Thursday, 8 December, 2022
Not-So-Little Prince uncovered in Queensland; a pricey old guitar; a crazy kids vs adults challenge; and the ultimate esports flex.
LINKS
Elasmosaur found!: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/dec/06/queensland-graziers-unearth-100m-year-old-plesiosaur-remains-likened-to-rosetta-stone
Video interview with a paleontologist who unearthed the dino: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-07/fossil-discovery-queensland-museum-townsville-plesiosaur/101735306
100 kids vs 100 adults: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CTp1a-aCUM
Come and Get It: Trophy in space https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47Fh1sza-Ec
Build a LEGO gift box: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us9z3bnzRX8
Dig deeper:
The Rosetta Stone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeQ-6eyMQ_o
Plesiosaurs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkw593Qa19U
Squiz Kids + Lego ‘Build To Give’ Christmas Campaign
Help Lego give away Lego sets to families in need this Christmas.
- Build something using Lego
- Share your creation to Instagram (a story or a post)
- Tag @ squizkids and #buildtogive
We’ll re-share your post on our Instagram, and on December 9, reveal just how generous Squiz Kids are …
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
THE LOWDOWN
——-
A group of Queensland women who call themselves the “Rock Chicks”—because they hunt for fossils in their spare time—has unearthed a one hundred million year old fossil in their backyard. Their discovery of a six metre long Elasmosaurus on a cattle station in remote Queensland is causing a LOT of excitement among palaeontologists… which of course is a fancy word for scientists who study fossils.
Now, an Elasmosaurus is not a dinosaur. It’s a plesiosaur – an extinct type of marine reptile that lived from 66 million to 215 million years ago. The word “marine” means sea, and cattle-country Queensland is most definitely not marine… Well, that is true. Now. But millions of years ago, a massive inland sea covered what we now know as a VERY hot and dry place. And that sea was filled with prehistoric sea monsters.
The Elasmosaur has been called Little Prince, in honour of Cassandra Prince, one of the Rock Chicks who owns the cattle station where it was found.
A four person team excavated the site, and were thrilled that the Little Prince is the first Elasmosaur found in Australia with its skull still attached to its body. That’s because elasmosaurs had really, really, really long necks – almost half the length of their entire bodies – and so, after 100 million years or so buried under rocks and dirt, their skulls have usually detached from the neck, and often been crushed.
The great thing about finding a complete fossil skeleton is that it can help scientists understand not just how the prehistoric creature was put together, but how it moved, what it ate, and more.
That’s why the Elasmosaur find has been likened to something called the Rosetta Stone. That is a big piece of rock with three ancient languages carved into it, including Egyptian hieroglyphics. Until it was found, in 1799, no one knew what hieroglyphics meant… but the stone finally allowed researchers to translate them. Similarly, this fossil could help scientists identify and understand other fossil fragments in their collections.
I’ll put a link in your episode notes to photos of the fossil, as well as more information about the Rosetta Stone and plesiosaurs. Experts say that we are living in a golden age for fossil hunting. So, kids of Queensland… I know what you can do this summer.
—-
Those of you paying close attention yesterday might have noticed that Bryce released TWO podcasts… the second being a special episode in which he chatted with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julia Inman Grant, about media literacy. You know, the stuff that Squiz-E the Newshound talks about every week … sniffing out misinformation, not falling for online scams, that kind of thing. The eSafety Commission has its own special campaign called Mighty Heroes, and those heroes are working together with Squiz-E to keep kids safe online.
If you missed it yesterday and you’re listening on a podcasting app – the chat should run immediately after this episode – otherwise I’ll put a link in your episode notes.
SPIN THE GLOBE
——–
Each day we give the world globe a spin and find a news story from wherever it stops – and today we’ve landed in France, where a very old guitar believed to have once belonged to the Queen of France is expected to fetch more than $100,000 at auction later this week.
Now, you might be wondering, why spend $100,000 on an old guitar when you can get a really good brand new one for much less? Well, many professional musicians believe that old instruments have a rich, special sound. Yo Yo Ma, one of the world’s best cellists, plays a $2.5 million 1733 Stradivarius cello… And an anonymous person recently spent $16 million on a violin made in 1741, and has loaned it to American Anne Akiko Meyers for the rest of her life.
Makes $100,000 for a guitar seem like a bargain!
POP CULTURE CORNER
——–
I want you to imagine that you and 99 of your friends have been issued a challenge. You can win half a million American dollars – that’s 747,000 Australian – if you can beat 100 adults in a competition.
The competition is this: you’ll spend 100 hours living inside a giant cube with the other kids … there’s a toilet, and you’ll get some food and sleeping bags. A second cube has 100 parents – one parent per kid – spending 100 hours under the same conditions.
