Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Blue supermoon tonight; England’s bog-snorkelling championships; meet the mini-rodeo riders; and Gang-Gang’s Guide To Referendums.
THE LOWDOWN
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Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “once in a blue moon”? It means that something happens very rarely. And tonight, we’re going to have a very rare event indeed, because just above the horizon as dusk (weather permitting) you’ll be able to see a blue supermoon.
Let me break it down for you. A supermoon occurs when the full moon coincides with the moon being at its closest point to the earth. Because the moons orbit isn’t circular, it’s an ellipse, sometimes it’s closer and sometimes it’s further away. So when the full moon and the perigee (or closest point of the moon’s orbit) occur together, the moon appears to be bigger and wayyyy brighter.
Now a blue moon (isn’t actually blue) …I know… English is weird right? A blue moon is a term for when a second full moon happens in one calendar month. Because the moon takes 29.5 days (or a moonth that’s where we get the word month from) to orbit the Earth, two full moons in a month are rare. It happens only once every two and a half years.
So make sure you head outside at dusk today and watch the sky just above the horizon in the east, and you’ll see an event which won’t happen again until January 2037!
SPIN THE GLOBE
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Each day we give the world globe and spin and find a news story wherever it stops, and today, we’ve landed in Great Britain, where the self-described balmy nation, are living up to their reputation, by holding some very curious competitions.
The word balmy can mean warm and tropical but it also means a bit whacky, which is absolutely how I’m using it here.
On Sunday, Wales played host to the 35th annual Bog Snorkelling Championship, where a 55m trench is dug through a mound of moss and dead plant matter called peat, the trench is filled with water and competitors must swim through as quickly as they can without using any normal swimming strokes. People don flippers and snorkels and crazy costumes, one competitor even wore a giant toad on his head – yes – links to photos are in the episode notes.
While over in the Northern English county of Lancashire on Monday, the 15th annual World Gravy Wrestling Champion- chips were held [Mum Joke Alarm] (see what I did there!) Twenty four male and female competitors took turns, battling it out as hundreds of litres of gravy were replaced throughout the day. The refs awarded points for best fancy dress, comedic effect and entertainment. When you’ve seen a giant potato wrestling Where’s Wally in a huge pool of gravy, you’ve really seen it all. There’s links to video in the episode notes.
Oh and the best thing … the kids got to dive in at the end of the day! Woo Hoo!
SPORT TIME
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What’s fat, fluffy, stands just over a metre tall and likes to buck children off it’s back? A minature rodeo bull of course!
The next generation’s bull riders are cutting their teeth (meaning that they’re just learning) on this breed of bull that was imported from the United States more than a decade ago. The bulls are ideal for learners as they don’t have the, quote “teenage fizz about them”, that young bulls do.
Miniature bull breader, Adrian Root, initially thought that maybe 6 or 8 bulls would be enough but now has more than 100 as their popularity has exploded and kids can experience a traditionally dangerous sport in relative safety.
So what do the young rodeo riders think? Eleven-year-old Rylee Remfrey says “Mini bulls are just fat, they are fun to ride.” Hmmm, they sound adorable, but I don’t think I’ll be giving it a go any time soon.
BOOK WEEK COMP
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[Trumpet intro]
It is with great pleasure and without further ado that I would like to announce the winners of the very prestigious, Squiz Kids Best Book Week Costume Competition. The winners will be receiving a Squiz Kids Book Club prize pack from our friends at Walker Books.
And our winners are:
Eli who was a magnificent Bin Chicken!
The indispensable Truffula Tree from the Lorax
And Ollie whose Kindle costume meant that he was like every book ever!
And our teacher prize goes to [Drumroll] Mrs M who dressed as an extremely stylish
Book Fairy
A huge thank you and congratulations to everyone who participated. You made it very difficult to judge. If you haven’t seen these costumes, or Bryce’s Book Week costume, hop on over to our Facebook and Instagram pages and get ready to be delighted..
REFERENDUM TEASER
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Referendum, referendum, referendum. You’ve probably heard that word a lot in the news lately, right? But what does it mean? And why is this referendum thing causing so much fuss and bother in the media?
Announcing: Gang-Gang’s Guide to Referendums … a two-part podcast series that drops tomorrow, explaining what referendums are, how they work and why they’re actually a very important of our electoral system.
Who’s Gang-Gang I hear you ask? He’s a cockatoo from Canberra … and he’s in a flap because of all the noise in his hometown around the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Join Bryce and Steph Smith from the Museum of Australian Democracy as they help explain to Gang-Gang the finer points of referendums ..
It’s politics and government and civics made-easy for kids … but adults might just learn something too.
Available on our website from tomorrow – or on the Squiz Kids feed in whichever app you get your podcasts.
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 is the name of the very special moon that will be above the horizon at dusk this evening?
- What were competitors doing in the peat bogs of Wales earlier this week?
- Where did the breed of miniature bulls being ridden in Aussie rodeos originally come from?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s August 30 – Toasted Marshmallow Day! So, while you’re out there moon gazing tonight, why not pop some marshmallows on a stick and get into that gooey goodness!
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …
Samuel from Abbotsford, Amy from Keilor East, Nathan from West Pennant Hills, Heidi from Holsworthy, Summer from Curl Curl, Ishaan from Schofields, Tom from Hunters Hill, Katie from Turramurra and Kemba from Matong.
Belated shoutouts (including all of you who celebrated a birthday yesterday) go to …
Eden from Burleigh Heads, Chase from Campbelltown, Elkan from Thurgoona, Ryde from Chinchilla, Ingrid from Mount Gravatt, Elijah from Woodpark, Sam from Lake Bolac, Jemi from the Gold Coast, Sam from Echuca, Digby from Queanbeyan, Bella from Cremorne, Valaria from Dee Why, Pelepko from Mitchelton, George from Karabar, twins Liara and Sierra from Ningi and Kohen listening over in Singapore.
Classroom shoutouts today go to … class 2B and Miss Bennett at Blayney Public School, class S3 also with Miss Bennett at Goulburn South Public School, class 3B and Mrs Nicholson at Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane, class 4P and Mr D’More at Mary Immaculate Catholic Primary School in Bossley Park, class 4J with Miss Bird at Lake Albert Public School in Wagga Wagga and lastly to all of the students at Gawler District College.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- A blue supermoon
- Snorkelling
- The United States