One night, Little J hears the nocturnal Barking Owl and becomes fascinated by how the owl stays awake at night. In the morning, he is woken by the carolling of magpies and on the way to school, he is swooped by Maggie, the magpie. Miss Chen teaches the class about nocturnal animals.

Evaluate - Compare observations with those of others

Theme - FAUNA (BIRDS)

Evaluate what students have learnt (know and can do) from the activities in relation to the Science curriculum. Assess the success of the module by reflecting on students:

• identifying which Australian animals are nocturnal, including identifying the special features nocturnal animals require to survive in the wild
• comparing the physical characteristics and behaviours of the Barking owl to the Magpie
• explaining what an ornithologist does
• posing and responding to questions about Australian animals, their habitats and how they sustain life in the wild
• researching the life cycle of an Australian animal
• reporting in scientific ways to explore and explain science concepts
• recognising and analysing the contribution of Aboriginal peoples’ and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples’ scientific knowledge and storytelling to the understanding of sustainable science in Australia
• applying knowledge and understanding from artefacts and written information  on Australian native animals and birds.

As a culmination of the learning experience in this module, students could:

• Create a seasonal calendar for their local area and list the nocturnal animals that would be active during these times.
• Use a globe and a lamp to explain day and night, how the earth turns on its axis. Locate various places on the globe which are directly opposite to Australia.
• Design and create their own posters listing native plants from their own area, and/or charting the particular weather conditions of their own area, or mapping the night sky and the location of major stars and constellations over a period of time.
• Classify various images of Australian native and non-native plants and animals
• Make a sun dial or anallema (rock sundial and calendar) to show time of day
• Invite an ornithologist to visit the class and bring bird specimens to discuss and detail.

Student evaluation tools

Students could self-evaluate their learning using a ‘monitoring’ journal (physical or digital) where the teacher lists the key understandings and concepts students needed to acquire through the module.

Where applicable, a self-evaluation could be constructed as a poll rating their responses using:

• Kahoot
• Quizlet

Use Early Years writing using rubrics to provide feedback to students.

Students can use a learning worm to evaluate their work, adapted from:

• Learning Worm 

Teacher reflection tools

Reflect on your teaching of the module. What worked well? What needs more work? What would you add/change/omit in future?

Ask students to rate your efforts and recommend areas for improvement. You may wish to refer to broader resources for reflection or for gaining feedback, for example:

• Demonstrating impact 
• ‘How-to’ guide: Learning walks 
• Reflection on Practice Tool