©ABC 2018

Questions for discussion

Thai Cave Rescue

1. Summarise the BTN Thai Cave Rescue story.

2. What was the name of the kids’ soccer team?

3. How did the boys become trapped in the cave?

4. How long did it take for rescuers to find the boys?

5. How far were the boys from the cave’s entrance?

a. 1 kilometre

b. 2 kilometres

c. 4 kilometres

6. Discuss the conditions in and outside of the cave.

7. Who helped rescue the team?

8. How did they get the boys and their coach out of the cave?

9. Where were the boys and their coach taken once they were rescued from the cave?

10. How did this story make you feel? Discuss in pairs.

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

What is NATO?

1. Discuss the BTN story with another student.

2. Name two countries that are members of NATO.

3. What does NATO stand for?

4. What year was NATO formed?

5. Why was NATO formed?

6. Australia is a part of NATO. True or false?

7. How do the countries that are part of NATO support one another?

8. What comments did President Donald Trump recently make about NATO?

9. Why are people questioning President Trump’s commitment to the NATO team?

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

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

Kids’ Rights

1. What was the main point of the story?

2. What do you think is meant by a ‘right’?

3. Name some of the rights kids have.

4. Why do children have special rights?

5. Which organisation created the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

6. How many rights are listed in the convention?

7. The rights apply to every single kid in the world. True or false?

8. How often does Australia report back to the UN about kids’ rights?

Episode 19

24th July 2018

©ABC 2018

9. What rights do you think are important for kids to have? Give reasons for your answer.

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

Check out the Kids’ Rights resource on the Teachers page.

Do the quiz on the BTN website.

Megafauna Exhibition

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

2. What does megafauna mean?

3. What is Baru?

4. Where is the new megafauna exhibition? Locate using Google Maps.

5. What was discovered in Alcoota?

6. Describe what a diprotodon looks like using words and pictures.

7. What is the name of the biggest bird to have roamed Earth?

8. What do experts think wiped out megafauna?

9. Imagine and describe what it would’ve been like to live in a world where megafauna walked

among us.

10. What did this video make you wonder?

Check out the Megafauna resource on the Teachers page.

Get your class involved in BTN’s Ask A Reporter! This week’s topic is

Megafauna.

Robot Wars

1. Retell the BTN story.

2. What does Jayden love about robots?

3. What do members of the Adelaide Robot Combat League do?

4. What is the aim of robot combat?

5. There are no rules in robot combat. True or false?

6. What is the difference between the ‘antweight’ class and the ‘beetleweight’ class?

7. What type of weapons do the robots feature? Name two.

8. What message does Jayden give at the end of the story?

9. Illustrate an aspect of the Robot Wars story.

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

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

©ABC 2018

Teacher Resource

Kids’ Rights

1. What was the main point of the story?

2. What do you think is meant by a ‘right’?

3. Name some of the rights kids have.

4. Why do children have special rights?

5. Which organisation created the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

6. How many rights are listed in the convention?

7. The rights apply to every single kid in the world. True or false?

8. How often does Australia report back to the UN about kids’ rights?

9. What rights do you think are important for kids to have? Give reasons

for your answer.

10. What questions do you have after watching the BTN Kids’ Rights

story?

What do you think?

What do you THINK about what you saw in the

BTN Kids’ Rights story? What does this video

make you WONDER?

• Think of three questions you have

about the Kids’ Rights 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

Kids’ Rights story page.

Discuss the BTN Kids’ Rights story as a class, using the following questions

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

‘children’s rights’ at the centre.

• What is a ‘right’?

• What are some basic human rights for everyone? Brainstorm a list.

• What are children’s rights?

• Why do children have special rights?

Episode 19

24th July 2018

Students will learn about the

Convention on the Rights of the

Child.

History – Year 6

Experiences of Australian democracy and citizenship, including the status and rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, migrants, women, and children.

Civics and Citizenship – Year 6

The obligations citizens may

consider they have beyond their

own national borders as active and

informed global citizens

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.

©ABC 2018

Glossary

Students develop a glossary of words and terms that relate to children’s rights. Below are some words to get

them started.

