Goanna ate my homework: YEAR 2 - HASS- Elaborate
Little J shares his bird feather collection with B-Boy. In school, Little J promises to find bush tucker to share with the class. The problem is that he doesn’t know how to find bush tucker. He enrols the help of Big Cuz and Nanna to teach him ‘proper way’ to identify and track animals. The group finds emu eggs but overnight a greedy goanna eats them. Nanna comes to the rescue by making spaghetti bolognaise for the class.
Elaborate - Present narratives, information and findings in oral, graphic and written forms using simple terms to denote the passing of time and to describe direction and location.
Theme - MAPS
Have students imagine that they have been shipwrecked on an Island somewhere off the coast of Australia. They need to make a map of the Island so that they can easily find water, food, shelter, where animals graze, land features, and if anyone else in on the Island. Have students name the Island and create an imaginary native culture that is evidenced on the Island.
Develop a brief for students where they explore the Island and draw a map labelling 10 main features on the map. The 10 features could include:
- Compass points
- Scale: 2 cm = 1 kilometre
- Beach, limestone caves and shell mitten
- Fresh water creek
- Volcanic mountain
- Forest
- Coconut grove
- Grasslands + Australian animals
- Wild bush tomatoes, quongdongs, bush limes
- Coral reef
Have students pose questions about how they would survive on their Island, such as:
- Where is the best place to set up a shelter? Why?
- Where is the best place to search for food?
- Where is the best place to search for shellfish?
- Where is the best place to collect fresh water?
- Where would I go for shelter if there was a cyclone/flood/fire coming?
Ask students to create a symbol that represents the place where they would go for each of the above questions.
Once the students are rescued, a reporter interviews them about the Island they were shipwrecked on. Ask students to develop a report telling people where to find the Island, and what they would find when they got there. Using a map of Australia, chart a map from the mainland to the Island that others can follow and find the Island.