Wednesday, 9 December, 2020
Lightning strikes school oval; Japan’s love quest; Olympic breakdancing; and it’s Sugar Plum Mary day!
LINKS
Check out our parent podcast and daily news email for adults: The Squiz: www.thesquiz.com.au
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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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The great global vaccine race was in full swing yesterday as the United Kingdom started to roll out its program to vaccinate its population against the coronavirus. A 90 year old woman named Margaret Keenan was the first person to receive the vaccine yesterday and said “I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends after being on my own for most of the year.” Meanwhile, India took steps to fast-track the approval of a vaccine there as it looks to vaccinate its almost 1.4 billion people. And China increased production of a COVID vaccine in preparation to immunise its 1.4 billion people with a new lab to double the number of vaccine doses it can churn out, setting a target of 600 million doses by the end of the year.
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Kids and teachers at a school in central Queensland got the fright of their lives yesterday when a bolt of lightning struck at the end of the oval during their end of year celebrations.
Thirteen students and two teachers from Clinton State School in Gladstone were taken to hospital – but thankfully no one was seriously injured.
Great big electrical storms have been sweeping the interior and coastline of central Queensland for the past week – a place where tropical storms at this time of the year are common.
The lengths some kids will go to to get out of an afternoon in the classroom …
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 Japan. Where the government is playing matchmaker to try and increase the birth rate in the country.
The Japanese government has just announced it will give $26 million dollars to an artificial intelligence program that helps people in the country meet their love match.
Why has the government taken an interest in how many of its people have boyfriends or girlfriends? Because the birth rate in Japan – which is to say the number of babies born each year – has been falling in recent years. And a high birth rate is important to the general well-being of a country for various reasons.
Can you imagine if Prime Minister Scott Morrison started taking an interest in our love lives? And investing in artificial intelligence programs to ensure more of us get loved up? How can you not love Japan?
SPORTS TIME
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Here at Squiz Kids we pride ourselves on not passing judgment on the news of the day – but rather reporting just the facts. So we’ll endeavour not to sound surprised at the latest sport to be included in the Olympic Games.
The organisers of the Games yesterday announced that breakdancing would be an Olympic sport for the first time at the Games scheduled for Paris in 2024. And it’s been met with a storm of protest from other sports who have been patiently waiting for years – applying to be considered an Olympic sport, in some cases, for decades.
Games organisers described the decision as an attempt to appeal to a younger generation. Maybe I’ve missed something: but wasn’t breakdancing popular back in the 1980s? I’m just waiting for them to add Daggy Dad Dancing as an Olympic sport – I would totally win a gold medal in that.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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If you’ve ever watched Bluey – and I know lots of you have – you’ll be more than familiar with her beautiful house on the hill.
An old Queenslander style house – similar to ones you find in a city like Brisbane – it has a prime spot in a prime location with views across the city skyline.
And because the wonderful world of real estate finds its way into every aspect of Aussie life, a couple of real estate agents in Brissie have put a price tag on Bluey’s house – estimating what it would fetch if (a) it were real and (b) it was put up for sale.
And the answer seems to be a cool $4 million. Which is a lot of money for a animated cattle dog and her family. Think of all the dog treats they could buy with that.
SUGAR PLUM MARY
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Hands up who loves Christmas? Hands up who is on the edge of their seats waiting for the Sugar Plum Mary Squiz Kids Q+A? Well – you’re in luck. Because it’s out today!
That’s right: we managed to secure one of Santa’s elves for the last Squiz Kids Q+A for the year .. and it’s a cracker of an episode. How does Santa make it around the world in one night? What’s her favourite reindeer? And do elves get to go on holidays? All these probing Christmas questions – and more – are answered in this very special, festive episode.
If you’re listening on a podcasting app, it should play automatically after this episode .. or its otherwise available for a listen at any time via all good podcasting apps or the Squiz Kids website, squizkids.com.au.
Enjoy!
ROSIE’S RECIPES
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Every Wednesday, we stick our heads into the Squiz Kids kitchen to see what Rosie has been cooking up – and this week, she’s been getting into the Christmas spirit with a delicious apple crumble recipe sent in by Squiz Kid, 10 year-old Ada from Melbourne.
Ada suggests giving the ol’ apple crumble a Christmas twist with the addition of a little bit of cinnamon – and it’s scrum-diddly-umptious.
As always, the recipe plus photos of the process and finished product are on the Squiz Kids website. And don’t forget, if you have a recipe you love and you’d like Rosie to try, send it to [email protected].
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 made an unscheduled, unwelcome appearance at a Queensland school’s end of year celebrations yesterday?
- Which country’s government is going into the love matching business?
- What has just been added as an official sport to the 2024 Paris Olympics?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s December 9 …. National Llama Day … in which we’re all urged to stop and appreciate the many wondrous charms of the llama. Not least the fact they are champion spitters and apparently make for excellent guard animals.
It’s also only 16 sleeps ‘til Christmas … O come all ye faithful!
Plus it’s a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today … Molly from Tumut, Madalyn from Bathurst, Samantha from Paralowie, Ezekiel from Griffith, Amelia from Fulham, Libby and Isabelle from Wavell Heights, Lucy from Canberra, Bronte and Ralphie from Ainslie, Molly from Kempsey, Chayse from Oran Park, Isabel from Perth, Caitlin from Chipping Norton, Clara from Voyager Point , Sophie from Baldivis, Jordi from Albany Hills and Charlie, who is originally from Sydney but is living all the way in Tampa, Florida in the United States.
And so to classroom shoutouts … Ms Wright and class M17 at Surfside Primary School, all the kids but especially grade ⅚ at Cobden Primary School, and Miss Brown and 5/6B from Ryde East Public School. And a special shout out to the Year 5 kids at St Mary’s in Moruya, who are doing their School Captain speeches today. Best of luck to you all!
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Lightning
- Japan
- Breakdancing