Wednesday, June 7, 2023
The new plan to save our seas; swimming in the Seine; A Moose stops traffic and sniffing out online scams.
LINKS
Moose on highway
Disclaimer: This content contains offensive language. Attempts have been made to cover up certain words, but if watching in a classroom environment, keep the audio on silent. https://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/05/23/baby-moose-fail-moos-cprog-orig-bdk.cnn
Squiz Kids Book Club: https://www.squizkids.com.au/book_club/may-2023/
Classroom Companion:
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Newshounds
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THE LOWDOWN
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As Bryce mentioned on Monday, it was World Environment Day. Australia’s Environment and Water minister, Tanya Plibersek (she’s the politician who is responsible for big decisions about those things), has used this occasion to make some very important announcements.
Ms Plibersek has declared that 385,000 square kilometres of ocean, that’s larger than the whole country of Germany, will become a high-protection area. That’s so exciting, as it means that no fishing, mining, or other damaging activities can happen there. The area is called Macquarie Island Marine Park and it’s halfway between Tassie and Antarctica. It’s a bit of a wonderland as it’s home to species that are not found anywhere else – like Royal and Rockhopper Penguins, and some very cute fur and elephant seals.
Meanwhile, up north, off the Queensland coast, gillnets are set to be banned from the Great Barrier Reef. Gillnets are long stretches of netting that have holes large enough for a fish’s head to fit through but not their body. That means that their gills become entangled and they get stuck. It’s a really effective way to fish, but sadly, other marine creatures can get stuck and injured or killed. Dugongs, turtles, dolphins and sharks are sometimes unintentionally caught. The banning means the fish populations will increase, meaning more food and less danger for other marine creatures. How great is that?
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 Ooh la la, Paris in France.Home of the Eiffel Tower, delicious croissants and baguettes and do you know the name of the river that flows through the city? It’s called The Seine.
And the Seine is absolutely stunning from afar – meandering through the historical districts of Paris. But close up, it’s a bit yucky.
The water is polluted with waste. You’d most likely get an ear infection if you dived in.
The reason is because every time there is a huge rainfall in Paris – all of the street drains run into the river, flowing any rubbish straight into the water too. Even things like rusty bikes get picked out of the Seine.
So project Keep Paris Water Clean has begun, with the Government pouring billions into building an enormous underground water tank – in fact the size of 30 olympic pools. This will capture the street’s rain overflow, instead of it going to the Seine.
The dream is for the river to be clean enough to swim in during the Olympics just a little over one year away.
ANIMAL KINGDOM
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In Canada, drivers on a busy highway were at a standstill because a mum and baby Moose trotted into the traffic.
Clearly, the mum moose had done this before, she easily jumped over the highway divider and was heading straight into the trees on the other side. But when she turned around, she realised her baby calf was stuck on the other side of the barrier. Either unable or too scared to jump over it.
All the drivers stopped to watch, and some took video, which I’ll put a link of in the episode notes – as the mother moose then proceeded to jump back and forth over the barrier to show her calf how it’s done.
In the end, it was all too hard for the calf, and the pair va-moosed back in the direction they came.
NEWSHOUNDS
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Every Wednesday, Squiz-E the Newshound sticks his snout into Squiz Kids HQ to report back on fishy things he’s sniffed out on the internet … and today his nose is twitching after coming across a scam on facebook where kind people are being duped into sharing suspicious content. Basically there is a fake account that appears to be a kind hearted woman who has come across lost vintage photographs. She is asking for everyone to share her link in the hope that someone might recognise these photos and be happily reunited with them. But instead, when the unsuspecting people do share her story, they are actually sending dodgy links to all their friends in their account.
It’s a scam that is designed to reach as many people as possible. You think you’re helping a stranger by forwarding on their story, however you end up sending suspicious content to everyone you know.
It’s another timely reminder to always do as Squiz-E the Newshound says: and that’s to STOP, THINK and CHECK every time we come across a piece of content online.
Because it’s super important to not always believe everything we see, read or hear.
And if your classroom is not yet among the 1200 around the country that have signed up to Newshounds – our very own, free media literacy program for primary school kids – then head on over to squizkids.com.au and get involved.
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 …
- I mentioned two species of Penguins only found in the Macquarie Island Marine Park, can you name either of them?
- What is the name of the main river that runs through Paris?
- What native animal held up traffic when the pair trotted onto a highway in Canada?
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s June 7 – and what a great day it is because it’s national chocolate ice cream day in the US. Apparently chocolate is the most popular of all the flavours so it deserves its own celebration.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today ..
Chloe from Engadine, Indiana from Ruse, Alexander from Baulkham Hills, Rose from Geelong, Aleks and Jodie from Andrews Farm, Maxime from Hunters Hill, Dot from Gladesville, Sigma from Carlingford, Aaliyah from Burpengary, Ivy from Pitt Town, Addison from Fig Tree Pocket and Skylar listening all the way over in Paris.
And not forgetting a special birthday shout out to Florence in Bondi.
Belated shout outs go to… Ben from Goulburn, Ivy from NSW, Magnus from Kooringal, Finn from Yass, Sam from Echuca and Sean from Hendra.
And today’s Classroom Shoutouts go to … Year 5 with Mrs Few at Yarrawonga College, Miss Parker and Mr Asher’s class at Oran Park Public School, Room 14 with Miss Irvine at Anzac Terrace Primary School in Bassendean, class 6F and Miss Pederson at Casino Public School, class 3F and Mr Finn at Holsworthy Public School, class 1H with Miss Hasenkam and 3S with Mrs Sutton both at Blayney Public School and lastly to class 5/6 All Stars and Mrs Lenehan at Bald Blair Public School in Guyra.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Royal penguins and Rockhopper Penguins
- The Seine
- Moose
Don’t forget .. if you’ve got a birthday coming up and you want a shout out – or if you want a classroom shout out – drop us a line at [email protected] or fill out the form on our website.
That’s all we have time for. Thanks for listening to Squiz Kids Today – we’ll be back again tomorrow.
In the meantime, get out there and have a most excellent day. Over and out.