Australian ones, and so are the attitudes towards them. While around 6 per cent of Aussie households have guns, that number's around 40 per cent in the United States.

Owning a gun is seen as really important to some Americans, because the American Constitution guarantees its citizens the right to bear arms.

The National Rifle Association, or NRA, is one of the most powerful groups in America. They donate money to politicians who they hope will support their views. Back in 2016, they paid more than 14 and a half million dollars in campaign ads for now President, Donald Trump. They give

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money to a lot of other politicians, too. Their aim is to protect the Second Amendment to the American Constitution - that's the bearing arms thing.

But what "arms" actually means has changed a lot over time. When the Second Amendment was written, the most common gun was a musket. Today, in the same time it takes to fire and reload a musket, a semi-automatic weapon, like the one used in the Florida shootings can be fired at least 15 times. And if modified, that number can be a lot higher. And that's all perfectly legal in the US if you are 18. These guys want to stop people being able to get powerful weapons like that and for there to be stricter checks before people are allowed to own a gun.

Others disagree. They don't want stricter gun rules, because they say it is their right by law to be able to have one. They say they want to be able to protect themselves. The president, Donald Trump, met with survivors of the shooting, to hear what they have to say, and to talk about what happens next.

DONALD TRUMP, US PRESIDENT: We're gonna do something about this horrible situation that's going on. We're all going to figure it out together.

He's suggested stricter background and mental health checks, but these guys want him to go further, and say they're not giving up the fight for change.

STUDENT: This is 100 per cent preventable. Knowing that we're able to do something about it. We're old enough to speak for ourselves and say we don't want this.

Now, we talked about some fairly scary events in that story. So, if it's left you feeling a bit worried then you can head to our website and click on this picture. There's heaps of info there that can help.

This Week in News

This week's biggest news. Australia has a new Deputy Prime Minister. Michael McCormack became the 2nd most powerful person in Australia after being elected leader of the National Party. He got his shot after Barnaby Joyce decided to step down and move to the backbench.

BARNABY JOYCE: On Monday morning at the party room I will step down as the leader of the National Party and as Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.

McCormack was sworn in by the Governor General on Monday and says he’s excited to work with the PM.

McCORMACK: We are committed as Nationals along with the Liberals to do everything in our power to make sure that we stay in government.

To another Parliament House drama now, brush tail possums are making a nuisance of themselves there by building cosy little homes in air-conditioning units, garden sheds, even in the drainpipe of the parliamentary tennis court.

Gardeners decided to solve the problem by trying to make them a nicer home elsewhere, but while a lot of possums moved into the new digs, a few stubborn ones seem to want to stick with what they know.

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Scientists in the UK have discovered how to make things float using sound.

They've created a kind of tractor beam using 250 tiny loudspeakers that make a sound too high pitched for humans to hear.

But the sound is powerful enough to lift tiny objects into the air. And while it looks pretty cool, it's inventors reckon it'll actually be really handy during surgery to remove tiny blockages in the body.

And finally, it doesn't get more Aussie than this. People from all over the country travelled to Kurri Kurri in NSW to fight for the title of Australia's Best Mullet.

FESTIVALGOER: I've had mine since 1972. Most of the guys I'm competing with probably weren't born then.

The inaugural festival honoured the best cuts in several categories. And there's plenty of experience at the judges table too.

DAN BROWN, JUDGE: I think my mullet's become quite prestigious in the last few years. I'm named the mullet lord.

Organisers hope that the mullet fest will become a tourist drawcard.

Chinese Recycling Ban

Reporter: Jack Evans

INTRO: Next up. We're getting you ready for Clean Up Australia Day on the 2nd of March with a special look at recycling. In the past. we've told you that surprisingly only some of the recycling you put out each week is actually processed and used again. Some of it is stored in warehouses, some is shipped overseas to be processed. But now, China has announced that it's banning this type of import. Take a look.

For us Aussies recycling is just another part of the week. Wheeling out that yellow bin and waving our waste goodbye.

REPORTER: Bye recycling. I'll miss you, safe travels. Oh, hi Meryl. But have you ever wondered what actually happens to the stuff we recycle?

MERYL: John, John he's talking to the bin again.

Well it all goes to a massive recycling plant that carefully separates it into plastic, cardboard, metal and glass. Once it's been organised it's ready to be transformed into new raw materials that can be used to make new things. But it might surprise you to learn that a lot of the time that doesn't actually happen in Australia. Instead we sell a lot of our recycling waste to overseas companies in Indonesia, Malaysia and China. Wages are much lower there so it's cheaper to process and reuse in these countries.

Until recently China was Australia's biggest buyer taking around 600,000 tonnes of waste each year. But on January 1st it announced a ban on waste that hasn't been sorted properly or is too

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dirty to be easily reused. It's part of a push by China's government to improve its own environment and reduce pollution.

TIM YOUE, CEO SMRC: It's all plastic material but it's all mixed, it's different chemical compositions so to make this into new products its quite difficult and previously China and other countries have sorted this into discrete products using cheap labour and it’s what China doesn't want to do anymore.

