:00:00. > :00:00.Hi, I'm Martin and this is Newsround.
:00:07. > :00:15.These students will decide if they are for or against homework.
:00:16. > :00:27.And we get a glimpse of how polar bears see the world.
:00:28. > :00:31.First up the subject of homework - what do you think about it?
:00:32. > :00:33.Should you have more, less or none at all?
:00:34. > :00:37.It's something adults have been arguing about for years,
:00:38. > :00:39.so we put two of them, with very different views
:00:40. > :00:47.on homework, to a panel of ten primary school students.
:00:48. > :00:52.Meet the homework debating panel. We will listen to two different
:00:53. > :00:56.arguments about homework and make a decision about which side of the
:00:57. > :00:59.debate they stand on. The issue of homework has been debated for more
:01:00. > :01:03.than 100 years. Let's hear what they have to say. Nancy is from one of
:01:04. > :01:09.the biggest teaching unions in England. Traditional homework is not
:01:10. > :01:13.necessarily helpful. Sometimes the parents cannot get involved because
:01:14. > :01:16.they are too busy. Sometimes they get too involved and the teachers do
:01:17. > :01:21.not know if you do the homework or somebody else. Sometimes when they
:01:22. > :01:28.try and help, they count. That gets everybody a bit upset. -- they
:01:29. > :01:31.cannot. Chris is from the campaign for real education. If you would
:01:32. > :01:35.like to learn things it is good to do homework. What it does is support
:01:36. > :01:39.your learning. Practice makes perfect. Whether you get home work
:01:40. > :01:42.from school or not, many parents will sit with their children and
:01:43. > :01:48.work with them, because they know it makes sense. Let's be sensible,
:01:49. > :01:53.let's do some work and some play. We need a balance. Then they put the
:01:54. > :01:58.speakers to the test. Nancy and Chris, did you agree with anything
:01:59. > :02:01.the other one said? Nancy wanted to have an enjoyable childhood and I
:02:02. > :02:05.agree with that. We disagree with how much time you should be working
:02:06. > :02:09.and playing. Really good question. We talked about the importance of
:02:10. > :02:12.balance. What I disagree with is I think children your age have to do
:02:13. > :02:18.too much. I think the balance is completely wrong. What did the panel
:02:19. > :02:23.think? I enjoy doing homework. Especially on certain subject. I
:02:24. > :02:27.agreed with the things Chris said. Nancy said homework has to be
:02:28. > :02:33.balanced properly. But I did not think for me it is quite balanced. I
:02:34. > :02:37.get too much homework. I think homework is important because it
:02:38. > :02:41.will help you in tests and in later life. Brilliant dressing points
:02:42. > :02:47.raised today but now it is time for the panel to make their decision. --
:02:48. > :02:53.interesting points raised today. This is of course just a sample of
:02:54. > :02:59.opinion. But in this classroom, 84 homework and two against. Her work
:03:00. > :03:04.has won it. -- eight in favour of homework.
:03:05. > :03:07.And you've been having your say online, nearly 900
:03:08. > :03:10.of you voted about the amount of homework you get
:03:11. > :03:13.8.9% of you said you get the right amount.
:03:14. > :03:17.get enough, but just over 62% said they get too much homework.
:03:18. > :03:20.So that's a quick snapshot of what some of you think,
:03:21. > :03:24.Well, I hope you guys have got your woolly hats,
:03:25. > :03:26.scarves and gloves ready because you can't have
:03:27. > :03:32.failed to notice it's gone a little bit chilly!
:03:33. > :03:34.The extreme weather that's been all over Europe this week
:03:35. > :03:38.Gale force winds struck many areas this morning
:03:39. > :03:41.This is the Forth Road Bridge in Edinburgh where the winds
:03:42. > :03:43.were so strong they'd blown over a lorry!
:03:44. > :03:45.Gales today and it's expected snow will be next.
:03:46. > :03:52.Here's weather man Simon King with more...
:03:53. > :03:59.Some of us have waited all winter pool some snow. Finally a lot of us
:04:00. > :04:05.may see some. For the rest of the night the blizzards continue across
:04:06. > :04:07.Scotland. Into Thursday, more snow piling and across Scotland, Northern
:04:08. > :04:11.Ireland and even north-west England might have some wintry flurries. A
:04:12. > :04:16.bit of snow lying on the ground by Thursday afternoon. Even in the
:04:17. > :04:19.south, all this rain spreading from the south-west, turning to snow
:04:20. > :04:22.across southern and south-eastern areas by Thursday evening. Even here
:04:23. > :04:26.you might get a snow day as well. And we want your wintry
:04:27. > :04:28.weather updates. Send us your pics or your own
:04:29. > :04:31.weather report by going online. Now staying frosty, what's the world
:04:32. > :04:35.like for a polar bear? This footage shows two bears playing
:04:36. > :04:38.and diving through the ice to hunt. Scientists attached a camera
:04:39. > :04:41.to the bears living in the wild to find how they are coping
:04:42. > :04:44.with falling levels of sea ice. That's all from me, Newsround's back
:04:45. > :04:51.from 07:40 tomorrow. But if you can't wait that long go
:04:52. > :04:54.online right now to see the cheekiest animal thieves,
:04:55. > :04:57.like this cat who stole