Article Convention Convention on the Rights of the

Child

Right Violate Discrimination

Students will explore in more detail the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A child-friendly version of the list of rights has been created. Ask students to look at the rights and think about which three rights are most important to them and briefly explain why. Students will explore a right in more detail, for example, the right to have a safe place to live. Students will

use the following questions to think about the right in more depth:

• Why are homes different all around the world?

• What is the difference between a house and a home?

• What happens when a child does not have basic shelter?

What were the most popular articles chosen by the students in the class? Make a tally of students’

responses. Students can make a poster about one of their chosen rights. Ask them to think about images

that represent the right and a short caption to describe the right. The UNICEF What are child rights? digibook

may give students ideas about images and captions for their posters. Posters can be displayed in a public

place in the school.

Further Investigation

Ask students if they have ever taken action to make sure their rights, or the rights or another child are

respected. Students can discuss their experiences in pairs or small groups.

What rights are important to kids?

Survey students in your school about what rights are important to them. Think about ways to

record students’ responses – written, audio or video. Ask students to think of creative ways to

share the results with the school community.

©ABC 2018

BTN Kids’ Rights Survey

Encourage your students to take part in the BTN Kids’ Rights survey

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/topic/kidsrightssurvey.htm

The following interactive games helps students understand more about the Convention on the Rights of the

Child.

Which Right is Right?

Ask students to play the BTN ‘Which Right is Right?’ game. Can

they match which photograph goes with which child right? Students

can create their own photo story to help students in their school to

learn more about child rights. They can use their own illustrations,

take their own photographs or use images from an online image

gallery when creating their photo story.

Rights and Freedoms

Students can play the Rights and Freedoms interactive history

game. Match the stories of a group of young people to the rights

and freedoms of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

©ABC 2018

BTN Children’s Rights story Students watch the following BTN stories and answer the questions. BTN Child Rights

1. Which organisation set up the Convention on

the Rights of the Child?

2. How many years ago were the Rights of the

Child set up?

3. What do you think is meant by a `right’?

4. What sorts of things are covered in the Rights

of the Child?

5. What do you think is an important right for all

children to have? Explain your answer.

6. Which right is important to you? Why?

7. Why is there still more work to be done protecting children’s rights?

8. Whose job is it to make sure kids’ rights are protected?

BTN Child Rights – Article 17

1. What is your favourite thing about being a kid?

2. What do you think is meant by a ‘right’?

3. Finish the following sentence: In Australia,

most kids have the chance to…

4. What are some kids in other countries forced

to do?

5. Give an example of a right that is included in

the convention.

6. Do you think it’s important for children to have

access to information from the media? Why?

7. Why don’t some kids in other countries have

access to information?

8. What do you think is the most important right for all children? Explain why.

BTN – Child Rights – Article 17

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4555737.htm

BTN – Child Rights

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4126803.htm

UNICEF – Convention on the Rights of the Child

https://www.unicef.org.au/Upload/UNICEF/Media/Our%20work/childfriendlycrc.pdf

UNICEF – Learn about children’s rights

https://www.unicef.org.au/our-work/information-for-children

©ABC 2018

Teacher Resource

Megafauna Exhibition

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

discussion?

2. What does megafauna mean?

3. What is Baru?

4. Where is the new megafauna exhibition? Locate using Google Maps.

5. What was discovered in Alcoota?

6. Describe what a diprotodon looks like using words and pictures.

7. What is the name of the biggest bird to have roamed Earth?

8. What do experts think wiped out megafauna?

9. Imagine and describe what it would’ve been like to live in a world

where megafauna walked among us.

10. What did this video make you wonder?

After watching the BTN Megafauna Exhibition story, students will respond to

the following questions:

Class Discussion

Discuss the BTN Megafauna Exhibition story as a class. Record what

students know about fossils and megafauna on a mind map. What questions

do they have about what they have learnt in the BTN story? 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?

- What did you SEE in this video?

- What do you THINK about what you saw in this video?

- What does this video make your WONDER?

- What did you LEARN from this story?

- What was SURPRISING about this story?

Episode 19

24th July 2018

Students will investigate the age of

the megafauna. Students will

explore the connection between

people and megafauna.