The ban is already starting to have an impact. Around 200 tonnes of waste goes to recycling depots like this one each and every day. But if it can't be sold on it starts to build up. In some cases, recycling companies have had to lease warehouses to hold the waste until they have a solution.

MICHAEL TRUSHELL, ACT NO WASTE: Worst case scenario it would end up in the land fill, that's essentially the back up.

SHANE RATTENBURY, ACT GREENS LEADER: It would be a travesty to put this resource into landfill.

Some people reckon we should be looking to follow other countries like Sweden. On average only 1% of household waste there ends up in landfill. The rest is recycled into new products or turned into energy. And Sweden's recycling plants are so efficient that it now imports waste from other countries just to keep them open. Back home experts say that despite all these issues it's important for Aussies to keep recycling anyway. And they hope Governments and businesses can work together to find a clever solution and fast.

Ask a Reporter

Have you got a question about recycling? Ask me live on Friday during Ask A Reporter!

Head to our website for all the details.

Did You Know?

Did you know? Each aluminium can you recycle saves enough electricity to run a TV for 3 hours.

Doomsday Seed Vault

Reporter: Jack Evans

INTRO: Australia will soon send lots of seeds to this impressive looking place nicknamed the Doomsday Vault. Next, Jack explains why they need so many of our seeds in such a cold place.

Right now, some scientists are working really hard preparing thousands of seeds to be sent to an underground fortress. The Doomsday Vault.

Actually, it's not as scary as it sounds. It's just a seed bank but one day it could save the world. The seed bank is hidden on a Norwegian island deep in the Arctic. In fact, it's so isolated that more polar bears live here than people. It was designed to store seeds from food crops so humans will still be able to feed themselves if something really, really bad happens and it wipes out our crops.

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Think natural disasters, outbreaks of disease, climate change or even war. That's how this place got the cheery nickname the Doomsday Vault. It's actually more like a giant refrigerator that keeps the seeds cold so they can be stored for a really long time.

It holds nearly 900 thousand types of seeds used in agriculture. Everything from wheat and barley to potatoes, eggplants and almost 150,000 varieties of rice. Who knew there were so many types of rice. And now Australia's about to make its biggest deposit yet as part of the Vault's 10th anniversary, Happy birthday vault. This week more than 30 crates containing 34,000 different types of Australian grain and pasture seeds will be delivered.

STEVE HUGHES, AUSTRALIAN PASTURES GENEBANK: What we have made a conscious effort to do is to capture all the commercial varieties that farmers have grown over the last 50 to 100 years so all the historical ones and all the ones that are currently grown now.

Australia actually has its own seed banks. But they aren't buried underground in the snow they're fairly normal looking warehouses like this one in regional Victoria. And here the seeds are regularly taken out of the vault and used to grow crops. It's the third time Australia has sent seeds over to the Doomsday Vault and other countries will be adding more seeds to the collection this year too. But despite all these extra birthday seeds the vault isn't even close to being full yet. In fact, experts say it has the capacity to store about 2.5 billion seeds. Which means there should be plenty of room for my seeds to fit.

JACK: Does anyone know the post code for Svalbard?

Quiz

Which of these is NOT part of a seed?

Endosperm

Oatmeal

Germ

The answer is oatmeal

BTN Investigates: How do eyes work?

Reporter: Matthew HolbrookINTRO: Hi BTN, it’s Saurabh here and my question is why do we have two eyes but see one of everything?

How many eyes are you looking out of? Because I’m looking out of both eyes but I’m only seeing one overall image. Are you seeing me the same way? Is there just one of me? Maybe not anymore.

The way our sight works is actually pretty amazing, but it's less to do with our eyes themselves, however delicious, and more to do with how our brain handles what our eyes are seeing.

I've come to an eye clinic to meet someone who can explain why. Genevieve is an ophthalmologist. That means she's a doctor who specialises in eyes, and performs eye surgeries. Hmm.

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MATT: Genevieve, why do we have two eyes but only one image we’re actually seeing?

GENEVIEVE: Well Matt, we've got two eyes that both look in the same direction but they give slightly different images that go to your brain, and the brain puts those two images together to give us a picture. Using two eyes we can see things in depth, and we can judge distance better than if we had only one.

And the whole thing happens in a fraction of a second. Having two eyes, slightly apart, also gives us a wider field of vision than just having one. Genevieve’s putting me through a simple test to show why an extra eye helps with gauging depth.

GENEVIEVE: Here's a texta, hold that in front of you at eye level. I'm going to put another texta in your hand and I want you to bring your hand around so that you’re touching both ends together.

MATT: Oh no. Can I do that again?

GENEVIEVE: Sure. I’m going to give you two eyes now.

MATT: Easy!

GENEVIEVE: Two eyes are better than one.

MATT: Two eyes are definitely better than one. I'm sure in real life you don't normally just have to just join textas together, but for simple things: walking around objects, or trying to pick something up, if you have one eye those tasks become a bit more difficult.

