Monday, July 10, 2023
Ashes comes down to the wire; surprising megalodon discovery; Tay Tay’s big weekend; and the return of the chubby-cheeked rat.
LINKS
Warm- and cold- blooded animals: https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/nonpwdpubs/young_naturalist/animals/warm_and_cold_blooded_animals/#:~:text=Animals%20that%20cannot%20generate%20internal,creatures%20except%20mammals%20and%20birds.
Broad-toothed rat: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/09/rare-and-seriously-seriously-cute-chubby-cheeked-rat-discovered-near-melbourne
Squiz Kids Book Club: https://www.squizkids.com.au/book_club/
Newshounds
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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If you come across a bunch of people today yawning their heads off with glassy-eyed stares, there’s a good chance they were among the thousands of Aussies who stayed up REALLY late last night to watch the latest twist in the battle for cricket’s strangest trophy, also known as The Ashes, as England fought back to make the scoreline 2 Tests to 1.
If the Aussies had won this Test Match – they would have been 3 nil up and The Ashes would have been secured. As it is, the two sporting rivals will face one another for a fourth – and hopefully final Test in Manchester in just over a week’s time.
Of course, the men’s Ashes competition wasn’t the only show in town at the weekend. Australia’s women’s team came within a whisker of claiming The Ashes during a tight game at Lords yesterday morning. The Aussies went down to England in their T20 clash but still lead the series 6-4.
And celebrations were the order of the day in Adelaide on Saturday when the Adelaide Thunderbirds beat the NSW Swifts in a thrilling grand final of the Super Netball competition.
The final score – 60 points to 59 – with the game forced into overtime.
The win was all the sweeter for the South Australians given that they’ve spent the past nine years at the bottom of the ladder.
In front of a sold-out crowd in Melbourne, at the final whilstle, the Thunderbirds collapsed to the court in giant celebratory cuddle. And why not too? Thunderbirds are go!
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 the ocean [SOUNDS OF THE SEA](oooh, it’s cold), where scientists have discovered that the Megalodon, the giant prehistoric shark that once traversed the oceans, was not the cold-blooded killer it was thought to be. Killer – yes; cold-blooded – not so much.
You might know that birds and mammals, like us, are warm-blooded. Meaning that the food we eat is turned into energy to fuel our bodies and heat our insides. But other animals, like reptiles and fish, are cold-blooded. Their blood takes on the temperature of its surrounding environment. Have you ever seen a snake basking in the sun? It’s just warming up.
By studying fossilised megalodon teeth, scientists have discovered that megalodons had a body temperature that was warmer than the prehistoric oceans they inhabited. This is probably what allowed them to grow to the length of a tenpin bowling lane and weigh as much as 20 African elephants….wait what!
But…being so big, meant that they needed to eat heaps of food to produce enough energy to keep warm, and lack of food may have been one of the reasons that they died out.
I hate to say it… but phew!
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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Here’s a question for you … what is small and furry and has chubby cheeks and does bright green poos? No, it’s not your baby brother after too much bubblegum ice cream … it’s a broad-toothed rat .. which is a native species. And thanks to the excellent sense of smell of a tracking dog at Melbourne’s Healesville Sanctuary, a little collection of the super cute rodent.
Rodent is the scientific name for rats, mice and other creatures that use long front teeth to gnaw.
Moss the tracking dog was just doing the rounds of Healesville when he stumbled across a teeny tiny pile of bright green poo – indicating the presence of broad-toothed rats.
Why is that exciting? Because the broad toothed rat is an endangered species – and notoriously shy and hard to track.
Though how exactly a chubby-cheeked rat with bright green poo is hard to track, I’m sure I don’t understand.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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Did your internet connection meltdown over the weekend? Then blame Taylor Swift. The singer-songwriter broke the internet two weeks ago when she put her Australian concert tickets on sale – and she did it again over the weekend with the re-release of Speak Now – an album she wrote over 13 years ago. It’s the third of six albums that Tay Tay is re-recording and re-releasing on her own terms, after a dispute with her old record label.
More proof – if any were needed – that too much Tay Tay is apparently never enough.
NEW SCHEDULE
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It’s a new school term (CHEER) .. I know right? Could you be any more excited? Well we’re excited here at Squiz Kids HQ too – because with the start of this new school term we’re going to operating to a whole new schedule. Following our recent survey of listeners (and a big thanks to all who took part) we’re changing up the Squiz Kids weekly schedule … meaning a Squiz Kids Today daily news podcast every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, a Squiz Kids Shortcut or a Squiz The World every Tuesday, and a bit of fun to round out the week with a Kids vs Adults Weekly News S’Quiz every Friday. Plus Classroom Companions on Mondays and Wednesdays. Same excellent Squiz Kids content, still absolutely, gob-smackingly free – just delivered differently.
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 colour is the poo of the broad toothed rat?
- Name the album that Taylor Swift re-released at the weekend?
- Name the underwater dinosaur that scientists now believe was warm blooded.
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s July 10 – start of a new school term – but only if you’re in Victoria and Queensland .. and as I’ve also explained, start of a new schedule for birthday shoutouts
The following Squiz Kids are celebrating a birthday today or tomorrow… Jacob from Yass, Lewis from Exeter, Allira from Boronia, Ollie from Mernda, Kaden from Belgrave South, Charlotte from Skye, Sadie from Junee, Georgia from Parkinson, Beatrice from Andrews Farm, Sienna from Chapel Hill and Kamilo listening over in New Zealand and Dasomi (pronounced Das-o-mi) listening in South Korea.
And quite a few of you celebrated a birthday during the week the Squiz Kids team were having a well earned rest – but we don’t want you to miss out so we’ll work our way through them over the coming week .. it’s a belated shout out to… Martina from Brisbane, Lynne from Algester, Franklin from Malvern East, Charlotte from Forest Lake, Kaden (pronounced Kay-den) from Belgrave South, Eli (pronounced E-Lie) and Rhy (pronounced Rye) from Montmorency, Taylor and Skip from Cannon Hill, Matilda and Quinn from Duncraig, Will from Neerim South, Diya (pronounced Dee-ya) and Lucas from Oak Park, Lucy from Mooroooka, Jade from Mount Gravatt and Eleanor from Mount Gravatt.
Classroom shoutouts go to… class 1A and Mrs Macdonald at The Southport State School, class 5R and Mr McCann at Saint Paul’s Catholic Primary School in Albion Park, class 3 Gold and Mrs Parker at St Eugene College in Burpengary, class 4S Red at Dion School of the Air in Victoria and class 6HI with Ms Holland and Ms Ingham at Jindalee State School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Bright Green
- Speak Now
- Megalodon