Monday, 21 March, 2022
The happiest country on Earth; Harmony Day help for Ukraine; Aussie cricketers on a roll; and an amazing Amazon survival story.
LINKS
Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours: https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/fresh-food-kids/discoverytours
Squiz Kids for Schools: https://www.squizkids.com.au/squiz-kids-for-schools/
Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber Content: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/squiz-kids/id1494238283
How To Become A Squiz Kids Correspondent: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FH2HA28InnLU6UxE91wrLBAbCMT40Mua/view
Squiz Kids Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squizkids/?hl=en
Got a birthday coming up and you want a shout-out? Send us an email at [email protected]
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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South Australians woke yesterday to find they had a new Premier, in the shape of Peter Malinauskas after the Labor party swept to power in Saturday’s state election.
Why is that important? Well – it’s important if you live in South Australia for obvious reasons – this is the guy who’s going to run your state for the next four years – but for the rest of the country – it’s important because it gives a sense of what voters are thinking as we hurtle towards a federal election in May.
Let’s just say it‘s not a result that our Prime Minister Scott Morrison – who’s with the Liberal Party – would have been all that excited about…
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As the number of Ukranians who have been forced from their homes grows to almost 3.5 million over the weekend, the Australian government announced it was offering special visas to Ukranians who come to Australia – to make it easier for them to settle here.
What’s a visa? It’s basically a permission note from a country allowing you to stay there.
It’s all part of a broad global effort that countries everywhere are making to try to help Ukraine and its people as they continue to be attacked by their much bigger and stronger neighbour, Russia.
And fitting too that it comes as we celebrate Harmony Day today: which is a celebration of all the many cultures that we’re lucky enough to have living here together in Australia.
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 .. way up near the Arctic Circle … which has once again been voted the happiest country on Earth.
It’s the fifth year in a row that Finland has been named the happiest place on the planet in a global survey of 9 million people.
The survey measures things like how well the government is run, how much support is given to all citizens – no matter how rich or poor – how much money people earn compared to how much it costs to live there as well as the lifestyle on offer.
Rounding out the top five were Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands – who are all close neighbours in Europe – meaning that corner of the world clearly has its swag sorted.
Australia was ranked the 12th happiest country in the world .. which is not bad. Just behind New Zealand and just ahead of Germany and Canada.
The least happy countries? They would be Afghanistan and Zimbabwe – both of which are plagued with internal strife and political upheaval: which is to say they’re both dangerous and difficult to live in.
SPORT TIME
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And it’s five wins from five games for the Aussie women’s cricket team as they continue their undefeated streak in the World Cup in New Zealand.
The Aussies just managed to hold out against an in-form India in Auckland on Saturday meaning they’re at the top of their pool and a dead cert for the semis.
It was a good weekend too for Aussie gold medal winter Olympian, Jakara Anthony – who topped off her excellent year so far by winning the prestigious Crystal Globe World Cup title – the Grand Slam of moguls skiing. Jakara took out the World Cup after winning an impressive 12 medals at the event. Go Jakara!
And speaking of Grand Slams .. felicitations – which is French for congratulations – to the French rugby team who beat England yesterday to win the Six Nations … allez les Bleus.
SQUIZ KIDS SALUTES
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And today we’re sending a great big Squiz Kids Salute all the way to the Amazon rainforest, where locals deep in the jungle never gave up on two young brothers who got lost way back on February 18.
After Glauco and Gleison Ferreira failed to come home, Brazilian emergency services searched the rainforest for eight days, but found no trace of the boys. They then called off the search, but more than 200 volunteers from their village refused to give up looking for the boys, who are just nine and seven years old. And four weeks later, they were found!
Glauco and Gleison were about 6km from their village, lying on the rainforest floor and extremely malnourished – which means weak and sick because of a lack of food. The boys told their parents they’d had nothing to eat, and only rainwater to drink, the whole time they’d been lost. Imagine that – four weeks with nothing to eat. The boys are being kept in hospital until they regain weight and strength.
Aha! There’s the Classroom Companion Clarion, letting us know that today’s Squiz Kids for Schools worksheets are linked to this news story .. If you’re interested in using the news to teach the curriculum, jump into a free trial – there’s a link in your episode notes.
FARMER Q+A
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A quick message now from our podcast partner, Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tours.
The Woolworths Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour program is about teaching primary school kids… that’s you… where our fruit and veggies come from. It’s a classroom experience with fun digital activities, designed with the help of smart foodie people – educators, nutritionists and a food scientist – to help kids learn how food gets from the farm all the way to your fork.
On Wednesday we are visiting Victoria to talk to farmer Tommy about the process of growing oranges. You’ll be able to hear that chat right here on the Squiz Kids podcast.
And teachers if your looking to bring the farming and sustainability world into your classroom, you can request a free classroom kit at woolworths.com.au/discoverytours
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 did the Australian women’s cricket team beat on the weekend to make the semi finals of the World Cup?
- Which country was named the happiest in the world for the fifth time running?
- Name the famous jungle in South America in which two Brazlian boys were lost for four whole weeks.
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s March 21 … today is Harmony Day .. where we celebrate the many different countries that Aussies come from – and give thanks for how each one of them makes our home a more interesting place. Did you know that nearly half of all Australians were born overseas or have one parent that was? How good is that!
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today… Finn from Moorooka, Harvey from Queanbeyan South and Oaka from Maitland.
Belated birthday wishes go to…Isabell from South Windsor and Will from Engadine.
Classroom shout outs…Grade 2 and Mrs Gray at Noosa Christian College, class 4F at St Joseph’s Primary School in Narrandera, class 6J and Miss Jones at Gulgong Public School and lastly to all the students at All Saints College in Maitland.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- India
- Finland
- Amazon