GENEVIEVE: Your brain uses both eyes to work out how far away objects are for us. That's why birds like eagles or owls have their eyes close together and in front of their head so they can find their dinner.

That's called binocular vision, that's the kind us humans have, and it's clearly very handy for animals, mostly predators, who need precise vision. Others are monocular, where each eye is used separately.

GENEVIEVE: If you've ever noticed a lizard, you would know that its eyes are on the side of its head. It's good to have a wide field of view if you want to see predators coming that are trying to attack you, so it’s really good to have that field of view but you don't necessarily need to have binocular vision that helps you judge distances. But having said that, there are lots of people that walk around with one eye and they do fine.

So, whether you're a lizard, a tiger, or a human, there are some definite advantages to having the eyes that you do. Unless you're a biscuit. Then you're in trouble.

Quiz

How many times does the average person blink each minute?

Once

4 times

12 times

The answer is: 12 times

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Sport

The Winter Olympics has wrapped up for another 4 years. The closing ceremony was held on Sunday night and featured a beautiful light show, Korean pop stars and the traditional parade with athletes from North and South Korea marching together.

The final medal tally saw Norway take out the most medals with 14 gold and a total of 39 followed by Germany's 31 and then Canada which took home 29 medals. Our Aussie winter Olympians scored 2 silvers and a bronze.

To basketball, the Boomers have beaten Chinese Taipei 88 to 68 to advance to the second round of World Cup qualifiers.

Mitch Creek led the way with 18 points. The Boomers won't compete in the next stage until June.

To AFLW now and the match between Adelaide and GWS was a pretty wet and wild one.

The weather was a pain for both teams and the game ended in a draw with just 19 points apiece. It's been a tough season so far for the Crows they're the defending champions but are sitting seventh on the ladder.

Chinese New Year celebrations continued in Sydney over the weekend with dragon boat racing!

It's a bit like rowing plus there’s a drummer to keep the rhythm going. It’s a popular cultural sport in China that’s been around for about 2000 years!

DRAGON BOAT RACER: It’s quite a good team sport because everybody has to do exactly the same thing.

And people have flocked to Tasmania for a one-of-a-kind bicycle race, the National Penny Farthing Championships. It was a hard-fought contest but James Fowler managed to take home his 4th title. Meanwhile in the junior event Banjo took out the win.

BANJO, JUNIOR BOYS CHAMPION: It's my first time to be first, for all other years I've just gotten third and it feels good to be first.

SEAN, JUNIOR BOYS RUNNER-UP: I didn't expect to get any medals I thought I was just going to be pretty slow cause I only learnt like two weeks ago or something.

Performance Poetry

Reporter: Ruby Cornish

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INTRO: Finally today. We're going to meet Australia's Slam Poetry Champion. His name is Solli Raphael and he's just 13 years old. We asked him to explain what slam poetry is and why he loves it so much.

Now to get evolution, you need to do something that's unique and new, like invent the psychotic robotic barbecue, or an antibiotic 'azotic' beef stew to get rid of the flu and make you feel fresh and new.

I wrote my first poem when I was about nine.

I've been writing since I can remember and I used to write comics and books. So, I've always loved writing and the past few years I've been listening to a lot of rappers so I've come to like rapping as well. And mum showed me a YouTube on a slam poet that I’m actually in contact with now and he's really great and I thought well I like this so I might as well do it.

When I started it was quite hard to find everything rhyming and fitting into the structures of poems and to make a slam poem but now it's pretty easy.

Humans are still willing to believe we can achieve much more than we can perceive to conceive.

They're a lot about politics and equality and education and a bit about the environment. I have a lot of poems that I don't like. I find myself getting better and better each day.

Our government should take the blame for making us all the same even though we don't want to be like the rest.

I've just found I love these topics over watching the news, and BTN and looking at newspapers I've sorta found an interest in these topics. I felt that I was the only one sort of interested but now, being what I'm doing, I've found other people that are interested which is really great. It was really I guess nerve-wracking to go up so each stage went up a huge amount, hundreds of people and audience numbers so it was quite scary going onto bigger stages.

Turns out the house is in a bad position, has a horrible mould condition and is going under demolition. Maybe the agent faked the acquisition. Oh dear, wasn't that a bad decision? Should've listened to your intuition.

With a poem it has a specific structure and what emotion you use in that structure, whereas slam poetry you can use any topic you like, any structure, any form, so slow and fast verses, any stanzas so it's really open to whatever the writer loves.

Transform your pens, let history help our future, speak to those who don't want to listen and embrace our differences.

Using a lot of emotion and passion in your words. Making the reader feel what you feel as a writer. I find that's really important in just using a lot of good emotion in each word and sentence of a rhyme.

We're finding a solution for pollution on our convolution as a counter-revolution and retribution. All for one thing - to prove evolution.

Closer

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Thanks Solli, awesome work. Well that's wraps us up for today but the fun doesn't have to end here you can always head to our website for more whether you're a kid or even a teacher. See you next week for more BTN.

©ABC 2018