©ABC 2018

Questions for discussion

Voting Age Experiment

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

2. Currently, how old do you have to be to vote?

3. In what year were women given the right to vote?

4. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people weren’t allowed to have their say until

___________.

5. Why do some people think the voting age should be lowered to 16?

6. What are the arguments against lowering the voting age?

7. Why are they holding a mock election at Scotch College?

8. The votes will be included in the official election result. True or false?

9. Do you think the voting age should be lowered to 16? Explain your answer.

10. What questions do you have after watching the BTN story?

Check out the Voting Age resource on the Teachers page.

Australia’s Population History

1. What did the BTN story explain?

2. The world population is

a. 7 million

b. 7 billion

c. 77 billion

3. The population of Australia is approaching…

4. It’s predicted Australia’s population will reach 39 million by ______________.

5. It’s thought that before the arrival of the First Fleet, Australia’s population was less than a

million Indigenous people. True or false?

6. What happened in the 19th century that attracted people to Australia from all over the word?

7. Why was there a baby boom in the 1940s?

8. Why is our population rising faster now?

9. What are the pros and cons of a growing population?

10. What do you understand more clearly since watching the story?

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

Kids Contribute

1. Briefly summarise the Kids Contribute story.

2. Describe the volunteer work Kexin does.

3. Who does she volunteer with?

4. She works alongside Peter who is a ____________________.

5. Why are they trying to restore the parklands?

6. Why did Kexin want to start volunteering?

7. What is the BTN Kids Contribute survey hoping to find out?

Episode 6

13th March 2018

©ABC 2018

8. Give some examples of how kids can contribute at home, school or in their community.

9. What are the benefits of contributing?

10. How do you contribute? Give an example of what you do and how it makes you feel.

Check out the Kids Contribute resource on the Teachers page.

Plastic Ocean Campaigner

1. What was the main point of the BTN story?

2. What is the name of the documentary Airlian has made?

3. What does he call himself in the documentary?

4. What is Airlian passionate about?

5. About how much plastic ends up in the ocean every year?

a. 1 million tonnes

b. 5 million tonnes

c. 8 million tonnes

6. What inspired Airlian to make a documentary about plastic waste?

7. What can sea turtles mistake plastic bags for?

8. What are some ways we can reduce the amount of plastic in the environment?

9. What questions do you have after watching the BTN story?

10. How can you make a difference? Working in pairs, brainstorm some solutions to the plastic

waste problem.

Do the quiz on the BTN website.

Oldest Message in a Bottle

1. Explain the BTN story to another student.

2. Where did Tonya find the message in a bottle?

3. How old is the message?

4. What information was written on the note?

5. The note was part of an experiment by the ___________Naval Observatory.

6. What was the purpose of the experiment?

7. When do experts think the message washed up on the beach?

8. What was written on the back of the message?

9. What was surprising about the story?

10. What did you learn watching the BTN Oldest Message in a Bottle story?

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

Get your class involved in BTN’s Ask A Reporter!

This week’s topic is Voting Age Experiment.

©ABC 2018

Teacher Resource

Voting Age

1. Discuss the BTN story as a class. What points were raised in the

discussion?

2. Currently, how old do you have to be to vote?

3. In what year were women given the right to vote?

4. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people weren’t allowed to have

their say until ___________.

5. Why do some people think the voting age should be lowered to 16?

6. What are the arguments against lowering the voting age?

7. Why are they holding a mock election at Scotch College?

8. The votes will be included in the official election result. True or false?

9. Do you think the voting age should be lowered to 16? Explain your

answer.

10. What questions do you have after watching the BTN story?

Class Discussion Discuss the BTN Voting Age story as a class.

Record what students know about voting on a

mind map. What questions do they have about

voting and elections? Use the following

questions to help guide

• What is voting?

• Who can vote?

• How old do you have to be to vote in

Australia?

• Do you think being able to vote is important? Why or why not?

Glossary

Create your own classroom glossary about voting. Start by brainstorming

words as a class using a mind map to record your responses. Add to your list

of words by downloading the BTN Voting Age story transcript and

highlighting all the words that relate to voting. Find definitions for each word.

Consider using pictures and diagrams to illustrate meanings.

