Megafauna

Level 4 and 5

Curriculum area - Science, SOSE and English

Outcomes

Students:

• Explore Australian food webs and ecosystems at the time of the Megafauna.
• Identify features of animals that assist in survival.
• Use references to gather information.
• Present scientific information in a story format.

Materials and preparation

The Australian picture cut-outs and species information from the Gould League Food Webs, Classification and Biodiversity kit; reference sources - books, the internet etc.

Outline

Place the pictures of the Diprotodon and Giant kangaroo on the board and ask the students to make observations about them. List these for later use.

The students research Australia's megafauna in small groups and develop a brief kids' story about A Day in the Life of Megafauna Australia - this should include details about climate, vegetation, predators and prey. The class share their stories.

As a class, return to the students' initial observations about the megafauna pictures and see how accurate they were. Then guide a class discussion to construct a megafauna food web on the whiteboard using the appropriate cut-outs from the kit.

Extension

Perform the stories as a play for another class.

The class could divide into section teams to construct a model of a Megafauna Park.