Friday, June 9, 2023
Welcome to Paradise, K’Gari officially renamed; wildfires in Canada; Messi to Miami and Elephants do yoga.
LINKS
K’gari celebrates name change
Pictures of New York under a smoke haze
https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/interactive/2023/canada-wildfires-smoke-nyc-photos/
Elephants do yoga!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/06/07/zoo-elephants-yoga-houston/
Squiz Kids Book Club: https://www.squizkids.com.au/book_club/may-2023/
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THE LOWDOWN
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There was a smoking ceremony, some traditional dances and one or two tears may have been shed when Fraser Island – the biggest sand island in the world – was officially renamed K’gari this week, restoring its original Indigenous name.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palazczuk was among the crowd who gathered on the island off the coast of the Sunshine State on Wednesday to mark the historic day.
It’s spelt K apostrophe G A R I. But you’ll hear it being said with a silent K. ‘Guarri’
K’gari will now appear on all maps and road signs.
In the local Indigenous creation stories, K’gari is the name of the White Spirit who helped create the Butchulla country.
The proud locals were overjoyed with the change, saying it gives back ownership to the Butchulla people.
By returning K’Gari to its original name, it recognises the people who have cared for the island for more than 60,000 years.
And guess what K’gari means in the local Butchulla language. Paradise. What a paradise it is.
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 Canada where the country is fighting hundreds of devastating wildfires. There are in fact more than 400 fires burning.
In the Qubec province in the east of Canada, almost 3.8 million hectares of land has been burnt already.
The thick smoke caused by these huge wildfires has spread across East Canada and North Eastern states of of America,.
Incredible photos show New York City covered in an eerie orange glow. I’ll put a link in your episode notes, so you can have a look.
Because of the record breaking smog, the air quality is extremely bad, making it hard for people to breathe. So people living in these regions have been urged to stay inside. For the time being, all sports lessons usually held outside have been banned at schools. All Major League baseball games have been cancelled. Even zoos have gone to unusual measures – bringing all animals inside to keep them safe.
SPORT TIME
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One of the greatest footballers of our time – Lionel Messi shocked the sports world yesterday with his announcement signing up with American club Inter Miami. Now, since there are so many types of football, let’s just make sure you are all following. The football I’m talking about here is Soccer. The sport the entire rest of the word calls football. The Argentinian who won the World Cup last year, played his last game at his club Paris St-Germain last week, where he has been for 2 seasons. He turned down an eye wateringly large pay packet of $ 643 million per year to play in Saudi Arabia, where rival Christiano Ronaldo is now based.
It’s an enormous coup for Inter Miami and the Major League Soccer tournament in the US, launching the relatively unknown team into the soccer stratosphere. And guess who has been behind the deal? Part owner of Inter Miami is none other than fellow soccer superstar David Beckham.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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Have you heard of downward dog? It’s a yoga move… Well have you heard of the Elongated Elephant? Or the Put Your Arms Up In The Air Pachyderm’? No, I’m just kidding. I made those last two up.
Because according to news reports a zoo in Houston in America teaches daily yoga to their group of resident elephants.
Yes you heard that right elephants.
Zoo keepers say the healthy benefits of yoga, like stretching and relaxing all help humans live longer.. And so why not encourage her elephants to do it too. When the calves are 4 months old, they are taught how to stretch their legs to one side. They are encouraged with treats, like bananas, raisins or sweet potatoes when they do it well. Which is a nice break from their regular diet of hay and bark.
And when they are a little older, they do even more advanced moves, like the downward dog – one Elephant called Tess has even mastered the handstand. Yes make sure you click on the link in the episode notes, to see an elephant doing a handstand. Great stuff.
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 the word K’Gari mean in the local Indigenous language?
- What is the name of Lionel Messi’s new club?
- An elephant called Tess has mastered an unusual move, what is it?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s June 9 – National Movie Night Day in the US… What a perfect idea to put away all the gadgets, pop out the popcorn, curl up on the couch and watch a good old family film.
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 … Tessa from Warrnambool, Eddie from Junee, Candice from North Rocks, Vincent N from Andrews Farm, Sam from Mount Gravatt,
Thomas from Hunters Hill, Rafferty from The Grange and Chase from Adventure Bay.
And belated shout outs go to… Liana from Nuriootpa, Charles from Yass, Charlie from Frenchs Forest, Lily from Currumbin and Jessica from Sydney.
Not forgetting all the Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday over the weekend …
Poppy from Montmorency, Claudia from Concord, Phoebe from Rowville, Luca from Holsworthy, Sarah from Hallett Cove, Lara from Oran Park, Vincent from North Richmond, Josh from Campbelltown, Eli and Isaac from Balmoral, Saxon from Isle of Capri, Theo from Rathmines, Charlie from Emu Heights, Lucas from Mandama, Connor P from Andrews Farm, Vivienne from Tarragindi and Landon from Bondi.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Paradise
- Inter Miami
- Handstands
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 Tuesday after the public holiday.
In the meantime, get out there and have a most excellent day. Over and out.