Friday, 31 March, 2023
An inquiry into ADHD; Luke Skywalker’s air raid app; a massive gold nugget find; and a crime-fighting burrito
LINKS
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Squiz Kids Book Club:
https://www.squizkids.com.au/book_club/
Today’s Quick Links:
ADHD overview for kids
https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/adhdkid.html
El Niño and La Niña explained
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzat16LMtQk&t=16s
A $240,000 rock:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-65095925
How to catch a criminal with DNA and gel electrophoresis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLUhT_JvFHc
Dig Deeper:
ADHD Australia: Resources and Support
https://www.adhdaustralia.org.au/resources/
Understanding ADHD: Information for parents
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/adhd/Pages/Understanding-ADHD.aspx
What is DNA?
https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/word-dna.html
History and construction of the Eiffel Tower
https://www.toureiffel.paris/en/the-monument/history
Original Sources:
Parent and Carer experiences of ADHD in Australian schools: Critical Gap report
https://parentsforadhdadvocacy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ADHD-Final-Survey-Interactive-PDF.pdf
BOM’s long range forecast:
https://media.bom.gov.au/releases/1156/a-dry-autumn-forecast-for-most-of-australia/
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Newshounds
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THE LOWDOWN
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An inquiry into ADHD has been announced by the Australian Senate, to look at whether our country is doing enough to support around one million Australians who have the disorder.
Chances are that everyone listening to this today knows someone with ADHD. It stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and is one of the most common medical diagnoses in children. So what is it?
Well, everyone on the planet has trouble now and again with paying attention, sitting still, listening, or waiting their turn. But people with ADHD have trouble with those things almost all the time.
And it’s really important to emphasise that they aren’t being that way on purpose. ADHD is a medical condition that affects your attention – it’s there in the name, attention deficit. A “deficit” is a lack, or a shortage. Kids with ADHD can also have a trickier time controlling their behaviour, so they might get into trouble at school more. And surveys have shown that more than 80% of kids with ADHD get bullied, and 30% have changed schools because of how their ADHD was handled. So – it is an issue that needs attention.
The Senate inquiry will look at biases faced by people with ADHD…the huge wait lists to see ADHD doctors … the cost of medications to treat ADHD in both kids and grown ups … and more. After hearing from people with ADHD and experts, the Senators will make recommendations to the federal government on changes that should be made to improve the health and happiness of people with ADHD.
I’ll put some kid-friendly resources on ADHD in your episode notes.
- Break –
Most of us have seen quite a bit of the wet stuff falling from the sky lately… it has been a soggy month of March. But the Bureau of Meteorology has released its three-month outlook for autumn, and it’s going to be hot and dry from April to June for almost the entire country. Less than average rain, higher than average temperatures, and the possibility that after three years of La Niña – a weather pattern that brings a lot of rain – we’re heading for an El Niño, which brings warmer- and drier-than-usual weather. I guess my gumboots are getting a rest.
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 the northeast American city of Boston, where an unfinished burrito has helped police solve a crime.
(rewind backup sound effect)
Crazy, right? For almost a year, police had been trying to solve a case where a building had been spray painted and badly damaged – but no one was hurt. Whoever committed the crime had left DNA at the scene, but there was no other evidence connecting the man they suspected was responsible.
DNA, in case you didn’t know, is a microscopic acid that is present in every single cell in your body. Each person’s DNA is unique to them. So if there’s DNA at a crime scene, and you can match it to DNA from a suspect, you can make an arrest.
Fast forward to now, when police were secretly following their suspect, and saw him eat ¾ of a burrito and chuck the rest in the bin. Because he’d abandoned his leftovers in public, the police could take them to the lab and look for DNA in the spit left behind on the bitten-off bits. They found a match to the crime scene DNA, and arrested their man as he was about to take a one-way flight out of the country. The moral of the story? Well, obviously, do NOT commit crimes. But also, never leave a burrito uneaten.
POP CULTURE CORNER
Attention, air raid alert. Proceed to the nearest shelter. Don’t be careless. Your overconfidence is your weakness
No, my young Padawans, your ears do not deceive you. That IS the voice of Luke Skywalker, aka actor Mark Hamill, recorded for an air raid app that warns Ukrainians about incoming Russian attacks.
Now, I know that on Squiz Kids we like to explain things to young people who may not have heard of a person or concept before. But surely I don’t need to tell you about Star Wars and Luke Skywalker, the hero of the original three movies.
Mark Hamill has been raising money to help Ukraine for months, and he didn’t hesitate to record his voice for the Air Alert app. And who wouldn’t feel relieved and empowered when a Jedi Knight tells them:
“Attention. The Air Alert is over. May the Force be with you.”
BELIEVE IT OR NOT
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Gold rush fever has hit Victoria, 170 years after the first prospectors came to try their luck. That’s because a man wielding a cheap metal detector has just found a massive gold nugget in the “golden triangle” between Bendigo, Ballarat, and St. Arnaud. The man, who has sensibly decided to remain anonymous, took the 4.6 kg rock into a prospecting store in Geelong, and asked if it was worth much. The shop owner’s jaw dropped … in more than 40 years of dealing with gold, he’d never seen a specimen so big. We’re talking $240,000 big.
The Geological Survey of Victoria believes that there are about 75 million ounces of undiscovered gold in the state’s old goldfields. And with one ounce of gold worth almost $2000… you’d better believe this latest find will get more people prospecting. Just remember: if you don’t buy a $25, 10-year mining licence, you’ll have to hand over any gold you find on government land.
BOOK CLUB
Before we get into the S’Quiz… Today is a very exciting day – the first ever episode of the Squiz Kids Book Club! Each month, Catch the Reading Bug and her crew of kid reviewers will introduce you to new titles and old favourites. If you keep listening after the shoutouts, it should play next… but if that fails, jump on the link in your episode notes. And if you want to join Catch’s crew of reviewers – there’s a link for that, too.
THE SQUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What is the name of the actor who has given his voice to an air raid app?
- The area between Bendigo, Ballarat, and St Arnaud, is known as what?
- What is the name of the warm, dry weather pattern that could hit Australia in the coming months?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s March 31… 134 years ago today, the 300m technological masterpiece that we call the Eiffel Tower was opened in Paris, France. How amazing that one of the most recognisable objects in the world was supposed to be temporary, and was almost torn down in 1909.
It’s also a Friday … oh yeah, a reggae day …. Hit it …
Happy birthday today to… Skye from Elwood, Kendrick from Springfield, Luke from Flagstaff Hill, Stevie from Junee, Kyza from Woongarrah, Claudia from North Ainslie, Chloe from Tumut, Charlie from Preston, Charlie from Tweed Heads, Audrey from the Sunshine Coast, Claire from Dubbo, Amelie from Killarney Heights, Capymani from Noosa and Ila from the Gold Coast.
And to everyone having a birthday over the weekend… Madison from Junee, Frankie from North Ainslie, Beata from Vermont South, Zayne from Junee, Indi from North Manly, Maddie from South Turramurra, Aria from Sydney, Jacob from Drummoyne, Evie from Middle Harbour, Pippin from Buderim and Freddie from Bronte.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker
- Golden Triangle
- El Niño