________________________________

Play in Nature and Learn

Nature is everywhere! There are oceans, mountains, forests, animals, and
much, much more. When you learn about nature, you can help keep it safe.
大自然無所不在，你要是對海洋，山脈或是動物有更多了解，就可以保護它們。

Playing in nature is a fun way to learn about it. You and your friends can
walk in nature with a teacher. What can you see busy bugs doing? What animals
can you see? Maybe… maybe… you can see a snake!
你可以跟朋友或是老師走進大自然，看看昆蟲，看看樹木花草。可能還會看到一條蛇!

Some nature walks are at night. You and your friends can walk in a forest
with a teacher. Nature is around you. But you can't see much. So... listen
carefully! Shhhhh!
有時候夜遊森林也很有趣。四周被樹木包圍了，什麼都看不清楚。那是什麼聲音...?

Maybe you'll hear this. That's a flying squirrel jumping to a new tree!
What's that?! That's an owl! Wow! Taiwan doesn't have many. To help owls be
safe, help make Earth cleaner. A clean Earth is good for all animals!
你也許會聽到飛鼠跳到另外一棵樹! 或者是貓頭鷹!
貓頭鷹在台灣並不常見，想保護牠們，就要減少對地球的汙染。

Hey! What's that? Is your teacher hungry? No! That's a frog! Taiwan has many
kinds. Some live in trees! How cool!
咦，你的老師是不是餓了? 不對，是青蛙的叫聲。青蛙種類繁多，有的住在樹上。

Maybe you'll see frogs too! Wait! To keep them safe, don't touch them!
不要摸青蛙，牠們的皮膚很細緻，人類的手可能帶來傷害。

It's fun to play in nature and learn! Play and learn how to keep nature safe!
________________________________________
Vocabulary
擺脫城市走進大自然，你會有不同的收穫。

1. snake 蛇。
We should go camping this weekend. 我們這周末應該去露營。
I miss being in nature.我想念大自然。
Nature? 大自然?
The last time you saw a snake,你上次看到蛇，
you screamed and jumped around! 不但尖叫，還跳來跳去!

2. forest 森林。
Because that's one ugly snake! 因為那條蛇好醜!
That's what you get when you go into a forest. 你進入森林就會看到那些。

3. owl 貓頭鷹。
What I want to see are owls and other birds. 我想看的是貓頭鷹跟別的鳥類。

4. hear 聽到。
I want to hear the sounds of the forest at night. 我想聽森林在晚上的聲音。
Like wolves howling. 比如說狼嚎。
There are no wild wolves in Taiwan! 台灣沒有野生的狼!

Do you like nature?
來讀單字。snake蛇 forest森林 owl貓頭鷹 hear聽到
________________________________________
Quiz

1. What can you do when you learn about nature?
a. Eat healthy food
b. Keep nature safe
c. Touch frogs

2. What do you do on a nature walk at night?
a. Listen
b. Jump
c. Sing

3. How can you help owls be safe?
a. Give them food
b. Walk in a forest
c. Make Earth cleaner

Answers
1. b
2. a
3. c
 

________________________________

Hello and welcome back to a new episode of News Bites!

I’m Allie Highsmith.

And I’m Nancy Sun.

In this episode of News Bites: a movement to change school time to 10 to 4pm
for middle and high schoolers

And, closing the gender gap in STEM.

And in this episode’s News Flash: minister
________________________________

上課時間延後兩個小時？教育部正在考慮
Government considers pushing back school start time

*alarm clock*

*yawning sounds*

Ugh it’s so early.

I hate getting up for school.

Me too. But wait! Did you know that there’s a movement to make school start
later?

真假的!!!

It’s true! But it’s still a long way from happening.

A lot of people want school to start later, so the government is considering
it.

More than 10,000 people signed the petition 連署 in less than a week.

The idea is to make school start at 10am.

But that would only be for junior high and high schools.

People signed 簽名 the petition in September, and the Ministry of Education
教育部 said that it would think about the idea, and respond 回應 in two
months.

So… in November?

Right.

In Taiwan, most junior high and high schools start at 8am.

But the new idea wants school to start at 10am and end at 4pm.
連署支持者想要讓國、高中生10點上課、4點放學。

The petition also wants to get rid of classes that are not required 必要的.

Supporters 支持者 say, this way students can get more sleep, which means they
will be more focused 專心 during class time.

