At 7 pm on 25 of June, 1990 Mark was in the city park because he was going home. At that moment he saw a UFO. It was big with a lot of lights. An alien came out of it. It was about three metres tall, it had a green coat and three big, black eyes. Mark was not afraid at all, so he spoke to the alien. The alien did not understand what Mark was saying, so it went back to the UFO. Mark said goodbye to him and the UFO flew away.
Emy, 7. r
On the 4th of December, students, which participated in English language competition for 8th and 9th grades, went to Gorizia to see a play called A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was performed by members of the English Drama Group from Munster. The play is set in ancient Greece, where Hermia, who is in love with Lysander, is being forced to marry Demetrius, whom Helena loves. Hermia and Lysander then decide to flee to Athens, but Helena and Demetrius follow them. When they are sleeping in the woods a fairy called Puck puts a love potion into their eyes that causes a mess. Demetrius and Lysander both fall in love with Helena and the queen of fairies falls in love with an actor named Bottom, which at that time, looks like a donkey, because of the spell that was cast by Puck. Eventually everything turns out right and Bottom becomes human again, while Hermia and Lysander marry alongside Demetrius and Helena. Throughout the whole 2 hours, the play was giving us very mixed opinions. Although it was hilarious to say the least, some students also pointed out historical inaccuracy with the costumes and some scenes. It certainly was an interesting take to this classic written by William Shakespeare, who is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest dramatists. We all agreed that although the original Shakespeare’s script was used, packed with old English words and all, the play should at least be titled: A Midsummer Night’s Dream Reimagined. Nonetheless, we still had many laughs and we would recommend it to anyone that has a chance to see it.
Julija, 9. r
In the year of 2050 we will have highly advanced technology. It will become an unavoidable part of our lives. Robots will replace the majority of working positions, so a lot of people will lose their jobs. There will be new occupations mostly focused on engineering. I believe that we’ll discover a power greater than electricity, that will run ou devices. I think that traffic will be cleaner and faster. Nowadays cars run on gasoline and on electricity, but I think that in the future cars will run on some sort of a renewable energy source, that we are not yet aware of. There won’t be naval transportation anymore, so seas and oceans will be cleaner. We will focus mainly on the air transportation like flying cars and buses etc.
Scientists will develop cures for a sufficient amount of diseases such as cancer and ebola, that means people will live longer and healthier lives. This will cause larger and larger amounts of world’s population, so we’ll have to inhabit other planets.
Julija, 8. r
Nowadays the media has a huge impact on our lives. Especially in the teenage years, when we are the most insecure, celebrities influence our thoughts of our bodies and of our talents. I think, that there are too many stars that are giving a bad influence on teenagers all over the world, with their innapropriate behaviour and song lyrics. Kids are starting to think, that doing drugs or drinking lots of alchoholic beverages is okay and cool.
I think that parents lost the impact hat they used to have on their kid’s lives. Children rather listen to succesful youtubers or singers who dropped out of their schools, thinking, that they can do the same thing. But they’re not realising, that there are more people who failed to accomplish their dreams of being a big star with a worldwide fame.
The thing that the majority of teenagers probably doesn’t understand is that money or fame can’t buy happiness. In fact, saddly, in most cases, it’s quite the opposite. Actors, that we used to watch on TV as little kids are probably very unfortunate and sad. Living in the spotlight with paparazzi and other media constantly behind you, without the privacy you want isn’t always easy. I think that if you truly want to be happy, you don’t have to own a villa by the beach or a private plane, waiting for you in your garage.
Julija, 8. r
Buses
Buses in Slovenia are of many different colours and they usually have one floor. In England, buses are usually red and double-deckers, which means buses with two floors.
Trains
The biggest railway station in Slovenia is in Ljubljana. The Ljubljana train station is one of the most important railway crossroads in the country. It stands on the Liberation Front Square on the northern edge of the old town. It’s 1,500 m long. There are 25 train stations in London only. For example, Waterloo Station is the train station for trains to the South and the Eurostar is the train to France and Belgium. Eleven London train stations are also underground stations, which means that they are located under the city.
Airports
The biggest Slovenian airport is near Ljubljana and it’s called Letališče Jožeta Pučnika. People use this airport to travel to other countries. It’s used by about 1,700,000 tourists per year. In London, there are five big airports. The biggest and the busiest is called Heathrow. It is used by about 78 million tourists per year.