HASS/ Knowledge &

Understanding / History – Year 7

The nature of sources for ancient

Australia and what they reveal

about Australia’s past in the ancient

period, such as the use of

resources.

How historians and archaeologists

investigate history, including

excavation and archival research.

The importance of conserving the

remains of the ancient past,

including the heritage of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

©ABC 2018

Glossary of key terms

Students will create a classroom glossary about megafauna. Students will start by brainstorming words as a

class using a mind map to record their responses. Add to your class list of words by downloading the BTN

Megafauna Exhibition story transcript and highlighting all the words that relate to fossils and megafauna.

Students will find definitions for each term and consider using pictures and diagrams to illustrate meanings.

Students will demonstrate their understanding by writing their own sentences using terms and concepts from

the glossary.

Megafuana profile

Students will create a profile of one of Australia’s

megafauna using a range of sources of information.

Below are some examples of some of Australia’s

extinct megafauna.

• Diprotodon optatum

• Thylacine

• Procoptodon goliah

• Thylacoleo carnifex

• Dromornis stirtoni

Once students have chosen one of Australia’s

megafauna to research they will find information under

the following headings:

• Common and scientific names

• Interesting things scientists have learnt by

studying my fossils.

• When did I die out? What caused my extinction?

• Where did I live? Describe the habitat.

• What is my diet?

• Description – size, appearance, special features.

Students can use this template to record their findings.

Further investigation

Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast this megafauna with a megafauna from another country.

Compare and contrast size, physical features, habitat and when they became extinct.

Fossil Megafauna Pleistocene Archaeological

Extinction Remains Cretaceous Species

©ABC 2018

Think like a scientist

Students will start to think like scientists and develop their own question/s for inquiry, collecting and recording

information from a wide variety of sources. Students may develop their own question for inquiry or select one

or more of the questions below.

• What does the term megafauna mean?

• Why did megafauna grow so big?

• What might have caused Australia’s megafauna to die out?

• What do scientists learn by studying fossils?

• Did people live during the age of Australian megafauna? What evidence do we have of this?

• What is the connection between Aboriginal peoples and megafauna?

• What theories do we have for the extinction of Australia’s megafauna?

• Why is it important to research megafauna?

Who am I?

Students will make their own Who Am I? game to learn more

about Australia’s megafauna.

Download Who Am I? Template

• Students will research and write clues to correspond

with each Australian megafauna in the Who Am I?

template. Students will include clues about the

animal’s appearance, diet, special features and

habitat.

• Students will test their Who am I? game on a partner.

• Answers for the attached template: 1. Diprotodon

optatum, 2. Thylacinus cynocephalus, 3. Dromornis

stirtoni, 4. Procoptodon goliah, 5. Thylacoleo carnifex

Megafauna Fossil Footprint

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4708854.htm

Museum and Art Gallery - Megafauna Central

https://www.magnt.net.au/alcoota

Megafauna – What is megafauna?

http://www.megafauna.com.au/view/megafauna/megafauna

ABC – The Age of the Megafauna

http://www.abc.net.au/science/ozfossil/megafauna/default.htm

Australian Museum – The Pleistocene Epoch

https://australianmuseum.net.au/the-pleistocene-epoch

©ABC 2018

BTN: Episode 19 Transcript 24/7/18

Hey, Amelia here. Welcome back to BTN. Hope you enjoyed your holidays. Check out what we've

got coming up for you today.

• The lowdown on an international supergroup called NATO.

• The massive, magnificent megafauna that used to roam Australia.

• And the programmers who love sending robots into battle.

Thai Cave Rescue

Reporter: Matthew Holbrook

INTRO: But first today to a story that had people all over the world glued to their screens during

the holidays. I'm talking, of course, about the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach

from a cave in Thailand. They're all out of hospital now and last week they made their very first

public appearance to thank the people who helped to bring them home. Take a look.

Life's starting to return to normal for this now famous soccer team, whose incredible story has kept

the world captivated for weeks. Today, they're doing their stretches, kicking a ball around, and

laughing together. They're also talking to the public for the first time about the moment they met

their rescuers.

