Monday, August 28, 2023
Buddy says goodbye; London zoo’s big fat weigh-in; Japan joins the race to the moon; and elephant vs croc epic battle.
LINKS
Elephant v crocodile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_WmWidEm5I
London Zoo’s weigh in
https://apnews.com/article/london-zoo-animals-annual-weight-check-7f320ecd718516858a2c386a6a986886
Japan rocket launch YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TTTJ20iRbs
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THE LOWDOWN
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He’s been called one of the best players to ever pull on an AFL jersey – and yesterday, before a sold out crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Buddy Franklin did a lap of honour to say goodbye.
After 354 games – first with Hawthorn and then with the Sydney Swans – during which he kicked a remarkable 1,066 goals – Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin has decided to retire: to hang up the boots and take a well-earned rest.
More than 42,000 fans packed into the SCG yesterday afternoon to say thank you to Buddy for entertaining and inspiring them over so many years.
As his team, the Sydney Swans took on Melbourne in a tightly fought game – Buddy wandered onto the turf at half-time with his wife, Jesinta and their two small children – and maybe the hint of a tear in his eye.
Describing the experience as overwhelming … which is a fancy word for something that’s so big, it’s hard to take it all in … Buddy said he felt a mixture of happiness and sadness, but most of all he said he felt incredibly honoured to have been able to play footy at such a high level for such a long time.
Now he’s a role model to lots of young footy players – especially young Indigenous players.
“Coming from the bush in WA,” he said. “I never thought this was possible.”
Squiz Kids Salutes you, Buddy – and all the joy you’ve broughy footy lovers everywhere.
Meanwhile …while the men’s competition is winding down with finals just around the corner, footy fans will be excited to learn that the women’s league kicks off this Friday. The first game of the AFLW will see reigning premiers Melbourne take on Collingwood. Because too much footy is not nearly enough ..
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 South Africa – where an epic battle between an elephant and crocodile has been captured on video.
A safari guide couldn’t believe his eyes when he spotted an elephant crossing a river .. .with a crocodile latched onto its tail.
So .. in a battle between a croc and an elephant – who do you reckon would win? What if it all took place in the croc’s natural habitat – in a river?
Well – sheer size triumphed over cunning in this instance, and the elephant managed to get to the other side of the river, with the croc firmly attached, and fling it off. Like, literally, fling it off. I’ve stuck a link to the video in today’s episode notes.
I think you could fairly say that this is one crocodile that bit off more than it could chew (DAD JOKE ALARM) … ah, come on … what better way to kick off your week than a good ol’ dad joke?
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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How do you weigh a tarantula? Or measure the length of a tiger? Very carefully and very slowly is the answer .. at least that’s how the team of zookeepers at London Zoo are doing it as they set about weighing and measuring every single animal in the zoo.
It’s really important to keep track of animals weight and height when they live in a zoo – to make sure they are growing in the way they’re supposed to – and to compile all important data that they can share with other zoos.
And after years of weighing and measuring the 14,000 animals in their care – yes, that’s right, 14,000 animals – the zookeepers at London Zoo have it down to a fine art.
They use a musk-scented vertical ruler to get tigers to stand on their hind legs, they use a special insect ruler to measure the length of praying mantises, they put special treats on sets of scales to entice monkeys to clamber onto them – and in the case of emperor penguins – well the zookeeper just lifts them straight on the scales and lifts them off again. They’re very obliging, those penguins.
And yes, because it’s Monday and we’re getting towards the end of the school term – I’ve stuck a link to video of the whole exercise in today’s episode notes.
SPACED OUT
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My oh my it’s getting busy up there in space …
Last week we had news of India landing a spaceship and rover on the dark side of the moon, plus news of a failed attempt by Russia to land it’s own spacecraft on the Moon – and now, a little later this morning Japan is expected to join the race to the Moon when it sends it’s very own rocket ship up there and plonks it’s own rover on the Moon’s surface.
Assuming all goes well, the Japanese craft is expected to lift off mid-morning today. It’s hoping to land a craft on the Moon which can study rocks to discover when and how the Moon was created. If successful, Japan will join the United States, Russia, China and now India among nations that have pulled off a soft landing of a spacecraft on the Moon. How cool is that?
BOOK WEEK COMP
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Do you still have blue paint on your elbow that you can’t quite scrub off? Do people think the glitter in your hair is a really bad case of dandruff? Have you checked out the amazing creativeness of Squiz Kids listeners on our Facebook and Instagram pages? Book Week has come and gone for another year, and all last week, kids and teachers were sharing their wild and wonderful costume creations with us on our socials. People, you’ve made it really difficult for me to judge the best ones and I need some help. We’ve been reposting all of the costumes to our Facebook and Insta accounts. Hop online, take a look, and tell us which ones are your favourites and I’ll announce the winners on Wednesday’s podcast. The links are in the episode notes. And give us a follow while you’re there, because you can never have enough love, right?
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 team did Buddy Franklin play for before the Sydney Swans?
- Which country will send a spaceship to the Moon this morning?
- How many animals are at the London Zoo?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s August 28 – The first day of Teacher Aide Appreciation Week. So you’ve got all week to show all of the fabulous teacher aides you know just how much you appreciate them. Squiz Kids salutes you teacher aides. Schools wouldn’t be the same without you!
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … Evelyn from Ivanhoe, Noah from Forster, Aviela from Orange, Anita from Parramatta, Max from Forest Lake, Max from Kincumber, Josh from Lalor Park, Clarissa from Wantirna, Zach from Cronulla, Luke from Chatswood, Lilly from Victoria, Oscar from Maitland and Marissa from Epping.
And belated Shout outs to …Joey from Bridgewater, Lillian from North Richmond, Elektra from Plumpton, Addison from Brisbane, Sienna, Mia, Zoe, Levi and Joel from Pakenham and Bella listening over in Taipei, Taiwan. And lastly a special belated shout out to Chloe from Richmond Lowlands – whom we forgot to include last week. Oops!
Classroom shoutouts today go to … class 6S with Mr Sigma and class 6Y with Mrs Lee at Carlingford Public School, class F3 and Mrs Lannello at Hammond Park Primary School, class 6B and Mrs Wing at Our Lady of Fatima Primary School in Caringbah, class 4P at Berwick Lodge in Berwick, class 4 Blue and Mrs Lynagh at St Agnes Primary School in Mount Gravatt and lastly class SP2 and Mrs Graham at St Pius X Parish School in Warrnambool.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Hawthorn
- Japan
- 14,000