Wednesday, 28 April, 2021
World rallies for India; Supermoon alert; Brissie Olympics here we come; and the beaver that broke the internet.
LINKS
Beaver facts: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/five-fascinating-facts-about-beavers
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.
THE LOWDOWN
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Countries around the world, including Australia, have banded together to get emergency supplies, oxygen equipment and vaccines to India as the population there struggles with a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Hospitals are overcrowded in many parts of the country and the government there has ordered the lockdown of the largest cities in an attempt to bring the outbreak under control.
India is one of the most populated countries in the world, with almost 1.4 billion people crammed into a country half the size of Australia.
America has promised to send millions of COVID vaccines, the UK is sending medical equipment and Australia has pledged to send ventilators – which are machines that help sick people breathe – as well as lots of masks and face shields.
Because that’s what good neighbours do. We help each other out when one of us is in trouble.
It’s a reminder too that even though it’s been over a year since the pandemic was declared – we’ve still got a long way to go as a planet to properly better again.
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Hey moon watchers … have you had a look up in the sky this week? Last night there was a Pink Supermoon hanging in the sky above us – and if it looked bigger than usual it’s because the moon is the closest it ever gets to Earth in its orbit. If you haven’t yet caught a glimpse – pop out tonight and have a look. Or otherwise, mark your diary for the end of May when the next supermoon is due.
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 Canada … where a whole town’s internet connection has been shut down by a beaver.
Beavers – as some of you may know – are renowned for their digging and chewing ability. They have front teeth that can chew through tree trunks. And they build massive dams in rivers and lakes – which is also where they live.
One beaver on the outskirts of the Rocky Mountain village of Tumbler Ridge, stumbled across the cable supplying internet to the whole town and gnawed straight through it.
They know it was a beaver too: because parts of the internet cable showed up in a nearby beaver dam.
Only in Canada …
There’s a link in today’s episode notes to five fascinating facts about beavers – and some cute photos of the cunning critter too.
SPORTS TIME
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It’s still eleven years away from actually happening, but with each day that passes, it seems more and more certain that Brisbane will win the right to host the 2032 Olympic Games.
The Queensland Premier Annastascia Palazsczuk yesterday said we could know as soon as July this year whether Brissie will host the Games.
The news came after the Federal Government in Canberra said they would help pay halfof the money required to build all the venues and stadia (which is plural for stadium) and train lines and roads that would be needed to welcome the world to the Sunshine State.
A home grown Olympics! In eleven years’ time! Might be a bit late for my Olympic dream – but perfect timing for you lot to get training. As Cathy Freeman said – Dream. Believe. Succeed.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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Oh look – I like a good pair of trainers as much as the next person. Yes. It’s true. If I look back – I probably spent altogether more on sneakers than was strictly necessary. But never would I dream of paying $2.3 million dollars for a pair of trainers. And yet, that’s exactly what someone has gone and done in the United States this week, forking out the record-breaking amount of money to buy a pair of shoes that the rapper Kanye West wore to a music awards ceremony 12 years ago. Gosh. I hope he aired them out afterwards.
The shoes were bought by a group of people who collect shoe memorabilia. Footwear of cultural significance. And no, before you ask, your ratty old Clarks school shoes or your stinky netball shoes or footy boots are most probably not worth $2 million dollars. Soz.
Q+A CALL OUT
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Yes folks – now’s your chance to turn the tables on the people responsible for the Naplan tests … and get them to answer your questions.
That’s right. For the next Squiz Kids Q+A, we’ve invited Peter Titmanis, one of the grown-ups in charge of Naplan – which as you’d know, will be happening for kids in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in the coming weeks.
One million of you will be sitting down to take the Naplan exam next month. And the most important thing is for everyone to just relax. And the more you know about the whys and hows of it – the less there is to be worried about.
Maybe you want to know how they come up with the questions; or
M aybe doing exams is not your strong point – you may be good at other stuff that isn’t measured by a Naplan test. So what’s the point? Why is the test just for spelling and grammar and maths – and not for drawing or singing or playing video games?
Peter is ready to answer any question you might have. So let’s have ‘em.
Email them through to [email protected]. You’ve got until next Monday. Best question wins a prize…
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 animal has chewed through internet cables in the Canadian village of Tumbler Ridge?
- In what year does Brisbane hope it will host the Olympics?
- What’s the name of the American rapper whose shoes sold this week for more than $2 million?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s April 27 … International Guide Dog Day … and International Pay It Forward Day .. where we’re all encouraged to engage in a random act of kindness … buy an ice-block for the kid you don’t know in the canteen queue behind you, pick up the newspaper or bring in the bins for your elderly neighbour. You get the drift.
It’s also a special day for these kids celebrating a birthday today …. Jaye from Forster, Samara from Lysterfield, Jennifer from Mount Hawthorn, Lucy from Jindalee, Toban from Kureelpa, Amelie from Thirroul, Ella from Munno Para, Georgie from Petersham, Koby from Sheoak Grove and Indi and Jake Rochedale
Classroom shoutouts… Ms Geller’s Year 5/6 class from Hopetoun Primary School, Miss Bousfield and 2B from St John The Apostle School in Narraweena, 4 pink and 4 blue from Darcy Road Public School, Class 3M from Concord West Public School and all the Year 6 kids at Scotts Head Public School.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Beaver
- 2032
- Kanye West