Wednesday, 6 April, 2022
Roll up your sleeves for the planet; the world’s favourite smell; fighting trolls on the internet; and the owl who just wants to be on TV.
LINKS
The owl who wanted to be on TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9scJ8YFdH_I
Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours:
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/fresh-food-kids/discoverytours
Squiz Kids for Schools: https://www.squizkids.com.au/squiz-kids-for-schools/
Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber Content: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/squiz-kids/id1494238283
How To Become A Squiz Kids Correspondent: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FH2HA28InnLU6UxE91wrLBAbCMT40Mua/view
Squiz Kids Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squizkids/?hl=en
Got a birthday coming up and you want a shout-out? Send us an email at [email protected]
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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An important report into the health of the planet was released yesterday and the outcome was clear: it’s time we all rolled up our sleeves to help the Earth.
The report was from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – or IPCC for short – which is a group of super-smart climate scientists from countries all over the world who regularly get together to do a medical check up on planet Earth.
And their expert opinion is that while things are not great: we can all do our bit to turn things around and help the Earth get healthy again.
Changing what we eat – so there’s less meat in our diets – changing the way we get around – so that we’re less reliant on petrol-guzzling vehicles – and changing the energy we use – so that we’re burning less fossil fuels, like coal, and drawing more of our energy from renewable sources like wind and solar – can all play their part in the Earth’s recovery.
The good news? While there’s still a long way to go before the planet gets a clean bill of health – the report found that 36 countries around the world have successfully cut greenhouse gas emissions, and the cost of renewable energy has dropped significantly too – making it more affordable for people to use.
The other good news: well, that would be you. Each one of you has a chance to make small changes that can make a big difference. Which is just as well – as it’s the only planet Earth we have.
Come on. We’ve got this …
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops … and today we’ve landed in Sweden … where scientists have discovered that vanilla is the world’s favourite smell.
Researchers took 10 smells – from the really stinky, to the really yummy – and presented them to 235 noses of people from nine different cultures.
The people came from all over the world: from busy mega-cities in Thailand and Mexico, to farmers who live in far-flung mountains in South America.
The idea was to find out whether everyone around the world finds the same things stinky and the same things sweet smelling. And it turns out they do … smell and odours are a universal experience.
The smell of vanilla came in as the most appealing odour to all participants, closely followed by the smell of peaches and the smell of lavender.
The most unpleasant smells, according to the study? That would be the smell of sweaty feet and the smell of decaying fish.
I have a teenage son .. so you’ll get no argument from me on the general awfulness of stinky feet .. pee-yewww.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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This is the story of an owl in America who just wanted to be a TV star…
A TV camera perched on top of a building, belonging to a weather station in the US state of Montana has captured the hilarious footage of an owl who quite clearly just wants to be on the telly.
The owl spent a minute or so sticking its head up into the camera live shot – pecking at the camera, clearly trying to work out what it was.
The camera – which provides a live shot across the rooftops of Grand Falls in Montana – is used to having bugs and moths crawl across it – but this was the first time an owl had dropped by for a close up.
I wonder hoooo it was looking for … (DAD JOKE ALARM) … oops, there goes the dad joke alarm …
NEWSHOUNDS
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It’s Wednesday… which means that Squiz-E the Newshound is back in the studio. Usually, he tells us about misinformation he’s sniffed out online… but this week, he’s excited to tell us about a new sniffer system that’s shutting down trolls who are abusing Aussie soccer stars.
Okay, Squiz-E, let’s back up. When we talk about a troll, we’re not talking about the cute dolls from the movie, nor the ugly creatures who live under bridges in fairy tales. Instead, these trolls are people who deliberately post mean and offensive things online – and they are especially horrible to sports stars, posting racist, sexist, and other terrible things on their social media profiles. Up until now, tracking a troll and shutting them down has been next to impossible, but in a sporting world first, Australia’s A-league soccer teams are using artificial intelligence software to stop trolls’ comments from ever being seen by the players or their fans.
Here’s how it works. Artificial intelligence monitors the social media accounts of every A-League player and sniffs out offensive words, images and emojis. That content is then blocked, so that the player and the player’s followers don’t see it. The trolls still can… but they will have been stripped of an audience for their unkind, untrue words.
Classroom Companion Clarion: There’s the CCC, letting us know that in Squiz Kids for Schools today, your classroom resources will have you thinking more deeply about how online abuse might make sports stars feel; whether trolls would say the same things to people’s faces… and we’ll also get you working with hyperbole. That’s the BEST THING EVER! Not yet a SK4S? You can get a free 30 day trial of SK4S through the link in your episode notes.
FARMER Q+A
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A quick message now from our podcast partner, Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours.
The Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour program is all about helping early learning centre kids and primary school kids… that’s you… to discover where our fruit and veggies come from. It’s a classroom experience with fun digital activities, designed with the help of smart foodie people – educators, nutritionists and a food scientist – to help kids learn about how food gets from the farm all the way to your fork.
For the past three weeks we’ve been strapping on our gumboots – visiting farmers from around the country. We’ve visited Tommy the citrus farmer from Victoria, Bridget the avocado agronomist from Queensland – and today we are visiting South Australia to talk to farmer Marco about the process of growing potatoes. Stay listening at the end of the podcast to hear that chat…
And teachers if you’re looking to bring the farming and sustainability world into your classroom, you can request a free classroom kit at woolworths.com.au/discoverytours.
THE S’QUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What sort of animal took a fancy to a TV weather station camera in the United States?
- What’s the name given to a person that anonymously posts nasty things on the internet?
- Which smell has been named the most popular in the world?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s April 6 … International Table Tennis Day … ping pong to that!
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today…
Ethan from Craigburn, Evelyn from Brookfield, Joshy from Adelaide and twins Spencer and Lewis from Mt Hawthorn.
A belated birthday wish goes to Bianca from NSW.
Classroom shout outs today go to…. Stage 3 at Concord West Public School with their teachers Mrs Habbouchi, Mrs Sogotlu, Mrs Waugh and Mr McFarlen, to Mr Orevena and Grade 5 at Glendenning Public School, Miss Luongo’s Year 2 Grevillea class from All Hallows’ Catholic Primary School in Sydney and to all the students at Saint Ignatius Catholic Primary School in Toowong. Lastly to year 6 at Mountain View Adventist College in Doonside and their teacher Miss Talty.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Owl
- Troll
- Vanilla