Friday, June 23, 2023
Dingoes on K’gari; the European island that’s phone free; thieves steal a velociraptor and Tay Tay mania takes over.
LINKS
Squiz Kids Classroom Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Classroom
Squiz Kids Book Club: https://www.squizkids.com.au/book_club/may-2023/
An island off Finland goes phone free.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/finnish-phone-free-island/index.html
Taylor Swift tour explainer
Classroom Companion:
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Newshounds
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THE LOWDOWN
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A 10 year old boy, holidaying on the Queensland island of K’gari has some nasty bite marks on his arm and shoulder after he was bitten by a dingo. Thankfully he doesn’t have any serious injuries, after his brave 12 year old sister rescued him and shooed the animal away.
K’gari is the largest sand island in the world, just off the south east coast of Queensland, it used to be known as Fraser Island, but now the island goes by it’s original Indigenous name, meaning Paradise.
And K’gari is home to hundreds of native dingoes.
It’s a reminder for all families who may be visiting the island in the school holidays, that even though attacks from dingoes are rare, they are still wild animals, and it’s their territory we’re in.
K’gari Indigenous ranger Darren Blake says children should always remain close to their families, and to make sure all food and rubbish is secure or thrown away. And if you see a dingo, keep your distance and leave them alone.
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 Finland…. Where an island of this Scandinavian country has been declared phone free.
Do you know where Finland is? If you’re looking at a globe, it’s near the top; in northern Europe, the capital is a city called Helsinki, and it’s often been called one of the happiest countries in the world.
An island called Ulko-Tammio which is off the south coast in the Gulf of Finland, want all visitors to switch off and really enjoy being in nature. So you won’t hear any ringtones, no buzzing, no beeping. Just the serenity.
A researcher at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare believes having a digital detox boosts your mood and well being.
They say it gives visitors a chance to really unplug, unwind and enjoy the flora, fauna and being with friends.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT
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Hows this for an emergency call out – Police in South Dakota, in the United States were called to an apartment to find a velociraptor in the living room.
Hang on a minute … what???
Yes – you heard right. Police were called to an apartment in the city of Sioux Falls after a statue of a velociraptor went missing from outside the town’s museum.
Turns out a few of the local youth thought it would be funny to steal the velociraptor in the dead of night and hide it in their apartment.
Except – they’re kind of big. Have you ever tried to hide a velociraptor? Not an easy thing to do.
The dinosaur has been returned to the museum – and the dino thieves are now in quite a bit of trouble. Who’d have thunk?
POP CULTURE CORNER
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The world has gone cray cray for Tay Tay. Fans down under were delirious when Taylor Swift announced earlier this week that she will indeed bring her Eras tour to our shores.
She’ll perform 5; and they’ll be no doubt epic concerts in February, but only in Sydney and Melbourne.
Tickets go on sale next week. So we hear, from very reliable sources, that teenagers in Queensland and other states are working hard for pocket money to travel interstate to watch her shows.
She started her worldwide tour in the United States. When she performed at Glendale in Arizona earlier this year, the city was so excited to host the singer, they temporarily changed the name of their town to Swift City.
When she performed in Tampa in Florida, the real Mayor asked her to be Mayor Swift for the day.
I think Swift City sounds pretty cool. Maybe when she arrives in Sydney, we could roll out the red carpet to the Swifty Opera House and the Swifty Harbour Bridge? Whatever happens, she’ll be welcome with open arms.
Book Club
Make sure you stick around after the podcast because straight after this episode you can listen to this month’s Squiz Kids Book Club. Join Catch the Reading Bug and their crew of reviewers, talking about Twitch and The Wolves of Greycoat Hall, two fun books to read this school holidays! You can find Squiz Kids Book Club on any podcast app or at our website. While you’re there, why not sign up and we might hear you on next month’s podcast!
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And a reminder about the survey on our Classroom Companion resource. A huge thank you everyone who has already completed it. It will close today, so here’s your last chance to win some free stuff, and help us out in the process.
I’ve stuck a link to the survey in today’s episode notes: we would love some feedback on the excellent activity sheets produced by our resident primary school teacher Christie. You can also find a link to it on our website – squizkids.com.au. And a huge thanks in advance.
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 does K’gari mean in the local Indigenous language?
- What type of dinosaur was stolen from a museum?
- What is the capital of Finland?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s June 23 – Today is Olympic Day, so it’s basically the birthday of the International Olympic Committee, which began on this day in 1894. So happy 129 years old to the modern summer and winter Olympic Games.
And a reminder that while all of you lucky Queenslanders and Victorians are on school holidays from tomorrow, Squiz Kids in other states have one more week of school left … and we’ll be right by your side, podcasting through until the end of next week. Don’t forget too, as we move into school holiday mode, we’ll have a series of Bumper School Holiday Kids vs Adult quizzes – starting with one tomorrow where you can test to see who knows more about music … keep an eye out in your podcasting app for that one.”
It’s also a Friday – and you know what that means? Heaps of birthday shout outs for today and the coming weekend – for which, I reckon we need to dust off the ol’ birthday reggae tune … hit it ..
And it’s a happy birthday today to … Declan from Oran Park, Piper from Barrack Point, Alexander from Wagga Wagga, Otto from Tea Gardens, Edith from Sydney, Nathan from Campbelltown, Paige from Peechelba, Oisin from Brighton, Leo from Cammeray, Ella from Yeppoon, Alana from Marulan, Liam from Plumpton, Will from Jindabyne, Jake and Amelia from Albany Hills, Asha from Shenton Park, Jeff from Wee Waa, Sonia from Carlingford and Ethan listening over in Auckland, New Zealand and Olivia listening in Singapore.
And belated shout outs go to… Ariel and Micah from Carlingford, Albert from Double Bay, Jamal from Rockhampton, Reilly from Rouse Hill, Jack from Newcastle, twins Indi and Imy from Victoria, Ryder from Jindabyne, Abigail from O’Conner and Nicholas from Hammond Park.
Not forgetting all the Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday over the weekend …
Elysse and Sophie from Springfield, Blair from Burleigh Heads, Nathan from Ruse, Christina from Balmoral, Jake and Thomas from Mount Gravatt, Leo from Woodlands, Grace from Tarrawanna, Hendrix from West Hobart, Baxter from Duncraig, Blake from Traralgon, Vivian from Rouse Hill, Max from Darlinghurst, Nathaniel from Abbotsford, Aiden from Burpengary, Eve from Unley, Theodora from Ringwood North, Jake from Orange, Dominic from Holsworthy. And to the following Squiz Kids all listening from overseas destinations… Lewis from Taiwan, Elaine from Dallas in the USA, Erik from Jaca in Spain and Aiden from the Chadwick International School in South Korea.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Paradise
- velociraptor
- Helsinki
Don’t forget .. if you’ve got a birthday coming up and you want a shout out – or if you want a classroom shout out – drop us a line at [email protected] or fill out the form on our website.
That’s all we have time for. Thanks for listening to Squiz Kids Today – we’ll be back again on Monday.
In the meantime, get out there and have a most excellent weekend. Over and out.