Vote Election Ballot Box Candidate

Political party Campaign Electoral roll Poll

Episode 6

13th March 2018

November 2016

Students will explore and

understand voting in elections in

Australia. Students will plan

presentations using their skills of

verbal persuasion to convince the

class the voting age should be

lowered to 16.

HASS / Civics and citizenship –

Year 5

The key features of the electoral

process in Australia.

Civics and Citizenship – Year 7

Reflect on their role as a citizen in

Australia’s democracy.

English / Literacy – Year 5

Plan, draft and publish imaginative,

informative and persuasive print and

multimodal texts, choosing text

structures, language features,

images and sound appropriate to

purpose and audience.

English / Literacy – Year 6

Plan, draft and publish imaginative,

informative and persuasive texts,

choosing and experimenting

with text structures, language

features, images and digital

resources appropriate to purpose

and audience.

English / Literacy – Year 7

Plan, draft and publish imaginative,

informative and persuasive texts,

selecting aspects of subject matter

and particular language, visual, and

audio features to convey information

and ideas.

Get your class involved in

BTN’s Ask A Reporter! This

week’s topic is Voting Age

Experiment.

©ABC 2018

Class vote Have you ever voted? Students will think of different situations

where they have been able to have their vote. For example, in the

classroom with hands-up voting, at home in family decisions or at

clubs voting for new members.

Does your school hold elections? Get Voting is everything you need

to run a free and fair election for your class or school. Visit the

Australian Electoral Commission to download resources.

Students will investigate the issue of changing the voting age in Australia and develop either a persuasive

text or hold a mini debate.

Persuasive text

Students will explore the issue and develop a persuasive text for or against the following statement: `The

voting age in Australia should be lowered to 16. Students can use the information recorded on the mind map

and their own research to help develop their argument. Encourage students to use a range of sources.

Provide students with the following structure to follow when completing this activity.

Tips

o Who is your audience? For example, are

you directing your argument at kids,

teachers or politicians?

o Explore how language choices can have a

big impact on persuading your audience.

o Which language devices give the report

credibility and authority?

o Which are designed to create an emotional

response in the listener?

o Provide facts and evidence to support your

argument.

o Write in the present tense.

o Check your spelling and punctuation.

Use this Read Write Think persuasion map to

plan your exposition text.

Structure

Introduction

o What is the point you are trying to argue?

Construct an introductory paragraph which

states the issue or topic.

o Introduce the arguments that will be

developed in the body of the text.

Body

o Construct arguments that support your

point of view.

o Each paragraph starts with a topic sentence

which introduces each point.

o The rest of the paragraph gives more

reasons.

o Arguments can be ordered from strongest

to weakest.

Conclusion

o Restate your position on the argument.

o Construct a concluding paragraph that

provides a summary of your arguments and

a call to action.

Source: Australian Electoral Commission

©ABC 2018

Mini Debate

• Working in pairs, students will prepare a 1-2 minute speech for a mini

debate on the topic of lowering the voting age. One person will speak for

the affirmative and the other will speak for the negative.

• Before students begin to construct their argument, ask them to record

what they already know about the topic and what they would like to find

out. Students then research the topic to gain a greater understanding of

the issue.

• Ask students to list their arguments in point form on paper (without their partner seeing them). When

they have done this, ask them to choose the five best points that will form the basis for their debate.

• Students will write in point form, their debate on cards that fit into the palm of their hand. Their debate

needs to have an introduction (introducing the topic), middle (three main points) and a conclusion

(restating their position). Students practise their speech and then present the mini debate to other

students.

Opinion Poll

Students will conduct their own opinion poll on the issue of lowering the voting age. Working in groups,

students will need to decide who their sample group will be and how many people will be polled. What

method they will use to conduct the poll? (Face to face interviews or written responses).

• Ask students to graph the opinion poll results and display in the classroom. Students can reflect on how

reliable they think the results were. What would they do differently next time?

• Students may want to film their interviews and then create a movie to present to other students.

• Compare the poll results from the people you surveyed to the results from the BTN online poll

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/polls.htm

BTN – Voting Age

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4345701.htm

AEC – Democracy Rules

http://education.aec.gov.au/democracy-rules/

Reflection

o How difficult was it to think of points to

support one side of the argument?

o Do you think you would have done a better

job supporting the other side of the

argument?

o Was I able to convince others of my opinion?

o Did my opinion change?

o What did you learn from this activity?

