Huge zucchini mistaken for unexploded WWII bomb

A German pensioner got quite the fright when he discovered what he thought was an unexploded World War II bomb in his backyard.

The 81-year-old man alerted police who rushed to his home in Bretten, near the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, late last week.
But when police arrived they realised it was actually a large zucchini.

Police said in a statement that officers determined* “the object, which really did look very like a bomb” was actually a 40cm zucchini.

The offending* vegetable, which was very dark in colour, weighed about 5kg.

Police believe someone threw it over a hedge into the garden.

Unexploded wartime bombs are frequently unearthed* during construction work in Germany, often forcing authorities to evacuate tens of thousands of residents while they are defused*.

GLOSSARY

determined: figured out

offending: guilty

unearthed: uncovered

defused: remove the fuse from (an explosive device) to prevent it from exploding

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Activity 1. Vegetable bomb

Summarise the article using the 5 Ws.

• Who?
• What?

• When?

• Where?

• Why?

Extension:
See if you can locate the city of Karlsruhe in Germany on a map.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum links: English

Activity 2. Wartime history

The article explains unexploded wartime bombs are frequently unearthed during construction work in Germany, which sometimes forces the evacuation of thousands of residents.

Germany was involved in both World War I and World War II.
Write down 10 important facts about each war. These could be dates, battles, countries involved or anything else you think is important.

Extension:
Research Australia’s involvement in either World War I and World War II.
Write down five important facts from your research.

Time: allow 40 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum links: History, Geography, English

VCOP ACTIVITY

(Vocabulary, Connectives, Openers, Punctuation)

Short Story

Create a short story about a zucchini or another menacing vegetable causing havoc.

Make sure it has voice and dramatic humour to encourage people to want to read more.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity

Curriculum links: English, Big Write, VCOP

E XTRA RESOURCES

REMEMBERING THE LIGHT HORSE HEROES

TOMB MAY HOLD KING TUT’S WIFE

CROC HUNTER’S BIG CATCH GOES VIRAL

TRAM TRASH TO TREASURE

FOSSIL REVEALS ANCIENT SEA MONSTER