Readable, teachable news.
Thursday, May 16, 2024
When you can’t reach your goal, what do you do? Lower the goal, according to the Canadian government.
That’s what they’re doing with Canada’s fitness guidelines. Only 12 per cent of kids and less than 50 per cent of adults get as much exercise as they’re supposed to, so the government is bringing down the standards.
They’re hoping that with a lower goal to shoot for, more people will try harder to get as much exercise as they need.
Recently the City of Toronto started a new recycling program. It lets people safely recycle unwanted electronic equipment like TVs, computers and phones. Before the new program, people had to take these things to a special depot. Now, they can just put them out by the sidewalk with their regular recycling bin, and workers from the City of Toronto will pick them up.
But how could Toronto spread the word about the new program? An ad agency called Publicis came up with a series of catchy TV ads featuring “Chuck” and “Vince.” They’re actors pretending to be wacky recycling workers.
Twenty-seven runners from around the world recently ran a marathon on one of the most remote and icy places on earth — the North Pole. On April 8, competitors from around the world met at the North Pole and ran on the frozen ice for six hours, facing temperatures as low as -32° C.
Contestants flew to Norway from countries around the world. Then they all flew together from Norway to the North Pole.
Manitoba is battening down the hatches because the water levels in the Red River are rising and it is threatening to overflow.
As the weather is getting warmer, large chunks of ice that formed during the winter are breaking apart and blocking the flow of the river. This is called an ice jam. Melting snow and rain are also adding to the rising water level.
Winnipeg is Manitoba’s capital and its largest city. The residents there have been advised to build walls of sandbags to protect their homes. The city handed out 1.8 million sandbags to homeowners. Many volunteers, including students, are being asked to help build the walls.
The basketball season is winding down. This weekend, the playoffs begin.
There are 16 teams in the playoffs. Eight are in the Eastern Conference and eight are in the Western Conference. The final four winning teams will play in the NBA Conference Finals.
The Toronto Raptors, the only Canadian team in the NBA (National Basketball Association) did not make the playoffs this year.
Two years ago, six-year-old Sam Pointon landed his dream job at the National Railway Museum in England. He became the museum’s Director of Fun, a position he still holds today.
While on holiday with his family, his father noticed in the newspaper that Andrew Scott would be retiring after 15 years of being the museum director.
Sam’s hobby was trains. He loved everything about them.
With only a few games left to play in the National Hockey League season, it’s a good time to look at how well or in some cases, poorly the Canadian teams performed.
Canada has a total of six hockey teams. From east to west they are: The Montreal Canadiens, The Ottawa Senators, The Toronto Maple Leafs, The Edmonton Oilers, The Calgary Flames, and The Vancouver Canucks.
The Montreal Canadiens had quite a good season. They won 43 games and earned 93 points. This success guaranteed them a spot in the playoffs and a chance to win the Stanley Cup. All that remains to be seen is who they will play in the first round.
In 1986, Rick Hansen went around the world in a wheelchair – through 34 countries – to raise money for spinal cord injuries.
Hansen’s “Man In Motion Tour” was a major achievement, covering more than 40,000 kilometres. Many people see Hansen as a Canadian hero.
It has been 25 years since Hansen’s historic tour and in that time his foundation has raised more than $200 million to help people with spinal cord injuries.
Sometimes weird can be good.
Weird can be funny too, as demonstrated on the popular YTV show That’s So Weird. The Canadian television show is a sketch comedy program about a group of teenagers working at a fictional television station called So Weird TV.
That’s So Weird has been running for two seasons. The episodes are made up of silly commercials and even sillier television shows. Skits include spoofs of real-life TV programs like Degrassi: The Next Generation, This Is Daniel Cook and the UFC. They have even poked fun at the Twilight movies and Glee.
There will be a federal election in Canada on May 2.
Every Canadian who is 18 years or older and is registered to vote – even people in prison or who are out of the country – may vote.
Although there are many people who are up for election, there are five main ones—one of whom will win.
Each person who is up for election is a member of a different “political party.”
A “political party” is a group of people who all think the same way about things. They think the same way about how a country should be run, how it should spend its money and what is most important.