Guide for giving feedback

o Was the information clear and accurate?

o Were the arguments logical?

o Were the counter arguments accurate and

relevant?

o Comments about the presentation style

(tone of voice, body language,

enthusiastic, convincing).

©ABC 2018

BTN – Youth Vote

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3809181.htm

AEC – Practise Voting

http://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/How_to_vote/practice/

BTN – History of Voting

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4464749.htm

©ABC 2018

Teacher Resource

Kids Contribute

1. Briefly summarise the Kids Contribute story.

2. Describe the volunteer work Kexin does.

3. Who does she volunteer with?

4. She works alongside Peter who is a ____________________.

5. Why are they trying to restore the parklands?

6. Why did Kexin want to start volunteering?

7. What is the BTN Kids Contribute survey hoping to find out?

8. Give some examples of how kids can contribute at home, school or

in their community.

9. What are the benefits of contributing?

10. How do you contribute? Give an example of what you do and how it

makes you feel.

Begin by asking students to reflect on the following:

• How did this story make you feel?

o Make of a list of words that describe how you felt after

watching this story.

o Think of three questions you would like to ask about the

story. Remember that good questions are open-ended (have

no right or wrong answer and can’t be answered with a ‘yes’

or ‘no’).

o Leave a message of support in the comments section on the

BTN Kids Contribute story page.

Class Discussion

Discuss the BTN Kids Contribute story as a class, using the following

questions to guide the discussion. Record the main points on a mind map

with ‘contributing’ at the centre.

• What does it mean to contribute? (Doing something to help others).

• What are some examples of contributing?

• Why do people contribute?

• What are the benefits of contributing? (To themselves and the

community).

• How can kids contribute?

o At home

o At school

o In the community

Episode 6

13th March 2018

November 2016

Students will reflect on ways they

contribute at home, school and in

their community.

Civics and Citizenship – Year 3

Why people participate within

communities and how students can

actively participate and contribute

Civics and Citizenship – Year 5

How people with shared beliefs and

values work together to achieve a

civic goal

Civics and Citizenship – Year 7

How values, including freedom,

respect, inclusion, civility,

responsibility, compassion, equality

and a ‘fair go’, can promote

cohesion within Australian

society (ACHCK052)

Economics and business – Year 7

Why individuals work, types of work

and how people derive an income

©ABC 2018

How do you contribute?

Students will think about ways that they contribute at home, school and in the community. Ask them to

complete the following:

Contributing at home Always Sometimes Never

Cleaning and tidying up

Looking after brothers and sisters

Doing other jobs around the house (e.g. taking care of pets,

cooking, helping at the garden, shopping)

Helping adults with technology

Caring for other family members

Helping other family members that don’t speak English

Helping in my parent/guardian’s business

Other:

Contributing at school Always Sometimes Never

Helping at school events

Being a leader

Helping to stop bullying

Helping others with their schoolwork or homework

Helping other people feel better when they are sad or angry

Other:

Contributing in clubs Always Sometimes Never

Coaching or teaching other children

Umpiring

Cleaning, tidying up or doing other jobs

Supporting at games or other events

Helping raise funds

Other:

©ABC 2018

Contributing in your community Always Sometimes Never

Helping during community events and celebrations

Helping people I don’t know (e.g. giving directions in the

street, giving my seat on the train, tram or bus)

Making donations or volunteering

Helping take care of the environment (e.g. recycling,

collecting rubbish, helping animals)

Helping others online (e.g. on social media)

Other:

Ask student to reflect on these questions:

• What was surprising about the results?

• What do you like about contributing?

• How does it make you feel?

• Why do you contribute?

• Would you like to contribute more or less? Give reasons for your answer.

Encourage your students to complete

the BTN Kids Contribute Survey

Interview a volunteer

Identify community or family members who volunteer or make a contribution in your community and conduct

an interview to learn about their experiences.

o Make sure you ask your interviewee open ended questions,

not closed ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions to get interesting and

different kinds of answers.

o Share and compare the stories you have learned about as

a class.

o How does talking to people who have volunteered give us a

different perspective on events?

o What have you learnt from this experience?

©ABC 2018

BTN has lots of stories about people who contribute to their school or community in different ways. Here are

a few or you can go to the BTN Archives page to find more.

