Tuesday, 9 August, 2022
Aussie triumph at Comm Games; World Dog Surfing Championships; why junk food and sport don’t mix; and Mexico’s miniature frogs.
LINKS
World Dog Surfing Championships: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-08/world-dog-surfing-championships-california/101311504
Mexico’s miniature frogs: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62271380
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
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As the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham drew to a close this morning, with a closing ceremony celebrating all the amazing sporting achievements of the last 11 days – there was a reminder that it’s our turn next.
Four elders from the traditional owners of the lands in Victoria where the 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held were front and centre at the closing ceremony – handing over a message stick inviting all people of the Commonwealth to walk on Country when the Games take place in March in four years’ time.
Have you got your hosting hats on? Good – and especially good if you live in towns like Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Geelong which will take centre stage as hosts of the main sporting events in 2026.
Looking back on the Birmingham Games – Australia’s team must be feeling pretty chuffed. A convincing gold medal win last night by our men’s hockey team, the Kookaburras – which came off the back of a gold rush led by our netball team the Diamonds, and including gold for the Australian women’s cricket team, gold for our men’s beach volleyball, two golds in the diving, gold in the women’s cycling road race and women’s javelin meant that as a nation Australia became the first country ever to have won more than 1000 Commonwealth Games gold medals in the 111 years the games have been taking place …
Here’s fun fact: at the first ever Commonwealth Games in London in 1911, Australia won two gold medals, two silver and four bronze .. haven’t we been busy since then?
The only question now is: which sport are you going to choose to go for gold in Victoria in four years’ time?
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 California in the United States where some seriously cool dogs have been hanging ten.
Hang ten is an old expression for surfing .. which is what a bunch of pooches have been doing over the weekend at a beach near the city of San Francisco.
Now in its 16th year – the World Dog Surfing Championships attract clever canines from all over the United States – as they battle it out to see who can ride a surfboard the longest – and with the best technique.
This year’s winner was Faith – a rescue pup – whose owner said had overcome a fear of pretty much everything to become a doggy surfing champion … totally tubular dude.
And yes, of course, I’ve stuck a link to video of the event in your episode notes.
SPORT TIME
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Have you ever noticed when you’re watching sport on TV that there are a lot of ads for junk food? And that many sports teams – maybe even your own – are sponsored by fast food companies? Well, a new member of Federal Parliament thinks that sends the wrong message to kids about what it means to be healthy.
Before Sophie Scamps was elected in May, she was a doctor, and worried that one quarter of Aussie kids are overweight or obese. Now that she’s a politician, Dr Scamps wants to do something about it. She’s introducing a bill to Parliament that would ban junk food advertising on TV when kids are watching, and stop fast food companies like McDonalds, KFC, and Hungry Jack’s from spending millions of dollars each year sponsoring children’s sport. A sponsorship is when a company gives money to a sporting event, or club. In return, they can have their logo on the team uniform, or advertising around the grounds… that kind of thing. Some health experts say that sponsorships by junk food and soft drink companies goes against the goal of encouraging kids to get healthy by playing sport. What do you think?
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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And so to Mexico we go where not one, but six new species of miniature frogs have been discovered in the country’s forests.
And when I say miniature, I mean miniature … they are among the smallest frogs in the world measuring no more than 15 millimetres. Grab your ruler and check that out. I’m talking 1.5 centimetres for one whole frog. Teensy!
Why did it take researchers so long to find and identify these new species of miniature frog? That my friends, is what we call, self-evident. Which is to say: they’re miniature. They’re also camouflaged. So, you know, spotting one in a forest is no mean feat.
And yepperdo – you can check them out for yourself via the link in today’s episode notes. Happy frog hunting!
THE SQUIZ
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This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- In which state in the United States was the Dog Surfing Championships held?
- In which country were six species of miniature frogs discovered?
- In which Australian state will the 2026 Commonwealth Games be held?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s August 9 .. today is Book Lovers Day … a day to celebrate what a privilege it is to be able to read, and to stop and think about how many wonderful stories have been turned into books .. if you’re near a book today, give it some love.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …
Jonah and Alex from Springfield, Kye and Sarah from Cannon Hill, Xavier from Mullumbimby, Scarlett from Bombala and Joe from Perth.
A belated shout out goes to Piper from Frenchs Forest.
Classroom shoutouts go to… class 3/4R and Mrs Reid at St Laurence’s Parish School in Forbes, year 5 and Mr Abbey at Calare Public School, class 3/4 MA and Mrs Mackay from Temora West Public School, class 5/6 and Miss Davis from Wulagi Primary School in the Northern Territory and lastly to all the students at St John’s Parish School in Cobar.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- California
- Mexico
- Victoria