Monday, December 4, 2023
Your daily kids news podcast.
New Hall of Fame sporting heroes; tourists take to extraordinary heights; penguin parents power nap; and a Bluey bonanza for Brisbane.
LINKS
Squiz Kids Christmas Card Appeal
Send a Christmas card to an aged care resident today! Mail your cards to:
Connected AU, 107 Wingewarra Street, Dubbo NSW, 2830
Pictures of “The Beam” at Rockefeller Center: https://nypost.com/2023/12/01/lifestyle/heres-what-its-like-on-the-beam-top-of-the-rocks-new-ride/
Lunch atop a Skyscraper photograph: https://www.rockefellercenter.com/magazine/arts-culture/lunch-atop-skyscraper-irish-immigrants/
YouTube’s Hit Pause: https://www.youtube.com/hitpause
Squiz Kids Book Club: https://www.squizkids.com.au/book_club/
Newshounds
Get started on our free media literacy resource for classrooms
https://www.squizkids.com.au/about-newshounds/
Classroom Companion:
Teachers! Want to access free, curriculum-aligned classroom resources tied to the daily podcast? Sign up to be a Squiz Kids Classroom and download the Classroom Companion each day. Made by teachers for teachers, differentiated to suit all primary school ability levels. And did we mention it’s free?
Stay up to date with us on our Squiz Kids Instagram!
Got a birthday coming up and you want a shout-out? Complete the form on our Squiz Kids website. Link: SHOUT OUTS or / send us an email at [email protected]
THE LOWDOWN
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What a weekend for women in sport!
On Saturday evening, the Adelaide Strikers’ bowlers were on target, taking out a narrow, three-run victory over the Brisbane Heat at the Adelaide Oval in the final game of the WBBL cricket season. This is Adelaide’s second consecutive title in the women’s T-Twenty, meaning that they also won the competition last year. And they did it in front of the largest crowd ever for a women’s cricket game in Adelaide – 12,379 people , with plenty more people watching at home.
Then on Sunday afternoon, the North Melbourne Kangaroos took on the Brisbane Lions in the AFLW grand final in Melbourne. With the Kangaroos in the lead by just seven points at three-quarter time it was anyones’ game, but the Lions were able to keep the Kangaroos goalless in the final quarter while scoring four of their own to become just the second team to have won the AFLW title twice.
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame also recognised some of Australia’s best sportspeople this weekend, awarding the Don Award (named after legendary cricketer Don Bradman) to the Matildas 2023 World Cup Team as the athletes that provided the most inspiration to Australians in 2023.
While the Dawn Award (named for Aussie swimming legend Dawn Fraser) went to the Sydney Olympics Australian women’s water polo gold medalists, who were recognised for changing the sport for the better after their protests resulted in the women’s sport being included in the games after the men had already been competing for almost a century.
Wow! What a weekend!
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 New York City. Actually, we’re 69 stories above New York City on the observation deck, which is a lookout at the top of the world-famous Rockefeller Center. You might know Rockefeller Center because its huge Christmas tree and skating rink featured in both the Elf and Home Alone 2 movies.
Rockefeller Center has unveiled a new tourist attraction that is not for the faint-hearted. “The Beam” is situated up on the 69th floor and unlike traditional lookouts, it mimics the experience of 11 1930s steel workers who feature in a famous black and white photo, dangling 260 metres above the city on a steel beam on their lunch break. Yikes!
Daring participants can perch on ‘the beam’ and be lifted and swung around 180 degrees for a magnificent view of the stunning city. And unlike those 1930s construction workers, there are seatbelts and back frames to keep thrill seeking visitors safe. And of course, I’ve stuck a link to pictures of the new ride and the old photo in your episode notes.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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From one thrilling attraction to another, we have some mind-melting news for fans of Bluey (that’s everyone, isn’t it?). Bluey is getting her own tourist attraction in Brisbane, Queensland. Yup! For real life!