ADUL, WILD BOARS SOCCER TEAM: I said "hello" or something like that. When they said hello

to me, I said hello back. It was so magnificent.

On June 23rd, the Wild Boars soccer team visited the Tham Luang cave after practice. They went

exploring, deeper than they'd ever gone before. But then heavy rain started to fill the cave with

water. To escape the floods, they had to go further into the cave, where they became trapped.

Within 24 hours, a search operation was underway. But it would take more than a week just for

rescuers to find the boys, deep in the flooded, dark caves.

To everyone's relief, the boys were alive and well. But getting them out was tricky. Trapped a

kilometre underground, and four kays from the cave's entrance. Rain kept falling, flooding the cave

further, and making conditions really difficult. Specialised divers, including an Aussie, joined in the

operation. But even for the experts, it was dangerous.

A former Thai NAVY Seal diver died while replacing oxygen tanks along the route. With more rain

coming, authorities sped up their escape plan, which involved two divers helping each boy through

a series of narrow passages, one by one. The smallest gap was just 38 centimetres high, a bit

bigger than a school ruler.

MASTER SERGEANT DEREK ANDERSON, U.S. DIVE OPERATIONS COMMANDER: There

were certain areas that involved floating them, there were certain areas that involved diving them,

swimming them.

©ABC 2018

Finally, after a long, tense mission, the first four boys were brought out safely.

NARONGSAK OSOTTANAKORN, RESCUE COMMANDER: After 16 days of waiting, today we

saw the faces of the Wild Boars soccer team.

They were taken straight to hospital in nearby Chiang Rai by ambulance. Spirits were high, but

eight boys and their coach were still trapped.

CRAIG CHALLEN, AUSTRALIAN CAVE DIVER: In some ways it would be worse for everyone

involved if we had good outcomes, and then started to go wrong so we were still pretty toey.

After two separate rescue attempts, all 13 were out safely, and recovering in hospital.

ADUL, WILD BOARS SOCCER TEAM: Hello. I am Adul. Now I am very fine. Thank you so much.

NOTE, WILD BOARS SOCCER TEAM: Hello, my name is Note. Right now, I am healthy. I want to

say thank you for helping us.

NICK, WILD BOARS SOCCER TEAM: Hello, I'm Nick. I'm strong. Thanks for worrying. Thanks for

helping us out, and don't worry, we're safe now.

The team, and their coach, say they're really grateful to their rescuers. And while they've now got

fans around the world who are all relieved to see them safe, the people who are happiest to have

them home are their families.

Was that an incredible story, or what? So glad they got out.

What is NATO?

Reporter: Imogen Archer

INTRO: Well, now to another big news story that happened during the holidays involving the US

President and NATO. That’s an alliance between a group of countries, that have promised to

protect each other. A few weeks ago, their leaders got together for a big meeting in Brussels but

things got a little bit awkward. So, what happened? And what is NATO anyway? Let's find out.

It's a powerful organisation made up of some of the world’s biggest superpowers.

AMERICA

ENGLAND

FRANCE

GERMANY

CANADA

ITALY

SPAIN

TURKEY

©ABC 2018

Oh, and some smaller countries too. Together, they are NATO. And they are on a mission to work

together for peace and stability. NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. It started way

back in 1949. The world was still recovering from the 2nd World War. And there were new tensions

brewing. In particular between the US, it's Western European Allies and the Soviet Union. It was a

collection of communist states lead by Russia.

The Western countries were worried that the Soviet Union was becoming more powerful. So, they

decided to band together to protect what they saw as their shared values. They agreed that if one

member of the organisation was attacked, the others would defend them. Back then, there were

only 12 members.

REPORTER: You may have notice Australia isn't there. Well that's because of a really simple

reason. We are nowhere near the North Atlantic Ocean. Although we do have agreements with a

lot of NATO countries.

NATO has since grown to include 29 countries, which have all promised to use their superpowers

to protect one another. Together they've been involved in missions right around the world. But now

there are worries that there's some tension between NATO's most powerful members. Since he

was elected, US President Donald Trump has been making and tweeting some comments about

NATO which has made some people wonder whether he still wants the US to be a member. He

says that because US has the biggest military, it ends up spending more on NATO operations.