They emphasize that junior high and high school students can already get to
school on their own, so they don’t need parents to drop them off later.
支持者?調，國中跟高中生不需要家長帶他們去上課，所以不會影響到父母的上班時間。

Supporters also say that less time in school means that kids would get to
spend more time on hobbies and social activities.

They also point out 指出 that not getting enough sleep can make it harder for
students to learn and could cause mental health problems 心理健康問題.

But critics 反對者 think that even if school hours are less, kids might just
spend more time in cram schools 補習班 and they won’t actually get more
sleep.

The Ministry of Education says it will respond to the petition by November
14th.

What do you think? Let us know by sending your recording to
newsbites@icrt.com.tw.
_______________________________

美國女學生努力恢復疫情前的科學、數學分數
Closing the gender gap in STEM in the US

Have you ever heard of a “gender gap” 性別差距？

Not really… what’s that?

Basically 基本上, it’s when boys and girls are at different levels of things.

For example, a News Bites episode before talked about the gender pay gap in
Taiwan.

In that episode, we explain 解釋 that women make less money in Taiwan than
men do.

That’s one kind of gender gap.

But another kind is about levels of achievement 成就.

In the US, girls don’t do as well at math, and the COVID-19 pandemic made
the problem worse.
在美國，女生數學考得沒有男生的好，而且疫情讓情況惡化。

In 2019, before the pandemic 疫情, girls and boys had basically the same math
test scores.

But after COVID, girls’ test scores got a lot worse.

Why?

Well, it’s not because girls are worse at math than boys.
不是因?女生比較不會數學。

Experts 專家 say that teaching methods 方法 might be better for boys than
girls.

And they say that a lot of girls are less interested in and less confident
with science 科學, technology 科技, engineering 工程, and math 數學- also
known as STEM.

But the gender gap in this case is only in STEM; in reading girls do much
better than boys in school.

So what caused the gender gap in STEM to get bigger during COVID?

Well, in many countries at the beginning of COVID, students went to class
online.
疫情剛開始的時候，很多各國的學生在?上上課。

That kind of teaching emphasizes ?調 something called “rote
learning:背誦式學習.

Some experts think that “rote learning” works better for boys than girls.

They say that girls are usually better at solving 解決 problems in many
different ways, instead of just memorizing.
有些專家認?，女生比較會用多元方式解決問題，而不是用背的。

And before COVID, there were special programs to encourage 鼓勵 girls to try
STEM, but during COVID, those went away.

Before COVID, teaching in the US changed, so that it was less about speed
速度, competition 競賽, and rote memorization.

Instead, schools started using ways that teach students to think in many ways
and think about number problems with concepts 概念.

Schools also invested in 投資 programs that made girls more confident
有自信的, like school clubs with activities for STEM.

That’s really important, because experts say that girls are less interested
in classes where boys dominate占用most of the class discussions.

Today, teachers are trying to make more STEM programs that build resilience
韌性 and problem-solving across subjects.

Some students are trying new things, like building robots, to learn about
STEM.

More girls in STEM means more smart people working on all the world’s
problems together!
________________________________

So, in today's News Bites:

The Ministry of Education is considering a petition to make school start
later for junior high and high schoolers.

But don’t get too excited!

There’s a long way to go before it becomes reality.

The ministry says they will respond next month.
________________________________

And,

Schools in the US are trying to close the gender gap in STEM.

During COVID, students’ STEM scores got a lot worse, but boys’ scores got
better after.

Teachers are encouraging girls to use alternative methods for STEM education.
________________________________

News Flash

In today’s News Flash, our vocab word is “minister.”

That’s a noun, and it’s spelled M-I-N-I-S-T-E-R.

A minister is someone that leads 領導 a part of the government.

For example, in Taiwan, we have many ministries, like the Ministry of
Education 教育部, the Ministry of Health and Welfare 衛福部, the Ministry of
the Interior ?政部, the Ministry of the Environment 環境部 [fade out]

[cut in] Right! Some of our listeners 聽? might remember that we talked about
Lee Yang on an episode before.

Oh right! He’s the minister of sports 運動部長.

And minister is called 部長 in Mandarin!

And now you know!
________________________________

If you have a fun fact or a joke you’d like to share with us, record your
message and send us your Bite-Sized Break to newsbites@icrt.com.tw, and you
might hear it in an episode!

We’ll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!