Wednesday, 16 February, 2022
LINKS
Time-capsule boat Rye Riptides https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/14/new-hampshire-students-boat-norway
The mini-boat’s mega journey https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/education/2022/02/14/rye-nh-miniboat-found-smola-norway-rye-riptides-educational-passages/6726124001/
Sportsmanship from Nepalese wicket keeper https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/cricket-2022-touching-act-of-sportsmanship-in-nepal-vs-ireland-match-video-run-out-spirit-of-cricket-t20-world-cup-qualifiers/news-story/de3b9b7c816300a3a851df7353590696
Newshounds:
Viral fake photos: https://www.boredpanda.com/fake-news-photos-viral-photoshop/
Squiz Kids for Schools: https://www.squizkids.com.au/squiz-kids-for-schools/
Squiz Kids Apple Subscriber Content: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/squiz-kids/id1494238283
How To Become A Squiz Kids Correspondent
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FH2HA28InnLU6UxE91wrLBAbCMT40Mua/view
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
In Squiz Kids Today …. New lease of life for batteries; Norway’s message in a boat; the best sports in all of cricket; and Baby Shark joins the police force.
That’s what’s making news, kid’s style…
THE LOWDOWN
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Batteries … look around your house and you’ll probably find them everywhere. They power the remote control of your telly, countless toys and games and appliances – they’re everywhere.
Did you know that if you laid end to end all the batteries Australians buy every year, it would stretch around the entire Earth twice? Did you know that its estimated there are 150 million batteries in Australian homes right now? And did you also know that when we chuck them out – as most of us do – they go into landfill, take ages to break down and even sometimes still have enough charge left in them to spark fires?
Yesterday, a national program was launched to recycle household batteries – meaning all of those problems could be a thing of the past.
Used-battery collection boxes will start to appear in most of the major supermarkets around the country, where it’s hoped more of us will deposit our batteries for recycling instead of sending them to the tip – in much the same way a lot of us are already doing with bottle recycling.
Lithium batteries – which are commonly the rechargeable ones you find in things like mobile phones or remote control cars – are especially good for recycling, as lithium is a finite resource – meaning its a mineral that’s dug from the ground and therefore, there’s only a limited amount of it on Earth.
So next time your batteries run flat – put them to one side and take them for recycling the next time you visit the supermarket. The planet will thank you.
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 Norway – in Scandinavia – where a time-capsule mini-boat that was launched by schoolkids on the east coast of America has washed up and been found by a sixth grader, more than 13,000 kilometres from where it started its journey.
The boat – called Rye Riptides and measuring about 6 foot in length – was filled with photos and messages and autumn leaves and acorns native to New Hampshire in the United States – then set afloat by the school kids of Rye Junior High.
It was equipped with a GPS, which meant they could keep track of its journey – even if there were long periods when it disappeared from the map.
Imagine their surprise then when a sixth grader from a school on a tiny island off the coast of Norway found the boat – 462 days after it had been launched.
The two schools are in contact and planning a video call later this week.
How cool is that?
There’s a link in today’s episode notes to stories which feature photos of the little boat – and the Norwegian kid who found it.
SPORT TIME
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If you were looking for a show of sportmanship yesterday – you needed to look no further than the T20 cricket game between Nepal and Ireland.
When an Irish batsman fell over while running between wickets – tripped up by a fieldsman who was scrambling for the ball – the Nepalese wicket keeper could easily have knocked the bails off the wickets and run him out.
But instead of taking advantage of the batsman’s bad luck – the wicky let him get to his feet and reach the crease.
There’s a link to video of it in today’s episode notes.
POP CULTURE CORNER
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Baby Shark … it’s that song that once someone mentions it or sings even a line or two of it, you can’t get it out of your head .. the song that’s so annoying that you want to put cotton wool in your ears and hide under the nearest bed when it comes on … the song that’s so ear-splittingly awful that the New Zealand police have wheeled it out this week in an attempt to break up protestors outside the country’s parliament building.
Protestors have been gathering outside New Zealand parliament this week to show their opposition for vaccine rules. And so the New Zealand police have decided the best way to convince them to go home is to play Baby Shark over loud speakers … over, and over and over again.
It hurts my head to think about.
They’ve also been playing Barry Manilow on high rotation to make the protestors go home .. which, as a big fan of Copacabana, I find faintly bemusing .. oh stop laughing .. we can’t all listen to Kid Laroi or BTS or Tay Tay …
NEWSHOUNDS
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Each Wednesday, we invite Squiz-E the Newshound into the studio to tell us what kind of fake news he’s sniffed out on the internet. And today he’s found a real stinker … it’s a photo that was shared all over Facebook last week, showing a mountain in Cambodia that is shaped exactly like a turtle’s head. There are two caves where the eyes would be, and rock jutting out to create the turtle’s beak. It’s unbelievable how much it looks like a turtle! But as Squiz-E always says, if it seems too good to be true, then make sure you stop, think, and check. Because it turns out that Turtle Mountain is too good to be true. The photo is actually a combination of two photos – one of a lake and one of a big rock – with the eyes and beak photoshopped in. Squiz-E did some more digging and found a website with 30 of the most common photoshopped memes, showing the original photo and the one that went viral… and as you’ll see from the link to the photos in your episode notes, it’s really important when surfing the net not to believe everything you see. Thanks, Squiz-E.
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 song is New Zealand police playing to break up protestors?
- Which country did a time-capsule-mini-boat end up in after 462 days at sea?
- Name one of the two countries playing cricket yesterday when an extraordinary act of sportsmanship was displayed.
SHOUT OUTS
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It’s February 16… today is Do A Grouch A Favour Day … which sounds like it might have been created just for me … we all know someone a bit grumpy – so what better way to turn their frown upside down than doing them a favour … because kindness never goes out of fashion …
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …Chelsey from North Rocks and Sterling from Nedlands.
A belated birthday shout out goes to Elleana from Baldivis.
Classroom shoutouts today go to … Class 5/6 at Yarraville West Primary School, class 5JG and Mr G at Albany Hills State School and also to class 5N and Mrs Nitz at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Chinchilla.
And a warm welcome to Ms Watt and her students at St Malachy’s School in Edenhope, who have just subscribed to a Squiz Kids for Schools membership. It’s great to have you onboard.
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Baby Shark
- Norway
- Ireland or Nepal
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].