DONALD TRUMP: Because the United States has been paying a tremendous amount.

Over the holidays, there was a NATO summit at its headquarters in Brussels. Mr. Trump made

headlines with some stern words to his NATO allies.

DONALD TRUMP: I was extremely unhappy with what was happening, and they have substantially

upped their commitment.

He also met with the leader of NATO's former enemy, Russia. That made some people question

Trump's commitment to the NATO team, but Mr. Trump disagrees. He says that he's going to

make NATO stronger and better than ever. And that this super alliance will continue for many

years to come.

Quiz

What country is the newest member of NATO?

Is it Croatia?

Slovenia?

Or Montenegro?

It's Montenegro. It became the 29th member just last year.

This Week in News

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladamir Putin might be meeting up again

soon. Their talks in Helsinki caused a bit of controversy when Mr Trump appeared to support

President Putin despite accusations that he'd meddled in the last US election.

©ABC 2018

But President Trump said it went well and he's now invited Mr Putin to Washington later this year..

Meanwhile in Australia there's been a lot of talk about a new online service which lets your doctor

upload your health details. It's designed to make it easier to treat patients. But a lot of people are

worried about how secure the data is and who will be able to access it. So, the government’s giving

people 3 months to decide whether or not they want to be involved.

And San Diego Comic Con has wrapped up for 2018. It's the world’s biggest comic con where fans

get a chance to dress up as their favourite characters and get a glimpse of what will soon be hitting

our screens. Including the next instalment of Fantastic Beasts and the next season of Dr Who

featuring the first female doctor.

Kids’ Rights

Reporter: Amelia Moseley

INTRO: Now, over the next couple of weeks, we want to hear from you about a very important

topic, your rights. Yup, kids have them just like adults and Australia's part of a big international

agreement that says it'll make sure to uphold them. This year the Aussie Children's Commissioner

has to report back to the United Nations to let it know how we're going with that. But first, she

wants your help. Check it out.

SIENNA: As a kid, did you know we have the right to?

PIYUSH: Play.

CHRISTINE: Learn.

ABRAHAM & SCOTT: Be heard.

AADI: To be safe.

SOPHIE: To eat healthy food and drink clean water.

NATASHA: And the right to healthcare.

For a long time, we've recognised humans should have rights. They're things that everyone needs

to survive, to be treated fairly and to reach their full potential, and kids are no exception.

AMELIA, REPORTER: While your rights are similar to my rights as an adult; yours are a bit more

special, because you're still growing and learning, and adults are meant to be taking care of you,

right?

That's why back in 1989, the United Nations created The Convention on the Rights of the Child. It's

like a rulebook for making sure kids are safe and happy. It lists 42 different rights. Yup, including all

those ones from earlier, plus a whole lot more. And they apply to every single kid in the world; no

matter their religion, race or abilities, their culture, gender or whether they're from a wealthy

country or a developing one.

©ABC 2018

Nearly every nation in the world has signed The Convention on the Rights of the Child. Although, a

lot of governments still have a lot of work to do to provide kids with the rights they've been

promised.

Here in Australia, most kids have it pretty good, but some are struggling, and the UN wants to

make sure we're not dropping the ball. So, every four years Australia has to report back to the UN

and tell them how we're going taking care of our country's kids. The person who's in charge of

doing that is the Childrens' Commissioner, Megan Mitchell and before she reports back in

November she wants to hear from you

MEGAN MITCHELL, CHILDREN’S COMMISSIONER: I’ve teamed up with Behind the News to

design a poll so that your voices are heard. Doing this poll will help me take your ideas directly to

the United Nations and make sure you have one of your most important rights met, your right to

have a say.

AMELIA: Over the next few weeks, you'll have the opportunity to take part in the BTN Kids' Rights

Survey to tell us and the UN which rights are the most important to you and how Australia can

make sure they're upheld. Hey. Where are you going? I haven't finished the story yet.

SIENNA: I have the right to go play.

AMELIA: Oh. Fair enough.

