Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
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 __________________________________________________________________________________________ Australian Animals 1. Facts about animals Kangaroo - 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 aroundthey 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - - 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 - 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) - - 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) - - 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 - 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” - 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