BTN Volunteering

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4452868.htm

BTN Volunteer Week

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4000838.htm

BTN Meals on Wheels

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3755220.htm

BTN Fire Fighting Kids

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4112296.htm

Volunteering

Volunteer Week

Meals on Wheel

Fire Fighting Kids

©ABC 2018

BTN: Episode 6 Transcript 13/3/18

Hey, Amelia here. Thanks for joining me for a massive BTN.

Coming up today.

• We find out how Australia became home to more than 24 million people.

• We reveal what was written in the world's oldest message in a bottle.

• And join us for the launch of a special survey that aims to find out just how valuable Australian kids are.

Voting Age Experiment

Reporter: Jack Evans

INTRO: All that and more soon. But we'll start today with a look at Australia's voting age.

It's currently 18, but have you ever wondered what would happen if it was lowered? That's

something that South Australia's Commissioner for Children and Young People is aiming to test

out during the upcoming state election there. Take a look.

"Should Australia lower the voting age to 16?"

JAMES: I think that people who have enough knowledge and they feel confident in what they want

to say and what they want to have a decision in should be given an opportunity to have a vote

because their voices need to be heard as well.

GEORGIA: Personally, I think 16's a little bit young. I feel like people are still maturing and you

know and working out who they are. We don't like... none of us really know anything about politics.

RHYS: I do believe that it should be lowered as it gives a voice to the younger students.

LALLA: I personally think that if it was lowered to 16 and 17 it would only work if it was voluntary,

which means you’d get the people who are educated the people who are passionate about politics

who are voting and not the people that don't care.

At the moment you have to be 18 years old to vote in Australia. Before 1973, it was actually much

older, 21. But that's not the only time Australia's changed the rules around who can vote. Women

weren't allowed to vote until 1902 and it wasn't until 1962 that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander people were allowed to have their say. Now some people think we should make another

change and lower the voting age to 16.

It's something the South Australian Commissioner for Children and Young people has decided to

test out. By seeing how local high school students like these guys at Scotch College would vote in

the upcoming real South Australian state election, if they could. They've asked the students

themselves to hold the elections.

©ABC 2018

LALLA: So next Tuesday we'll be holding a mock election for 16 and 17-year old’s. It will mean that

students in year 11 and 12, 16 and 17, will get the chance to actually learn how to fill in a ballot

paper.

Their votes won't actually be included in the official result. But they will be added after the results

are released to see how they might have affected the outcome. It'll also help gauge how many

young people actually want to vote and what issues they're most passionate about.

LALLA: I think it will have an impact definitely for the people involved with youth because it'll

actually be able to pin point where the issues are and what the issues are that youth are

passionate about.

RHYS: I'd say an issue that is important to me was like seeing how many jobs are offered in SA I

see many people; many young people move out to interstate to get a job because we just

unfortunately don't have enough jobs in SA. So, I would definitely enrol to go see if my voice

counts towards what could happen in the future.

It might even encourage more young people to get interested in politics.

LALLA: I think a lot of the problems come from people assuming that 16 and 17-year olds aren't

mature enough. But then again there’s so many adults that don't know anything about politics and

what's to say the second you turn 18 you're all of a sudden going to have a scope of knowledge.

JAMES: I personally don't have enough experience within politics and I don't feel confident when

I'm at the age of 18 and can vote that I won't have enough education and won't know how to do

that.

For now though, we'll have to wait to find how these guys found their first voting experience. And

we'll bring you the full results later this month.

Ask a Reporter

Have you got a question about our voting age? Ask me live on Friday during Ask A Reporter.

Head to our website for all the details.

Poll

And we'll also make that topic our poll this week. Let us know what you think on our website.

Australia’s Population History

Reporter: Ruby Cornish

INTRO: Okay, over the next two weeks BTN is joining the rest of the ABC in taking a special look

at Australia's population. We'll talk about the impacts of population growth and the arguments for

and against having more people here soon. But first, in part 1, let's travel back in time to witness

our long journey to the more than 24 million people that we have today.

©ABC 2018

People. There are quite a few of them around. But like, where did they all come from? Our planet's

gone from one billion to seven billion in a couple of hundred years, and that last billion’s happened

in just one decade. So, things are definitely speeding up. Here in Australia we're approaching 25

million and predicted to hit 39 million by 2050. But it hasn't always been such a crowded place, and

to understand how we got here we have to wind the clock back quite a bit. It's kind a hard to know

what Australia's population was before the First Fleet arrived in the late 1700s, but most estimates

tell us there were probably less than a million Aboriginal people living here. Things started slowly

but in the 19th century the Gold Rush transformed Australia from a convict settlement into a hot

destination and quickly attracted people from all over the world.