Jure, Elin, Maša, Robert, 7. a
Britain
In Britain, they drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the right. Most of the roads are free of charge and the distances are measured in miles. The train is the fastest way to travel and there are a lot of train stations. In London, you can also travel by taxi, by metro, by bus or you can rent a bike. There are five public airports in London and the biggest is called Heathrow.
Slovenia
We drive on the right and the steering wheel in our cars is on the left. You need to pay for motorways with a vignette. We have slower trains, which are very old, and we don’t have any underground. However, we use the rent-a-bike service (like Bicikelj) the most in Europe. We have only three public airports in the country – Ljubljana, Maribor and Portorož.
Žiga, Žan, Lara, Nika, 7. r
The Earth rotates on its axis, and this takes 24 hours. Because of this, different parts of the world have different time. Countries agreed on this system in 1884. Time zones start at the Prime Meridian at Greenwich in London and end with the International Date Line. If you cross it, you change days, so you can go from today to yesterday! Samoa decided to change from one side of the International Date Line to the other in 2011. They went from December 29 to December 31, so they skipped December 30!
(Sidenote: the pupils in the group then had to describe their worst possible day involving all the worst events that could happen to them. They had to cram all this into one day they could skip just like the Samoans in December 2011).
Our worst possible day would look like this: First, there is a storm that day and at school, I have five lessons of Maths. During the storm, a lightning hits our house so we have to move to the cousins’ place then. The floor on the way to the cousins’ is frozen, so I slip and I break my leg. The ambulance comes and crashes into a tree, so I have to walk to the hospital. I am robbed on the way and when I come to the hospital, it is closed. So I spend the night in front of the hospital because my leg is too painful to walk. We would be happy to skip this day just like the Samoans did.
Špela, Nejc, Raisa, Gloria,7. r
Britain
Britain has several names: Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and the UK, but officially, it’s The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The capital city is London. It consists of four countries: England (the largest), Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The flag of the UK is called the Union Jack.
Scotland
Scotland joined England when Queen Elizabeth I. – the Queen of England died in 1603. The King of Scotland (King James – her cousin) became king of England too and the two countries were called the United Kingdom.
Ireland
Queen Elizabeth I.’s armies conquered Ireland and it became part of England. In 1920, the south of Ireland became an independent country – the Republic of Ireland. The north of Ireland stayed in the United Kingdom – it’s Northern Ireland.
Tana, Ksenija, Sofija, 7. r
The United Kingdom lies on an island 229,850 km2 big. It’s the ninth biggest island in the world and the third most settled. It has 62 million people.
England is 130,395 km2 big and it has 51 million people. London is the capital, two other big cities are Manchester and Liverpool. The language is English and the current Queen is Queen Elizabeth II. The Prime Meridian goes through England (Greenwich, London).
Scotland represents 1/3 of the UK. It joined England in 1707 to form the United Kingdom. It has 5,300,000 people. Men wear kilts and play bagpipes there.
Wales represents 8,5 % of the UK’s surface and 5 % of the entire population of the UK. The anthem of Wales is Hena Wlad. The languages that they use are Welsh and English. On 20,779 km2, 148 people live per square kilometer.
Norther Ireland’s capital city is Belfast. It joined the UK in 1920 when the South became independent (The Republic of Ireland). It measures 14,030 km2 and has 1,810,000 people. They speak English and Irish there.
Ivan, Žiga, Tadej, David, 7. r
There were nine planets in our Solar System until 2006 when scientists decided that Pluto wasn’t big enough to be a planet. The other, “real” planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus.
Mercury is the smallest planet and it’s the nearest to the Sun. Venus is about the same size as Earth and it’s our neighbour. We live on planet Earth. It takes 365 days to go around the Sun. Mars is also called “The Red Planet” and scientists think there was life on Mars a long time ago. Jupiter is the largest planet and it’s made of gas. They say that the red spot on it is a huge storm. Saturn has a ring and like Neptune and Uranus it’s made of gas.
But … Surprise! Scientists have just discovered a new planet! It’s called planet Mearch. It’s similar to Jupiter, but it’s pink and blue. On this planet there are robots called Yolowci. They speak yolowish. They live in electric balloons. They eat bubble gum and pancakes. They are very kind and sweet. Every thirty days they come to visit Earth because they can. In their balloons, they can travel between planets. In their free time, they swim in chocolate.
Tara & Pia, 7. r