As I’m sure you all know, Bluey, her sister Bingo, and the whole Heeler family live in Brisbane; and many of Brisbane’s sites and surrounds have appeared in the show. From August next year, residents of Brisbane and visitors from around Australia and across the world will be able to visit Bluey’s World. Fans will be able to hang out in Bluey’s house or play beneath the shady poinciana tree in Bluey’s backyard.
Currently, the attraction is scheduled to be open for nine months until Easter of 2025, but there are plenty of people hoping that it will become permanent. Me included!
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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Have you ever had a baby living in your house? If you have, you’ll know that they can really disrupt everyone’s sleep, especially their parents’. They also require lots of care and attention and need someone to be watching them all the time. Exhausting!
If you can relate, spare a thought for the chinstrap penguins that live in Antarctica. Named for a black band around their neck that looks kinda like the chinstrap on your bike helmet, they have to guard their eggs and chicks against predators around the clock, and scientists noticed that they seemed to be dozing off a lot!
In order to get good scientific data, the scientists strapped tiny sensors to the penguins to measure their brain waves. And what did they find? The adult penguins were taking mini naps of about four seconds duration, thousands of times a day in order to maintain their lookout for danger. And this continued on for weeks.
Their microsleeps totalled to around 11 hours of rest each day, which allowed them both the alertness and the rest required to care for their babies. Chinstrap penguin parents…Squiz Kids salutes you!
CHRISTMAS CARD APPEAL
(JINGLE BELLS) Christmas is a time for giving, right? I mean, I know – we all like to be on the receiving end of something from Santa’s sack .. but the true spirit of the festive season is about giving … and that’s why this Christmas Squiz Kids has partnered with Connected AU to help bring a bit of Christmas joy to an aged care home near you. Announcing the Squiz Kids Christmas Card Appeal … how does it work? We’re asking every Squiz Kid to write a Christmas card to an aged care resident – just a little message of festive cheer, maybe a drawing, to brighten their day and let them know that no matter how alone they might feel – someone, somewhere is thinking of them this Christmas.
All you have to do is post your Christmas card to Connected AU’s office in Dubbo by December 5 (that’s tomorrow my friends) – the address is in today’s episode notes and on our social media – and they’ll make sure it gets passed on to a resident of an aged care home. A simple act of kindness for Christmas that will go a long, long way!
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 …
- Which women’s sporting team was awarded The Dawn Award by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame over the weekend?
- Name the new tourist attraction at Rockefeller Center, New York, that lifts tourists up above the city on a skinny beam of steel.
- How long are the microsleeps taken by Antarctic chinstrap penguin parents thousands of times each day?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s December 4 … Santa’s list day. According to tradition, today is the day that Santa starts to finalise his list of who’s been naughty and who’s been nice so don’t forget to extra nice today because there are only 21 days left until Santa comes to town.
And – because there are only 21 days to go, if you haven’t picked up a Squiz Kids hat or drink bottle from the Squiz Kids Merch store, what are you waiting for? .. check it out on our website – squizkids.com.au
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today and tomorrow… Amelia from Tumut, Adam from Oak Park, Grace from Oyster Bay, Sophia from Gundagai, Chris from Bradbury, Wesley from Box Hill North, Braxton from Ruse, Bahati from Riverwood, Logan from Albion Park, Alexandria from Western Australia, Kenzi from Junee, Corbin from Forster, Elodie from Newrybar, Isobel from Albany Creek, Jared from Forest Lake, Freddy from Cammeray, Timmy from Gulgong and Archer from Launceston.
Belated shout outs go to… Isaac from Wilton and Lachlan from Malvern,
Classroom shout outs go to … class 3 Red with Miss Meany at Holy Trinity Primary School in Curtin, class 4M with Ms McDonald at Kedron State School, Room 6 with Mrs De Boer at Australind Primary School, class 6B with Mrs Henry at Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Beaudesert, class 4S with Mrs Springall at Bundamba State School, Year 6 with Miss Jensen at St Aloysius Catholic Primary School in Cronulla, class PD1 with Mr Robbins at Northern Bay College – Peacock Campus in Norlane and lastly class 4R with Miss Ross at Engadine West Public School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- The Aussie Women’s water polo team from the Sydney Olympics
- The Beam
- Four seconds