Download Australian Animals

Universität Koblenz-Landau
Abteilung Koblenz
Summer Term 2005
English Department
Children´s Literature / Area Studies
Course Instructor: Heike Bäcker
Topic: Australian Animals
Presentation: Susanne Müller, Inna Jede, Jennifer Kaiser, Bianca Heyne
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Australian Animals
1. Facts about animals
Kangaroo
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4 main types: Red Kangaroo, Grey Kangaroo, Wallaby, Walaroo
Nearly 60 species in the kangaroo family altogether
Also marsupial mammals, there are more than 45 “macropod” species (macropod means “big
foot” and includes all members of the “family” with large and powerful back legs)
Some are found in open dry country others in rocky hills ore forested areas
They eat grass and leaves and need only little water (can survive without drinking for months)
At the daytime they rest in the shade and at nights they move aroundthey are noctural
When they’re born they are only 2.5 cm long and they live in their mother’s pouch until the
age of 7 months. Later they leave the pouch for exploration journeys, jumping back in quickly
when being frightened. Between 8 and 11 months they leave the pouch completely.
Koala
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South East Australia
Described as an „ash- coloured pouched bear“, but they are no bears they are mammals (feed
their young on milk) and marsupials (they carry their young in their pouch)
“Koala” comes from the Aboriginal saying that means “no drink” because they obtain enough
moisture from the eucalypt leaves that they live from
They are found in Eucalypt forests (gum trees) and woodlands
Daytimes they usually sleep in the fork of a tree and after sunset they are active and move
around
Sometimes you can hear them barking aggressively at other koalas because of food
Dingo
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Mammals which are found everywhere in Australia except Tasmania
Prefer the edge of forests which butt on to grasslands because they need to drink at least once
a day
It is a wild form of the domestic dog (size of a medium dog)
Live and hunt alone, in pairs or as a small family group
They are carnivores (meat eating) and prefer mammals like rabbits, sheep and kangaroos
Wombat
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Marsupials which live in colder parts of Australia mainly in South Eastern Australia, prefer
forest areas where the soil is borrowable
Strong, stout and sturdy – are called “bulldozers of the bush” because they can move most
things in their way
Build tunnels from 2 to 20 metres length – only one wombat lives in it
Eat grass and other plants like shrubs, roots, barks and moss – spend many hours each night
browsing for food in their home range
Platypus
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Extremely different mammal because they lay eggs, so they are monotremes
found only in Eastern Australia
platypus means “flat feet”, so they are good at swimming and digging burrows to live in on
the edges of rivers and freshwater lakes
during the day they rest in their burrows, they are most active for several hours after dusk and
before dawn
Spend up to 12 hours each day in water as cold as 0 degrees
Platypus eat water insects, shrimps and worms by dabbling in mud or silt on them bottom of
rivers with their sensitive, flexible, duck-like snout
Can eat their own body weight in food in one night
Emu
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3rd largest bird in the world which can’t fly
Found everywhere in Australia from woods to scrubland to grassland to desert areas but not in
rainforests
Very mobile quick runner (up to 50 kph)
Size of 1.5 to 2 metres with extremely long legs and they weigh up to 45 kg
Eat grass, flowers, seeds as well as insects like grasshoppers i.e.
The female emu lays up to 20 dark green eggs and the male incubates them for 8 weeks. In
this time he rarely leaves the nest, surviving on a layer of fat he built up prior to nesting
Kookaburra
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They are found through out eastern Australia from the northern tip of Queensland right down
to Tasmania. They have also been introduced to the southern part of Western Australia. They
live in open forests and eucalypt bush land.
They enjoy eating most ground-living insects, as well as mice, lizards and snakes
They are famous for their laughing calls (sounds like human laughter) which usually occur at
dawn and dusk and is in fact the kookaburra "marking out" its territory
They form community groups which together share and defend their home territory physically
from other bird species
They don’t build nests, instead they use existing cavities in trees or again sometimes a treetermite mound
Echidna
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Monotremes like platypus
have long spines protecting their bodies and long sharp claws on their feet
Echidnas need bushland to live in
Echidnas can swim. They don't like the heat
The echidna has a long and sensitive snout with which it can feel vibrations and smell very
well
Smells the food it eats like ants or termites. Then it uses the claws on its feet to dig out its
“dinner”
2. Facts about two Australian National Parks
Cape Tribulation National Park (Queensland)
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wide spectrum of all landscapes
68 square miles
nowhere else rainforests and coral reeves so close to each other
more rain than anywhere else in Australia
a green house effect is grated because of continuous rain and high temperatures
Stirling Range National Park (Western Australia)
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450 square miles
Steep mountain ranges, desert planes, bush land, lakes
during summertime temperature: 40 degrees
famous for unusual plants
popular for hiking holidays
3. Other possible topics concerning Australia in primary school
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Ethnic groups (Aborigines)
Culture (food)
History (first population)
Geography (down under)
Government
Flora and Fauna (imported animals)
Climate (sunprotection)
4. Reasons to choose the topic “Australian Animals”
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Children are always interested in animals
Children first think about kangaroos and koalas if they hear the word “Australia”
It’s a good possibility to introduce grammar (verbs like jump, swim, eat etc. and adjectives
like colours, shy, big, small etc.)
Australian animals are rare in our zoo, they get to know them
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sources:
- Fuchs, Donatus: Australien - Nationalparks, Bruckmann Verlag München, 1995
- http://australian-animals.net
- http://home.t-online.de/kfmaas/index.html
- http://englisch.schule.de
- informations and material from schools