17/03/2016 Newsround

Hi, I'm Ayshah with your Thursday morning Newsround update.

First, the Big Bang Fair has kicked off in Birmingham.

It's the largest celebration of science, technology,

engineering and maths for young people in the UK.

It aims to inspire young scientists and engineers so I went along

to check it out.

Hello!

Is this thing on?

How does it work?!

Now, I'm no technology expert, but luckily, these guys are.

75,000 kids have packed out the NEC to learn more about maths

and science by having a go at some really cool stunts and experiments.

We've learnt that paper isn't actually really, really weak.

You can build really tall towers out of it.

We built a 20-centimetre tower out of it.

We took a pig's heart out.

Why did you do that? Because...

To know what it's like to be a doctor if you want to be one.

We got to touch it. What was that like?

It was disgusting!

I'll probably be an engineer more than a scientist.

Why?

Because you can create things and build things.

And I'm quite good at that.

There's jobs in science or maths, so you won't be able to get many

jobs if you didn't know any of them.

There's also to things you can learn, explore and discuss,

from giant Hollywood special effects to this massive Easter egg.

And it shows in here the stages to making your favourite chocolate.

I should probably eat it now.

This is the defender for England under-17s football squad.

She's been working with a mathematics expert to come up

with a formula that calculates how to take the perfect free kick.

The perfect free kick, they've done loads of studies into it.

The formula looks quite confusing.

Basically, it's trying to get as much spin on the ball

as possible, because when the ball spins, it kind of curves.

So to get the perfect spin, thinking about the equation helps

you and over time it just becomes natural.

These studies are really helpful.

Well, that was embarrassing, but it just goes to show that

science and maths can be part of everything

we do, even football.

Well, I'm shattered.

So much cool science stuff to do, from drones to spaceships,

surgery and everything else in between.

I think I'm going to find the guy with the chocolate.

Next, could your school day be about to get longer?

Well, the Government said yesterday kids in England might be spending

more time in the classroom in the future.

The idea was announced in yesterday's Budget.

That's when the man in charge of spending the UK's money,

George Osborne, sets out his plans for the year ahead.

Ricky's got this one.

3:30pm and it's home time. It's when most of you finish school.

But the Government announced plans to extend the school day in England

so you finish later in the afternoon.

It means secondary schools in England could be opened up

for a few extra hours a week.

Now, that's additional time that would be used for more lessons

and even after-school activities like art and technology.

So how would you feel about staying at school for longer?

It'll be all right if it's good lessons.

If it's bad lessons, it won't be good.

I like being in school and having fun, but when you stay on too long,

it just doesn't feel right.

I have to go home to do my homework straight away, but if you had longer

hours in school, I could get the teachers to help me do it.

If we're there longer, it will affect our learning,

because we won't be concentrating as much because we'd be tired.

If children had extra education then they wouldn't have enough time to do

the stuff children should be doing, like hanging out with friends.

I think I would miss more time with my family and playing

with my brothers and sisters.

Some teacher groups don't think the extended hours are a good idea,

saying children will miss out on family time at home and that some

schools might struggle to find enough money to stay

open for longer.

The Government said they will give money to help schools in England,

but there may not be enough for everyone.

So if your school decides to extend your day, well,

you could be in the classroom for a little bit longer.

We asked you what you think about the idea of a longer school

day and absolutely loads of you have been in touch.

Stan in Southampton says that if they make school longer a lot

of children won't have time to do their homework

and relax after school.

It will be home, homework, tea and then bed!

Rebecca agrees, saying: I don't think children should have longer

days because they might not be able to do the other things that

are important, like getting exercise.

And Yazmin in Gloucestershire is worried about losing out

on family time.

She says: At weekends we are more busy doing homework.

As well as plans to charge your school day, the Government's also

said many sweet, fizzy drinks are about to get more expensive,

to try and get us to cut down on sugar.

They say the extra money raised from sugary drinks is expected to be

hundreds of millions of pounds a year.

The changes will start in two years' time.

Now to treasure under the sea, and a 500-year-old shipwreck has

been uncovered off the coast of Oman.

Divers have been busy exploring the wreckage of the ship,

thought to have been part of a Portuguese explorer's fleet,

which they think sailed in 1503.

Using special equipment they've found ceramics,

a bell and an incredibly rare silver coin called an Indio,

one of only two known to exist today.

Wow!

That's all your news for this morning.

Newsround's back at 4.20pm this afternoon, so don't miss it.

Bye-bye.