Tuesday, 28 June, 2022
NSW bees in lockdown; the Maldives’ floating city; historic rocket launch in the NT; and a perfume that smells like bacon.
LINKS
Maldives’ floating city: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/maldives-floating-city-spc-intl/index.html
The 20-second version of the rocket launch: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-27/nasa-launch-rocket-arnhem-land-success/101183776
The full two hours on Equatorial Launch Australia’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh6LMrzab8-v9OH14D-IHjg
‘Have A Go’ Month – Australian Olympic Committee
https://www.olympics.com.au/have-a-go/
Squiz Kids for Schools – Free 30 Day Trial: https://www.squizkids.com.au/squiz-kids-for-schools/
Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber Content – Free 30 Day Trial: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/squiz-kids/id1494238283
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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Bees across NSW have been placed in lockdown as biosecurity officials try to contain the outbreak of a deadly mite in local bee colonies.
Bees, as you know, spend their days roaming about the place, hopping from plant to plant, pollenating as they go. But since the varroa mite was discovered in some bee hives in Newcastle, bees across the state of NSW have been ordered to stay indoors.
The varroa mite is a nasty parasite – an introduced species and a teeny tiny creature that attaches itself to bees and makes them really sick.
Australian bees are proudly varroa mite free – meaning our honey is valued all over the world for being clean and green. So in much the same way humans were locked down at the height of the COVID pandemic, bees are being restricted to their hives as officials try to contain the outbreak.
Fingers, toes and antennas crossed.
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 Maldives, a country in the middle of the Indian Ocean which is made up of over 2000 different islands – where a floating city is taking shape.
The Maldives is a stunning place – a tropical paradise you’ll often see listed as one of the most stunning tourist destinations in the world. But the problem is: many of the islands of the Maldives, including the super-crowded capital of Male, are low-lying – meaning they are susceptible to rises in sea levels caused by climate change.
So a clever bunch of architects have come up with a plan to create a floating city capable of being home to 20,000 people – that rises and falls with the tide. A neat solution to over-crowding for the capital city Male, and a clever way to future proof the homes of those who live there. Win win.
Check out the link in today’s episode notes with a video and artists impression of what the city will look like once finished. It’s very impressive.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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Close your eyes for a moment and think of your favourite smell. Now keep them closed – and think of your favourite perfume or after-shave … did you think of the smell of bacon? And did you think there’d be nothing better than smelling of bacon all the time? Because that’s exactly what one fragrance company is hoping with the release last week of a brand new scent, made to smell like everyone’s favourite meat.
The fragrance is called Wright 100, its been made for men and women, and it mimics the smell of bacon cooking in the oven. Because who doesn’t want to spend their days wandering around smelling like a pan of hot, sizzling, stinky bacon?
Now if only someone would come up with a soap that smells like freshly baked bread and a deodorant that smells like a beef pattie – then you could walk around smelling like a complete hamburger. Delicious.
SPACED OUT
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History was made in the Northern Territory early yesterday morning, when the American space agency NASA successfully launched a rocket from the brand new Arnhem Space Centre. There was a flash of light, followed by a rumbling boom—because, of course, light travels faster than sound—and the 14-metre high rocket streaked across the sky for about 10 seconds before leaving Earth’s atmosphere and heading 300km above Arnhem Land.
It’s the first ever commercial rocket launch in Australia—meaning NASA paid the space centre to send the rocket into space for scientific research that can only be conducted in the southern hemisphere.
Another two NASA launches are scheduled, with the next on July 4. Eventually, the Arnhem Space Centre, which is on traditionally owned Yolngu land, hopes to be shooting 50 rockets into space each year. I’ve put a link in your episode notes to a website where you can see a short video of the launch, and the site where you can watch the next ones in real time…
OLYMPICS – MID ROLL
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(sound of clock ticking) … Hear that? That’s the clock counting down to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic & Paralympic Games – which if you can believe it, are only 10 years away…. to celebrate the Australian Olympic Committee has launched ‘Have A Go Month’ so we are bringing you a super sporty segment… And today’s Olympic sport in the Squiz Kids spotlight is Volleyball.
Did you know there are actually two types of volleyball at the Olympics? One is indoor volleyball – it has six players in a team and uses a heavy leather ball. There’s also beach volleyball, which only has two players in a team and is played at… you guessed it, the beach. One Aussie beach volleyball player is Taliqua Clancy. She was the first Indegenious Australian volleyball player to go to the Olympics and grew up in Kingaroy, a small town in rural Queensland. What is amazing is that Kingaroy is over 100km away from the beach!
Turns out that you don’t need a beach to become a great beach volleyball player, you just need to have a go. To have a go at the right sport for you and to find out more about ‘Have A Go Month’ go to haveago.olympics.com.au
SCHOOL HOLS CONTENT
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It’s school holiday time !!! (PARTY HORN) Some of you are already off on holidays, some of you finish up the school term at the end of this week … all of you are invited to take advantage of a super-cool school holiday offer from Squiz Kids – to help while away those long school holiday days or keep you entertained on whatever road trip you might be planning.
The Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber free trial has been extended for the entirety of the school holidays .. meaning you can jump into our Kids v Adult Bumper Quizzes, plus all of the Squiz Kids Shortcuts and Squiz The World episodes we’ve ever produced. Search Squiz Kids in the Apple podcasting app and click on ‘Give Me More’ … you’ll be glad you did ..
THE SQUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- Name the country, a collection of low lying islands, where a floating city is taking shape.
- From which state or territory did a NASA rocket take off yesterday?
- Which popular pork product is a new fragrance hoping to smell like?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s June 28 … TODAY IS CAPS LOCK DAY WHICH MEANS YOU CAN SHOUT ALL YOU WANT TODAY … with sincere apologies to all the parents and teachers out there …
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today ..
Riley and Hugo from Cannon Hill, Chandara from Munno Para, Evelyn from Ivanhoe, Lynette from Rowville, Lily and Ethan from Buxton.
Classroom shout outs are going to… classes 5 Silver and 5/6 Gold with Mrs Moncada at Buxton Public School, class 5/6 Grevillea at Eglinton Public School, class Nebo 1 with Mrs Abba at Mount St Thomas Public School in Wollongong, class 5MC with Mrs McTavish at Scots All Saints in Bathurst and lastly to class 5/6F at Berinba Public School in Yass – it’s farewell and good luck to their teacher Mrs Facer who is going on maternity leave and is going to miss her students very much!
The S’Quiz Answers:
- The Maldives
- Northern Territory
- Bacon