By the time of Federation in 1901 there were nearly four million people living in Australia and our

population was rising steadily. Then in the 1940s the Baby Boom happened. You might've heard

the term baby boomer. It's used to describe people born between the years of 1946 and 1961, so it

probably includes your grandparents. After the war, soldiers came home and the economy was

doing really well, so there was an explosion of, yep, babies.

After that things calmed down for a while but since the mid-2000s our rate of population growth's

been on the up again. Our birth rates haven't really changed much. In fact, some politicians in the

past have asked Aussie families to have more kids, which didn't really work. So why is our

population rising faster now? The answer is immigration. Last year it accounted for nearly two

thirds of our population growth and it's made us one of the fastest growing populations in the world.

So, there are gonna be some more people around. So what? The more the merrier, right? Well, not

exactly. Extra people bring lots of benefits, but there can be issues too. You see, no matter where

they live, people need all kinds of goods and services. And as our population gets steadily bigger

the people providing those goods and services will struggle to keep up. Things like rubbish

collection, water supplies, the availability of food, our hospitals and of course our schools. There all

things that need to be taken into consideration.

So, how are we going to manage it? Can we even manage it? We'll explore the answers to those

questions and more on part two of our population special on next week's episode of BTN.

Quiz

Time for our first quiz.

Is there

More males in Australia?

More females in Australia?

Or is it even?

The answer is: At last count there were just under 200,000 more women living here than men.

©ABC 2018

This Week in News

First up. The leaders of North Korea and the United States have announced they're planning to

meet up. Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump have had some very public disagreements, trading

insults and even threatening each other's countries with nuclear weapons.

But last week in a letter to the President Kim Jong Un said his country's willing to stop testing

nuclear weapons and missiles and offered to organise talks between his country and America.

President Trump accepted the invite and says it's good sign of progress. But others say people

shouldn't get their hopes up.

Back home and more than 70 students and teachers have been rescued from a school camp after

massive floods left them stranded in Northern QLD.

STUDENT: We got stuck at Echo Creek for four days more than we were supposed to be.

For 6 days these guys had to wait it out at an adventure park.

STUDENT: It was a bit boring because of the rain because we barely got to do any activities.

When there was finally a break in the bad weather rescue services were sent in and the students

and teachers were taken home and reunited with their families. The clean-up is now underway for

the 200 homes impacted by the floods but authorities say people still need to be really careful and

stay away from floodwaters.

NASA's Juno spacecraft has sent back some unbelievable new photos of Jupiter's surface. It's

been orbiting the gas giant for almost 2 years and has sent back huge amounts of data.

This latest batch of photos has already helped scientists discover some new things. Like these

strange groupings of cyclones at the planet's north and south poles.

And finally, check out these curious emperor penguins and their attempt to take a selfie. A camera

was left behind on the ice by a researcher from the Australian Antarctic Division and these

penguins got a little nosy. I think they need to work on their pout.

Kids Contribute

Reporter: Amelia Moseley

INTRO: Next up. How much good do you do in your home, your school or your community? That's

exactly what we want to find out with our new 'Kids Contribute' survey.

Soon, we'll tell you how you can share your good deeds with us. But first, take a look at this.

KEXIN, VOLUNTEER: Hi, I'm Kexin and I'm 14 years old. I like animals and nature, I like to see

how they're going. I moved to Australia one year ago, I'm Chinese.

©ABC 2018

Kexin comes here on weekends to enjoy the parklands. She also comes here to help to restore

them.

KEXIN: I volunteer with my mum at the parklands. We do some weeding and checking some bird

boxes, I love that.

They work alongside Peter, a park ranger.

PETER BALDACCHINO, PARK LANDS RANGER: We're trying to recreate the original vegetation

and habitat of this area, which was a Mallee box woodland. Look, you can even eat these

wonderful fruits. Do you wanna have a go at that, it’s got a big seed in the middle. So, the main

thing we do is plant species that would have been here prior to European settlement. How does it

taste?

KEXIN: Well, it’s a little bit sweet.

PETER: Little bit sweet.

