Tuesday, 16 March, 2021
Protests in the streets; here comes the big wet; Beijing buried under sandstorm; and Sam Kerr, Beyonce and Tay Tay slay it.
LINKS
Beijing sandstorm:
https://twitter.com/shen_shiwei/status/1371287413113331712
Q+A Tiger Keeper Call-Out
Tiger Cubs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwqwutOSq3A&t=12s
Facts about Sumatran tigers: https://taronga.org.au/animals/sumatran-tiger
Taronga Tiger Cam 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U63FhBdr2E
Taronga Tiger Cam 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHEPDss4Q_s
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]
Squiz Kids is proudly supported by the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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Women and men from all over Australia, and all walks of life, took to the streets of cities and towns around the country yesterday to call for equality between the sexes and an end to violence against women.
From Parliament House in Canberra, to the main squares of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, and even in small country towns – there were marches and speeches and gatherings of people as part of a movement called March 4 Justice.
Marching in the street to have your voice heard is one of the great things about living in a democracy. Some of the greatest changes in the history of ever have come about as a result of ‘people power’ – the coming together of like-minded people around a common goal.
In the last fifty years alone around the world, there have been marches in America to demand equal rights for black people and equal rights for women, marches in the UK to protest against war or nuclear weapons, marches here at home in support of indigenous Australians.
It’s called participatory democracy – which is a fancy way of saying we have the freedom to take to the streets to express anger or frustration or opposition or support for something we believe in deeply.
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Break out the brollies people – and slide into your gumboots. There’s rain a-plenty heading to the eastern half of Australia with weather forecasters predicting a month’s worth of rain in a single week.
Sydney and Brisbane – and the inland parts of NSW and Queensland – are tipped to get most of the downpour – as moisture is sucked up from the Tasman Sea and dumped inland. Good news for farmers looking for a drenching for their crops. Great news if you’re a duck. Not awesome if you’re planning an outdoor birthday party. Soz. Unless you’re in Perth or Adelaide – where it’s set to be clear skies and sunshine all week.
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 Beijing – the capital city of China – where a massive sand storm has blown in turning the sky red and sending people running for cover.
Traffic in the morning rush hour was reduced to a crawl as visibility in the city was reduced to almost zero. And breathing was reported to be difficult too – as a combination of dust particles from the sand storm combined with the already heavily polluted Beijing air to make the taking of a clean breath almost impossible.
Sandstorms in Beijing are not unusual. The sand and dust blows in from the deserts of Mongolia – a country to the west of China.
There are links in today’s episode notes to video of the sandstorm.
SPORTS TIME
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Holy hat-trick! Two of the beautiful game’s best players both pulled off a hat trick in soccer games in Europe over the weekend.
A hat trick is when a player scores three goals in one game.
Australia’s own Sam Kerr pulled off the impressive feat for her club Chelsea, in the English women’s league Cup Final on Sunday – slotting the ball to the back of the net in the first 90 seconds of play, then again in the 10th minute, and again just three minutes after half time. Chelsea wound up smashing Bristol City 6-0, and winning their second cup final in a row. Go Sam!
Meanwhile, over in Italy, legendary player Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick for his team, Juventus. It sent Ronaldo into the record books, with a total of 770 goals scored in official matches – three more than Brazilian Pele, considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time.
By the way, did you know that the term “hat trick” originated in the cricketing world? If a bowler took three wickets in a row, then the club would give them a hat in recognition of their achievement. So how about that?
POP CULTURE CORNER
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Speaking of record books, Beyonce took a triumphant stride into them yesterday becoming the most awarded singer and female artist in the history of the Grammy awards.
The Grammys are considered the highest musical accolade in the America. And Queen Bey took home multiple trophies from this year’s awards, including best music video and best R+B performance – bringing her career total of Grammys to a whopping 28. We are not worthy.
Other winners on the night included Tay Tay, who became the first woman to win album of the year three times, and Billie Eilish who won record of the year.
Deserving winners one and all.
TIGER Q+A CALL OUT
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Did you know that tigers can roar, but they can’t purr? Louise Ginman, the tiger keeper at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo, says that tigers have a lot in common with the kitty you might have at home, but that’s one important difference. Got other burning questions about the kingdom of cats, and zoo life in general? Send them in to Louise, who’s agreed to be the next special guest in the Squiz Kids Q+A hot seat. Did we mention the best question wins a prize! Email your questions through to [email protected]. If you need inspiration, we’ve got links in the episode notes to some video footage of the tigers, as well as the live stream cameras from inside the tigers’ habitat! Rrrrrraow!
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 was the name of the protest marches that took place around Australia yesterday?
- Which city in China has been hit by a sandstorm?
- Name the pop artist who became the most awarded singer in the history of the Grammys?
IT’S A KIDS’ WORLD TOO
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This is a new segment we’re trialling … taking a news story and posing a question for you to ponder and offer an opinion. In WA’s election on Saturday, only adults aged 18 and over were allowed to vote. It’s the same everywhere in Australia. Do you think that’s fair? Should kids be allowed to vote, too? This week, we’ve asked some Squiz Kids to write on this topic, and we’ll look to feature some of their work on an upcoming edition of the podcast. Because kids are important, and their opinions are too.
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s March 16 … birthday of English explorer and navigator Matthew Flinders – who, if he were alive today – which he’s not – he’d be 247 years old. Yikes. Imagine blowing out the candles on that cake…
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today… Jonathan from Mortdale, Emily from Medway, Lucas from Menai, Milana from Jindalee, Daisy from Ringwood East, Max from Bellevue Heights, Emily from Moss Vale, Nate from Woodhill, Ruby and Grace from Flagstaff Hill, Annie from Sydney, Angel from Forest Lake, Charlotte from Acacia Gardens, Emily from Mossvale, and Jesslyn from Rhodes.
And some belated birthday shoutouts to… Penelope from Bulimba, Michael and Zoe from Harden and Josh from Abbotsford.
Happy birthday one and all.
Today’s classroom shoutouts… class 6/5E from Jerrabomberra Public School, class 6L from Holsworthy Public School, class 5/6SM at Eumundi State School, the Year 3 – 6 class at Stuart Town Public School, and class ¾ Ochre at Ashmont Public School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- March 4 Justice
- Beijing
- Beyonce