Fun Zone
SPARKY LEADS THE CHARGE
One sunny morning, Peadar and Niamh were playing in the garden with their remote control car when suddenly it stopped working! They ran inside to get Aunty Mary; she'd know what to do. "Why has our car stopped working?" asked Niamh. "Should we take it to the recycling centre?" After close inspection of the toy, Aunty Mary looked up "Ah the problem is that its batteries have run out," Aunty Mary replied. "Why don't you take a stroll down to the shops and buy some more while I finish up making this cake."
On the way, the children bumped into an old friend. "SPARKY!!!" they cried with glee "we're going to the shops to buy some new batteries so that we can play with our car again, want to come?" "Sure" said Sparky. And on they went.
When they reached the shop there were lots and lots of battery types to choose from. Some were big batteries. Some were small batteries. And some looked a lot like buttons off a shirt. "What's the difference?" asked Peadar, looking confused.
"Well," said Sparky, "different toys need different sized batteries. It's important you choose the right size for yours. You know if you buy rechargeable batteries, it's even better." "Rechargeable?" asked Mary, joining Peadar looking confused "What's that???"
"Well," explained Sparky "Rechargeable means that when the batteries run out, you can plug them in, charge them up and use them again and again without having to buy new ones. Also, you'll be helping the environment because batteries are full of chemicals that need to be recycled very carefully, like WEEE does. If you use rechargeable batteries though, you can make them last far longer before you recycle them." "Sounds great" said Peadar and they went to pay for their new purchase.
Once they bought their batteries, they all went back to Aunty Mary's garden again. Here they played and laughed and joked until dinnertime when Sparky had to fly home. "Gee," said Niamh "I wonder if we could recharge our play time so that can last longer too!" They all burst out laughing and Aunt Mary nearly dropped her cake in surprise.
Remember: Batteries come in all different sizes
but they can all be recycled! Buying rechargeable batteries is
always best if you can; then you can have fun like we did today!
See you next time!
Q1: What did Aunty Mary do while the children were at the shop?
Q2: What reasons were given to use rechargeable batteries?
Q3: Why are batteries bad for the environment if not treated correctly?