AAND: As a child in Australia, I appreciate having a good education.

SOPHIE: I think it’s really good that being a child in Australia, I get to be a kid and play video

games and don't have to work.

SIENNA: The most important right to me is drinking clean water and eating healthy food because

as we get older we need nutrients in our body to become stronger.

NATASHA: As a kid, I think it's important that every child should be able to express how they're

feeling on problems around the world and create an impact to help fix the problems.

We’d love to hear from as many of your guys as possible. So, to take part in the kids’ rights survey

just head to our website and look for the links.

Megafauna Exhibition

Reporter: Amelia Moseley

INTRO: Next up, to some fascinating Aussie animals. I'm not talking about platypuses or

echidnas. I'm talking about diprotodons, dromornis, oh, and a monstrous crocodile named Baru. If

you've never seen them before there's a really good reason, they're dead and have been for a very

long time. But an exhibition in the Northern Territory's bringing Australia's megafauna back to life.

Well, kinda. Take a look.

Australia's a big country with a lot of big, wide open spaces. So, it kinda makes sense, when you

think about it, that at some point we had some really, really big animals.

No, I'm not talking about dinosaurs that died out 65 million or so years ago. I'm talking about 450-

kilogram kangaroos, seven-metre-long lizards and wombats the size of trucks just roaming around

©ABC 2018

the countryside alongside human beings. These big old creatures are known as megafauna. You

know 'mega' being big and 'fauna' being animals. Makes sense, really.

Here in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, visitors have been flocking to this museum to see

local megafauna. Well, what's left of them. Australia’s megafauna are sadly history now. Well,

maybe not so sad for these happy little homosapiens who would've made a tasty snack for, say,

this big guy. He's named Baru and he's basically an ancient supercroc. He would've hung out near

here around 8 million years ago.

DR ADAM YATES, MUSEUM CURATOR It was a monster of a crocodile, about as big as the

biggest modern saltwater crocodiles, but heavier, stronger, more muscular. It had big long, sharp

claws unlike a modern crocodile and much bigger teeth than a modern saltwater crocodile.

Uh, so, friendly then? All of the museum's fossils were found just out of Alice Springs in a place

called Alcoota. It's one of the best fossil sites in Australia. The bones of 30 different species and

3000 individual animals have been uncovered here including, yup, you guessed it, lots of

megafauna.

Palaeontologists say back in the day, there would've been a watering hole in Alcoota. That

would've attracted not just Baru, but probably a few of these. Giant wombats, also known as

diprotodons; the largest mammal ever to live in Australia. These characters would've also been

wandering about. They're called dromornis stirtoni, the biggest birds ever known to have roamed

the planet, and apparently Baru's favourite food.

So, we know quite a lot about megafauna, but there's still one big question, what wiped them all

out? Well there's a lot of debate about that. Some experts reckon it was the natural result of

changes in the climate. Others think that it might've been the arrival of humans hunting them into

extinction.

At least this display isn't going anywhere anytime soon. So, visitors big and small can have the

chance to learn about our magnificent megafauna and imagine what it would've been like to live in

a world where they still walked among us.

KID 1: Umm, pretty scary.

KID 2: 8 million years ago, if I saw one of those crocodiles, I think I would probably freak out so

much that I'd die.

Ask a Reporter

Do you have a question about the Megafauna? Ask me live on Friday during Ask a Reporter. Just

head to our website for the details.

Did you know?

Did you know that some experts think diprotodons might have inspired stories of bunyips, the

mythological creatures said to lurk in Australian swamps, creeks and riverbeds?

©ABC 2018

Sport

French Football fans have had a pretty good few weeks. Just in case you hadn't heard already

France took out this year's FIFA World Cup. And the celebrations were huge. They beat Croatia 4-

2 in what turned out to be a pretty exciting final. It was France's second world cup win in history

after winning its first cup back in 1998.

Meanwhile Aussie basketball star Liz Cambage has made history in the US. Breaking a record in

the women's basketball league.

She plays for the Dallas Wings and her 53 points are the highest ever in a single game.