At different times over the 100 hours, you’ll all be given opportunities to leave, if you can’t handle it.
Do you think there will be more adults or kids remaining at the end of the 100 hours? Who do you think will be most likely to fall for tricks that get them to leave?
That’s what the #1 trending video on YouTube right now is all about. It’s a challenge set up by YouTuber Mr Beast … and if you have 15 minutes to spare, it’s pretty interesting viewing. I won’t spoil who wins the challenge, but I do think you’re likely to have some good conversations about it! And… Squiz-E the Newshound has a challenge for you. While you’re watching, see if you can spot HOW Mr Beast is able to give away so much money. Are there ads in the video? Promotions?
SPACED OUT
—–
A big, brash challenge has been issued by the Space Force branch of America’s military, to its competitors in a video game tournament.
Yes, you heard that right… esports teams from the US Air Force, British Army, US Navy, and more play Call of Duty against each other every year, in a tournament that raises money for military veterans.
For the last two years running, the winners of the tournament have been the US Space Force… which is in charge of protecting America’s interests in space.
And so, to promote the next tournament, which gets underway on Friday the 16th, Space Force has made a video that includes real footage of the trophy in space, with “Come and Get It” scrawled at the base. That’s right, Space Force’s trophy was actually launched into space to make the video. Talk about a flex. And yes, of course, the video is in your episode notes.
CHRISTMAS with LEGO
—–
(clock ticking) Hear that? That’s the clock ticking REALLY LOUDLY on our Christmas Charity Campaign with LEGO. You know the one .. where for every Lego build a Squiz Kid does and shares to Instagram, tagging @squizkids and using the hashtag Build to Give – the good people at LEGO will donate a LEGO set this Christmas to a family in need.
TODAY is your last chance to show the world how generous Squiz Kids can be… the more we build, the more joy we bring this Christmas.
We’re currently at 340 builds… an impressive 60 builds more than two days ago. But let’s put in one last, HUGE effort and push it up to 500 before tomorrow. That’s when Bryce will reveal the final number, and the names of the three prize-winning kids who created the three best builds.
And if you don’t know what to make – how about making a present for someone this festive season, or some Christmas decorations? LEGO tells me that their research shows that one third of kids like to get crafty for Chrissie, so if that’s you, get on it! I’ll put a link in your episode notes to a little online tutorial on creating adorable LEGO present boxes.
And if you’re thinking to yourself, I already did, Amanda! Remember that you can enter as MANY times as you like with different builds. How many things can you make after school today? How many lives can you bring an extra sparkle to this Christmas?
Just remember to tag us @squizkids, and add the hashtag BuildToGive. I’ve stuck details in today’s episode notes..
And stay tuned for tomorrow’s big reveal …
THE SQUIZ
—————–
This is the part of the podcast where you get to test how well you’ve been listening …
- What is the nickname given to the Elasmosaur found in Queensland?
- What are different branches of the military doing next week to raise money for veterans?
- Who do you think would last longer stuck inside a giant cube with 99 other people, one portable loo, and bad food… you, or your parents?
SHOUT OUTS
——————-–
It’s December 8… the anniversary of the death of the Beatles’ John Lennon, and the birthday of rapper Nicki Minaj.
It’s also a special day for these Squiz Kids celebrating a birthday today …
Chloe from Cannon Hill, Pranavi from Croydon, Cooper from Appin, Milla from Park Orchards, Sia from Canberra, Amber from Quirindi, Isla from Exeter, Zoe from Otford, Jack from Ivanhoe, Elouise from East Geelong, Ellie from Geraldton, Enira and Miranda from Dandenong and Archie listening from West Vancouver.
And a belated birthday shout out goes to … Archie from Woongarrah.
Classroom shout outs go to… class 3/4B and Mrs Brazer at Teralba Primary School, class 4 Ghostbusters and Ms Garven at Glenbrook Public School, class 4J and Mrs Kingsley at Kingsley’s HomeSchool – currently travelling around Australia, class 6TF at Clairvaux Catholic School in Belmont, class 5/6 E & G with Mr Sonneveld and Ms Kotsiras at Dandenong South Primary School, class 3 Red and Miss Van Der Zee at Bethany Catholic Primary School in Penrith and lastly to Year 1 at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School in Paddington and thank you to all of the year 1 teachers for getting through a normal school year!
And a quick note on Classroom Shoutouts … we’ve got only SIX (as of 8/12, remember to change) podcasts left in the year and over 120 Classroom Shoutouts – and counting – in the Squiz Kids mailbox queue – we’ll do our best to get through as many as possible before the podcast wraps on December 16 – but if we don’t, please accept our apologies and please get in touch when the school term resumes next year …
The S’Quiz Answers:
- Little Prince
- Playing a Call of Duty video game tournament
- There’s only one way to find out…