Thursday, 10 September, 2020
TikTok in trouble again; America’s army robot dogs; Xbox announces mini-version; and Eddie Woo in the hot seat.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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Tik Tok was in trouble yesterday. It was called to the principal’s office and given a stern talking to – when Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, told the social media company it needed to be better at controlling the sort of content that appeared on its platform.
School kids all over Australia have been warned to stay off the platform for a few days, after a video with extremely inappropriate content started to be shared on TikTok.
Social media can be a great way for us all to connect and have fun, said the PM yesterday, but unfortunately, because there is so much content being uploaded all the time, and the rules around who can use it and what they can post on it are so relaxed, it creates an environment where sometimes kids come across content that their brains are just not old enough to process.
The PM’s rule of thumb when it comes to social media: always, always only use it under the supervision of an adult, and if you wouldn’t do or say something in real life, then don’t do or say that thing on social media.
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 Mojave Desert, in the United States – where the US military has just shown off its newest soldiers: a collection of robot dogs.
These four legged robots have been programmed to venture into enemy territory and check to see if there is danger before actual human soldiers set foot in it.
The robot dogs are equipped with cameras and state of the art sensors, and are programmed to sniff out trouble and relay the information back to their masters.
It’s the same robot dog design that the city of Singapore has been using to patrol its parks and ensure everyone is social distancing.
Only drawback of robot dogs? They don’t fetch balls or sticks.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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Do we have any XBox fans out there? Nah … didn’t think so. Much! If you love a bit of XBox in your life, then you’ll be excited to learn that the gaming console’s parent company, Microsoft, yesterday announced it was releasing a new, cheaper XBox which will also be the smallest one ever.
No date has been given for its release – but it’s expected to give Sony’s Playstation a run for its gaming console money in the lead up to Christmas.
SQUIZ KIDS SALUTES
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We’re going hyper local with today’s Squiz Kids Salute … recognising the work that a very special school student in Victoria is doing to keep her schoolmates’ spirits high as they trundle through yet another week of lockdown.
A great big salute to Mabel from class 5B at Ivanhoe Primary School. Her class listens to Squiz Kids every day, and each day they have to report back with something they’ve learned from the podcast – and offer an opinion on it. Mabel’s friends and teacher Mr Bull tell us that she writes a big report on each Squiz Kids episode every morning and posts it online even before school starts. They’ve become a class favourite. One of her classmates wrote to Mabel to tell her: “it’s like you are the Squiz Kids writer, you write AMAZING paragraphs and we all really enjoy reading them.”
We salute you Mabel. And just quietly: if you ever feel like stepping up and producing the odd episode of Squiz Kids so I can have a day off now and then … I’d salute you even more.
EDDIE WOO CALL OUT
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You’ve seen him on the TV as the host of Teenage Boss, you’ve read his books on making maths fun, he has a YouTube channel with a million followers and he was named as one of the top ten teachers in the world …. I’m talking about maths teacher extraordinaire, Eddie Woo – and he’s coming to Squiz Kids to talk directly to you!
Oh look, that rhymed.
Yes, that’s right – Eddie Woo has agreed to take part in an upcoming Squiz Kids Q+A and answer YOUR questions.
Was he always good at maths? How did he set up a YouTube channel? What’s his favourite sum? What relevance do fractions have to everyday life? What’s his advice to lovers of all things mathematical?
If there’s a question you want to ask Eddie – send it to [email protected]. You’ve got until next Tuesday. So get cracking!
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 sort of dog has the US military begun to road test?
- Which popular gaming console is about to release its smallest version ever?
- Name the ABC Me TV host and world famous maths teacher who’s agreed to do a Squiz Kids Q+A?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s September 10 ….. Aussie soccer sensation Sam Kerr turns 27 today .. just a baby … plus, it’s R U OK today … which is a day for friends to ask friends how they are doing – to check in on our buddies and make sure they’re ok. So give a bit of love today ..
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today…
Riley from Taree, Olivia from the Southern Highlands, Elliot from Broken Hill, Trinity from Oran Park, Maximilian from Banksia, Millie from Launceston, Leo from Kyneton, Tommy from Mulgrave, Myisha from Orange, Hamish from the Gold Coast, Sophie and Connor from Port Kennedy, Elijah and Joshua from Wilston, Margot from Weetangera, Hunter from Woongarah, Samuel from Sale, Benji from Menai, Tobias from Poatina, Owen from Craigburn, Ava from Victoria and Mariam, Oliver, Bella, Angus and Emily from Sydney.
Happy birthday one and all!
And so to classroom shoutouts — remember – we want to dedicate the next couple of weeks’ worth of classroom shoutouts to Victorian school kids who are home learning … so if you’re a teacher of or a student in a class in Victoria and you want to give your students or classmates a shout out – drop us a line at [email protected]
Today’s Victorian classroom shout outs go to … Class 108 with Ms Anker at Birmingham Primary School, Grade 1PN with Mrs Poynton at Carey Grammar, and all of the kids at Good Shepherd Lutheran Primary School in Melbourne.
A great big Squiz Kids salute from all of us to all of you …
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Robot dog
- Xbox
- Eddie Woo