LIZ CAMBAGE, WNBA PLAYER: It's pretty big, I've had big numbers in China I've had big

numbers in Australia, I've heard a lot of people say I can't have big numbers in the WNBA, so I

guess this game is for y'all.

The world's best athletes have been honoured at the ESPY awards. They're handed out every year

to high achieving teams and individuals. Like snowboarder Chloe Kim, who took out best female

athlete.

CHLOE KIM: I imagine this is what Frances McDormand felt like when she won an Oscar.

Aussie Sam Kerr also did us proud taking out the award for the best international women's soccer

player.

And some impressive young Aussie athletes have been turning heads at the X-Games. It's

basically the world's biggest extreme sports event. And while the US athletes usually dominate, the

Aussies gave them a run for their money this year.

Logan Martin won a gold medal in the BMX park and silver in the BMX dirt. While Jacko Strong

won his 4th gold medal with in the best trick competition.

Meanwhile pocket rocket Sabre Norris won silver in the skateboard park scoring high with her

signature 540.

BTN Podcast Promo

BTN has a brand-new podcast. We’re bringing you the hard hitting, quirky, and just plain weird

news stories of the day. There’s a new episode out every weekday. You can get it as a podcast, on

the BTN website and, if you’ve got one, on your smart speaker. Tune in and we’ll brush up on the

news together.

©ABC 2018

Robot Wars

Reporter: Matthew Holbrook

INTRO: Finally, today. Let's talk about robots. Yes, they have the potential to do heaps of cool

stuff that could make our lives easier. But then they could also be used to fight each other to a

circuit-breaking electronic demise. Yup, it's all part of a growing sport known as robot combat

where clever programmers pit their robotic creations against each other. Let's find out why it's

worth taking seriously.

JAYDEN, ROBOT COMBAT COMPETITOR: My name's Jayden and I've been here competing the

last two years, and I've really enjoyed every moment of it.

Like a lot of teenagers, Jayden loves robots. He loves building them, programming them, and

making them smash other robots into tiny little pieces.

JAYDEN: I've built many robots that just try to be as bullet proof as possible. I'm all about attacking

and just being very aggressive.

He's part of the Adelaide Robot Combat League, a group that meets to build and battle their own

robotic creations.

JAYDEN: Once you get the basics of it, it's pretty simple. Repetition, constantly building a different

robot to make it better, stronger.

The aim of robot combat is pretty simple. Build a robot as smashy and destructive as possible. But

like in any sport, there are rules and regulations. The battle zone is surrounded by plastic, so

combatants, or viewers don't get caught up in the action when stray parts fly around.

There are also different weight classes. These guys compete in a 150 gram "antweight" class, and

a 1.36 kilogram "beetleweight" class. But they can get much bigger. There are tournaments around

the world, where the weight limit is well over a hundred kilos. But no matter how big, or small, the

action can still be brutal.

CHRIS BYCROFT, COMPETITOR: There's nothing like the rush of driving these, your hands are

shaking afterwards.

Tactics are really important, too. Some are designed to be aggressive and destroy their opponents,

others to survive and outlast. They can feature weapons like flippers, crushers, vertical spinners

and axes and hammers. And sometimes the simplest designs are the most effective.

JAMES EDDY, ROBOT COMPETITOR: I run wedge bot, so basically no weapon and all my areas

in defence, so I tend to rush their weapons a fair bit and try and stop them from spinning up or

activating their weapon.

While a robot with a tiny hammer may not be all that useful in the real world, unless, that is, we get

attacked by other tiny robots and we need all of the tiny robots to fight on our behalf in a glorious

sprockety death, building and programming them, takes some serious STEM skills. Which these

guys might one day use to help humanity, rather than destroy its tiny mechanical friends.

JAYDEN: I'm definitely in the future looking at trying to be a mechanical engineer or something,

and I really love STEM and building and stuff. I'm definitely trying to get people interested in robots.

Trying to get them looking towards the future of coding and engineering.

©ABC 2018

Closer

Well who knew robots fighting each other would be that entertaining. Well that's it for today, but

we'll be back next week as usual. And if you miss us in the meantime jump on the website. And

don't forget to fill out our Kids Rights Survey. See you next time.