Today, Kexin's showing me how she contributes here.

AMELIA: Hi, how's it going? I'm Amelia.

KEXIN: I'm Kexin. We're doing some volunteering today, you might need this one.

AMELIA: Thank you. Alright, cool. Let's put this on. Hat, fits my head, that's good. High vis, alright.

Where are we going?

KEXIN: We’re going that way.

AMELIA: Let’s do it.

AMELIA: So Kexin, what are we doing here?

KEXIN: We’re testing the water.

AMELIA: Okay. So, we’re testing the water, what are we testing it for?

KEXIN: We need some data. To make sure the water is safe and clean.

AMELIA: Kexin, why did you start volunteering?

KEXIN: Because I think I can help someone.

AMELIA: And a lot of animals, do you see any interesting animals?

KEXIN: Birds and spiders.

AMELIA: Spiders. Oh no. I'm scared of spiders.

©ABC 2018

KEXIN: Same.

AMELIA: You are, too?

KEXIN: Yeah, but I like to see them. But I don't want to touch them.

AMELIA: Maybe we can just stay away from spiders.

KEXIN: So, seven is normal pH.

AMELIA: Okay, so that's good.

Kexin loves being out here, and since she started volunteering, she's made some new friends. She

wants to help people, and that's a feeling lots of kids around Australia share. Kids who help out in

their community, at school, or at home.

A 20-14 survey found 42 per cent of kids between the ages of 15 and 17 are volunteers. So,

helping people is clearly something that's very important to you guys. Which is why we want to find

out a lot more about the different ways you all contribute. So, we’re launching the BTN Kids

Contribute Survey. It asks you all the different ways you help out, whether it's doing chores at

home, volunteering at school events, or getting involved in special projects. Like Kexin.

AMELIA: Okay, so what are we doing here?

KEXIN: We’re now collecting the seeds.

AMELIA: So why do we do this Kexin?

KEXIN: We need more seeds to plant in other places.

AMELIA: Okay cool.

KEXIN: Kids can do this now, they don't have to wait to grow up.

PETER BALDACCHINO, PARKLANDS RANGER: She's been terrific. We've only had her for

about 5 or 6 months, but she's so enthusiastic, she wants to learn about all the Australian native

plants and animals, and get her hands dirty, no problems there. Digging up weeds, climbing up

ladders, looking at fauna boxes and getting very excited when she sees some interesting new

animal, there’s no doubt about that. Having volunteers to help out really is fantastic.

It's clearly having a big impact. But Kexin says there are lots of other ways you can make a

difference too.

KEXIN: Well, they can help out their parents, do some housework, or they can volunteer in any

way.

©ABC 2018

Now as you heard there you can jump on our website right now to fill in our Kids Contribute survey.

It looks like this and it's super easy to fill in. You can do it on a computer, tablet or mobile. It'll only

take 5 or 6 minutes - and all of your details and answers are completely anonymous.

After the Easter holidays we'll crunch all the numbers to help tell Australia just how valuable you

guys really are. Thanks for getting involved.

Plastic Ocean Campaigner

Reporter: Jack Evans

INTRO: Okay now. We're going to introduce you to a 12-year old boy on a mission to reduce the

amount of plastic in our oceans. Here's his story.

Watch out plastic there's a new hero in town and he's ready to take out the trash. Introducing

Plastic Free Boy, a 12-year old on a mission to change the world. His real identity is Arlian. He

lives here in NSW and as you can tell he's pretty passionate about plastic waste, well reducing it.

ARLIAN: A year ago I was on the beach with my friend and my mum and I saw three sea turtles

getting released into the ocean and I thought to myself and I told my mum "why aren't these

animals in the ocean already?" and she said "why don't we make a story about it and make a film

about sea turtles". Which turned into the story of plastic. And I found out the reason they weren't in

the ocean already was because of plastic and I thought wow this plastic pollution is having such a

big impact on the sea animals and it might have a huge impact on us human beings and us

children.

You see every year more than 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean and that can be a

real problem for marine life. Turtles can mistake things like plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them.

That can make them really sick or even kill them. Which is why Arlian has made it his mission to

fight plastic pollution and now he's made his own documentary to help.

ARLIAN: Hey, my name is Arlian and I’m making a film about sea turtles and plastic.

