Wednesday, 19 May, 2021
Australia tops plastic waste pile; Arch collapse in Galapagos; Rugby Sevens go for gold; and Ariana ties the knot.
LINKS
Olympic uniform gallery:https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2021/may/18/australias-olympic-uniforms-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-in-pictures
Galapagos Island erosion: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57153267
Swysh: personalised video messages from your favourite sports stars: www.heyswysh.com
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 NOTES
THE LOWDOWN
——–
Australia’s number one! But on a list that no country really wants to be the top of. A report yesterday revealed that Australia creates more single-use plastic waste per person than any other country in the world.
We’re talking single use plastic shopping bags that you might find in the supermarket, single-use plastic forks or spoons or straws that you might find at your local takeaway or plastic water or soft-drink bottles.
They’re called single use plastics – because once they’ve been used once, they are generally thrown away. And that has a really bad impact on the environment – often ending up in oceans or taking up space in landfill dumps.
The problem with single-use plastics – according to the report – is that while they might be really convenient at the time we use them – the fossil fuels used to create them are really bad for the environment – and by their very nature, they are hard to recycle and often end up in landfill – where they don’t break down – or in the world’s oceans, where they cause havoc to marine life.
According to the report by the Minderoo Foundation, Australia produced 59kg worth of single-use plastic per person in 2019 — more than any other country in the world – more even than the United States and Britain.
And that’s not a number one spot anyone really wants to brag about.
SPIN THE GLOBE
——–
Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops … and today, we find ourselves in the Galapagos Islands .. a wondrous collection of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, that belong to a South American country called Ecuador. Where one of the islands’ most famous landmarks has fallen into the sea. It’s called Darwin’s Arch – a natural rock formation in the middle of the sea, which collapsed over the weekend just gone due to natural erosion. Erosion is the process of wind or rain or sea gradually wearing away the rock until it falls down – and it’s a perfectly natural phenomenon. Darwin’s Arch is named after the famous British naturalist, Charles Darwin – who visited the Galapagos almost 200 years ago and recorded the dizzying array of wildlife that lives there. His time in the Galapagos was vital to the development of his very famous ‘Theory of Evolution’. But that’s a whole podcast in and of itself. In the meantime – I’ve stuck a link to a photo of Darwin’s Arch in today’s episode notes.
SPORTS TIME
—–
The unveiling of the uniform that Aussie athletes will wear in the Olympic Games opening ceremony is always hotly anticipated. Which is to say: every Olympics, it attracts a lot of attention and a lot of people with a lot of opinions about whether its nice or ugly or stylish or deeply unfashionable. It’s a thing. And yesterday, the Aussie uniform for the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony was revealed – and designers have gone for something classic – as the link in today’s episode notes reveals. Blazer, shorts and simple white shirt for the blokes, same for the girls with a jazzy neck scarf. Simples.
But whether they get to actually wear it remains a moot point: which is a fancy way of saying, it’s not certain. That’s because a new poll of Japanese citizens has found almost 80 percent want the games postponed or cancelled. Because, COVID… Watch this space.
Speaking of Olympics – our gold-medal winning women’s rugby sevens team flew to New Zealand yesterday to take part in this weekend’s Trans Tasman competition. It’s been approximately 500 days since either the mens or women’s team have played another country – because, COVID. Our Aussie women’s team is are hoping to break the four match winning streak the Kiwis were on before COVID shut everything down. Go Aussies!
POP CULTURE CORNER
——-
If you were hoping to grow up and marry Ariana Grande – I’m sorry to tell you, someone has beaten you to it. The chart-topping pop star confirmed yesterday that she had married her long-time boyfriend, Dalton Gomez in a secret wedding ceremony in front of only 20 of her friends. Now, why would someone get married in secret? Because when you’re as big a celebrity as Ariana is – famous around large parts of the world – who you marry and when and how you do it is of massive interest – go figure. And that means media sometimes try to muscle in on your special day. And, well, nobody really wants that. Ariana’s people – because everyone that famous has people – said the ceremony was small and intimate and that the room was fll of love and everyone was happy. Including it seems, Ariana’s 235 million (whaaaaa?) Instagram followers – who flooded the singer with congratulations messages.
THE S’QUIZ
—————–
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What is the name of the islands where the Darwin’s Arch rock formation has just collapsed?
- To which nearby country has our womens’ rugby sevens team just flown to take part in a Trans-Tasman competition? Hint: the clue is in the question …
- Name the popstar who just tied the knot .. or should I say, got married?
SHOUT OUTS
——————-
It’s May 19… birthday of footy player, Andrew Johns, Aussie actor Claudia Karvan, pianist David Helfgott and singer, James Reyne. What an eclectic bunch…
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … Zakai from Newcastle, Mac from Melbourne, Sophie from Kempsey, Monika and Olivia from Perth, Indiana from Capalaba, Isaac from Albany Hills, Nikita from Cranbourne, Kate from O’Connor, Bede from Haberfield, William from Hornsby, Isaac from Mornington and Sarah from West Leederville.
And a belated birthday shoutout to… Lachlan from Brisbane
Classroom shoutouts… class 5B at Lawnton State School, class MG6 at All Saints’ College St. Peter’s campus, class 4B from Bell Primary School, Mrs Lisa Simpson’s K01 Year 6 class at Settlers Farm Campus in Paralowie, and Ms Sporn’s Grade 2 class at Craigburn Primary School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Galapagos Islands
- New Zealand
- Ariana Grande