Monday, November 27, 2023

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THE LOWDOWN

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Great Britain has emerged victorious over the weekend in the World Litter Olympics, beating out 20 other countries, including Australia, in a tight competition held in Japan.

What are the world litter Olympics? It’s an annual event in which litter collecting teams from countries around the world compete to see who can pick up the most rubbish on the streets.

Litter – as all of you clean, clever, responsible Squiz Kids know – is when people don’t use rubbish bins and instead throw their wrappers and cans and plastic bags onto the ground or into the water – which i know none of you would ever do ..

The Litter Olympics – or SpoGomi as they’re called in Japan – saw teams of three from 21 countries compete against one another to see who could scour the streets of the Japanese capital Tokyo and collect the most litter in a 90 minute period. According to reports – it was no easy feat – as the Japanese are notoriously clean and neat when it comes to public littering.

But the team from Great Britain still managed to collect some 83 kgs of rubbish – saying they hoped they set an example – especially for school kids – on how important it is to keep our planet clean. I’ve stuck a link to a YouTube hype video of the event in today’s episode notes.

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As we speak, more than 70,000 people from around the world are heading to Dubai – to take part in a great big meeting to talk about ways to tackle climate change. The meeting which starts on Thursday – will bring together countries from all over the world – including Australia – as we try to nut out the best ways to work together to stop the planet from heating up. It’s called a Conference of Parties, or COP for short- and this is the 28th year the meeting has happened … so you’re going to hear a lot this week about something called COP28 … and to make sure you understand what it’s all about – we’ve created a special Squiz Kids Shortcut on Climate Change – a kid-friendly take on one of the biggest issues facing our planet … it will drop first thing tomorrow morning – so make sure you have your listening ears on …

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 Antarctica – where the world’s biggest iceberg has detached from the ocean floor and is on the move.

The iceberg is about the same size as the city of London – measuring a staggering 4000 square kilometres – and is about half a kilometre thick. And as of this weekend, it’s been moving east at a speed of about five kilometres per day. Which is pretty slow – thankfully. Because nobody wants to bump into a fast moving 4000 square kilometre iceberg.

What does it all mean? Nothing to worry about. It’s all part of the natural life cycle of icebergs, according to scientists. Breaking away from the main ice shelf, or calving as its called, then sitting around for a decade or so, weighted to the sea floor, before shrinking sufficiently to start moving.

I’ve stuck a link to a satellite photo of the big ol’ berg in today’s episode notes ..

ANIMAL KINGDOM

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A bag of peanut M&Ms are being blamed for a big black bear breaking into a car in Colorado, in the United States and tearing the interior of the car into shreds.

Wildlife officers were called to a parked car to find the bear sitting inside, scoffing the M&Ms. They opened the door and managed to chase the bear back into the woods. But not before it had left behind a little calling card.

Among the torn up seats, the shredded dashboard and general destruction that the bear left behind was a pile of bear pooh on one of the seats. (FART NOISE)

I mean … losing your peanut M&Ms to a wild bear is one thing … but then to find they’ve poohed on your seat as they leave … that’s just too much to bear (DAD JOKE ALARM) … ahh yes – fair enough … that one definitely deserved the dad joke alarm.

SPORT TIME

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Australia’s favourite Matilda, the all-conquering Sam Kerr has wowed crowds at the UEFA Women’s Champions League over the weekend with a stunning hat-trick to help her English team, Chelsea win 4 goals to one over rivals Paris FC Feminines. In football, a hat trick is when you score three goals in a game … in cricket, if you take three wickets in an innings.

It was a good weekend too for Cristiano Ronaldo – the Spanish football player now kicking goals in Saudi Arabia … Ronaldo scored a stunning long-range goal – lobbing it on over the other team’s head to help his team to a 3 nil victory.

And speaking of football – or soccer as it’s also known – airline pilots have been called in to help Video Refs in the English Premier League. Airline pilots are renowned for what’s called ‘economy of language’ when speaking to each other and air traffic controllers .. they don’t use any unnecessary words – so as to minimise the chances of confusion .. which is a lesson some in the bunker of the EPL apparently need to learn after a couple of controversial decisions sent fans there into outrage. Keep it simple, folks. Keep it simple.

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 – 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 country won this year’s Litter Olympics in Japan?
What chocolate treat is believed to be the cause of a bear breaking into a car in Colorado?
How many goals did Sam Kerr score in Chelsea’s win over Paris FC? And what is the popular term for that feat?

SHOUT OUTS

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It’s November 27 … On this day, ten years ago, Frozen was released at the cinema … seems like we’ve been Letting It Go for a lot longer, eh?

Plus – it’s only 28 days until Christmas !! Which means you’ve got plenty of time still to buy your teacher an end of year gift from the Squiz Kids Merch store .. 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… Anant (pronounced Uh-naanth) from Point Cook, Clem from Newrybar, Henry from Middle Harbour, Sophie from Caringbah, Kailea from Lavington, Slyvia from Kenthurst, Tommy from Ocean Shores, Ross from Bexley, Oli and Josh from Morwell, Olivia from Marulan, Lachy from Moondarra, Ben from Macquarie Fields, Pranshi from The Ponds, Aurelia from Cobbitty, Noah from Gulgong, Brock from Coolongolook, Shrija from Holsworthy, Tamara from Marburg, Isla from Augustine Heights, Isaac from Ashwood, Alyssa from Nightcliff, Ivy from Dee Why, Otto from Leichhardt and Pranshu from Kellyville Ridge.

And belated shout outs go to… Layla from Sefton, Sophie from Bowral, Norah from NSW, Rebecca listening from Shanghai and Myrtle listening from Phuket.

Classroom shout outs go to … class 3O and Mr O’Callaghan at Ivanhoe Primary School, class 4 Blue at Our Lady of Mt Carmel Catholic Primary School in Mt Pritchard, class 2A with Miss B at Willunga Primary School, class 3F with Miss Flack at Thomas Hassall Anglican College in Middleton Grange and class HP2 with Mrs Campbell at Esperance Primary School.

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The S’Quiz Answers:

Great Britain
Peanut M&Ms
Three … hat trick

Optional Evergreen Extras!

Think/Feel/Infer 3-2-1 Exercise (3 important details from the Lowdown; 2 other things I learned; 1 question I still have)Find the Main Idea and Details