Airlian made this film to help reach out to other kids and get them fired up about plastic too and

recently he got to show it at Byron Community Primary School.

ARLIAN: There’s more life in the ocean than there is on land. We need to protect the ocean for the

people in the future because if this ocean isn’t clean from this plastic pollution our water will not be

clean.

Arlian says there are a few things we could be doing now to reduce the amount of plastic we use

every day.

ARLIAN: The things that you can do to make things better for the environment is not use single use

plastic bottles, not use single use plastic straws and not use single use plastic bags.

And he reckons if we work together we can make the world a cleaner and safer place for us and all

the other amazing creatures that call it home.

©ABC 2018

Quiz

How long can it take for fishing line to break down in the ocean?

50 years

200 years

600 years

The answer is: 600 years.

Sport

After a final, nail biting round of basketball the NBL Grand Final teams have been decided.

Melbourne United will face off against the Adelaide 36ers.

Both teams had really close wins. The Adelaide 36ers sixers in particular came from 18 points

down to defeat the Perth Wildcats by just 1 point. The grand final series gets underway this Friday

night in Melbourne.

The NRL is back for 2018 and round one kicked off with a bang.

The Gold Coast Titans started their season with a win against the Canberra Raiders after fighting

back in the second half to convert this try with less than 15 seconds to go and champion Jonathon

Thurston celebrated his 300th game with a 6-point win against the Cronulla Sharks.

To tennis and it looks like Roger Federer may have finally met his match. He was playing against

American Jack Sock at a special fundraiser event when Sock called on a nearby ball girl to take

over the next game.

She held up a pretty good rally before stealing the point with this awesome shot.

And finally, people in Melbourne took to the skies this weekend briefly for the birdman rally. If

you've never heard of it before competitors use their fancy inventions to fly as far as they can off

this platform.

Obviously, they don't get too far. Even Jimmy Giggle gave it a go. The winner, this guy, managed

to fly 8 metres before he hit the water.

Oldest Message in a Bottle

Reporter: Matthew Holbrook

INTRO: Finally today. The world's oldest message in a bottle has been discovered in Western

Australia, 132 years after it was dropped in the ocean. Take a look.

©ABC 2018

Have you ever gone to the beach, and dreamed of finding something incredible and mysterious

washed up on shore? How about the world's oldest message in a bottle?

TONYA ILLMAN, BOTTLE OWNER: I got out to walk around and I noticed a lot of rubbish and my

immediate thought was to pick some up, take it home and throw it out. I bent down, picked up that

bottle that was at my feet and that was it. Simple as that.

It all started when Tonya’s family got bogged at this beach in Western Australia. If they hadn't, they

might never have made the discovery. Obviously, they did, or this wouldn't be a story. Anyway,

inside they found a small, damp scroll, tied up with string. They took the bottle home, put the scroll

in the oven to dry out, and could just make out some of the faint writing.

KYM ILLMAN, BOTTLE OWNER: I had clues. I didn't have the whole story. We had the day, we

had the month, we didn't have the year. We had half of the boat's name, we had the first initial of

the captain, we had the coordinates. They were great.

See, the note wasn't just any old note, but part of an experiment by the German Naval Observatory

to better understand global ocean currents and find faster, more efficient shipping routes. Basically,

tossing notes like this one into the ocean, and seeing where they end up. On the back, the

messages asked the finder to write when and where the bottle had been found and return it.

Clearly, that took a lot longer than expected. In fact, experts here at the Western Australian

Museum think it probably washed up a year or so later, but has been buried by sand this whole

time.

DR ROSS ANDERSON, WA MUSEUM: We think it's the captain, Captain Deikman of the Paula

who probably wrote on this message, put it in this little bottle, threw it overboard and also wrote in

the journal that he had thrown the bottle overboard. So, it's quite stunning. I've never really

experienced anything that corroborates so fully as this.

Of the thousands of bottles thrown overboard during the 69-year experiment, only 662 message

slips were returned and none of the bottles. The last one was found in Denmark in 1934. Historians

have confirmed this one is legit, which makes this a small, but record-breaking find. I wonder if

there's any more. Hmm.

Closer

And that wraps us up for today. But we'd love to hear what you thought about today's stories on

our website. And while you're there, please make sure you have a go at our Kids Contribute

survey. Tell all your friends to do it too. Thanks, and I'll see you next week for more BTN.