Night Owl, Morning Magpie: YEAR 2 - Science - Explain
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.
Explain - Use a range of methods to sort information, including drawings and provided tables and through discussion, compare observations with predictions
Theme - FAUNA (BIRDS)
Revisit the names of the two main birds featuring in Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 8, ’Night Owl and Morning Maggie’. Ask students if they think that both birds are ‘native’ birds of Australia.
Explain what the words ‘native’ and ‘introduced or non-native’ mean with respect to the birds. Establish that both birds, Barking Owl and Magpie, are native to Australia and that Aboriginal Dreaming stories and Torres Strait Islander Bipo Bipo Taim (Before Before Time) include stories about the birds.
If possible, access :
- Mugu Kids S2 Ep8 - Birds (animation), NITV
The host, Jub, teaches the audience about Australian birds and Uncle Jeremy and Faith Saunders teach Gathang Language words.
Read/view texts and/or video clips about Australian birds in Aboriginal Dreaming stories and/or Torres Strait Islander Bipo Bipo Taim (Before Before Time) stories, such as:
- Waatji Pulyeri (the Blue Wren), Aboriginal Dreamtime Story
- Albert, M. & Lofts, P. (2004). How the birds got their colours. Sydney : Scholastic Press (video)
- Magpies have chortled since the very first dawn
- Dreise, G. (2016). Mad magpie. Broome, Western Australia : Magabala Books
- Dreise, G. (2014). Silly birds. Broome, Western Australia : Magabala Books
- Dreise, G. (2015). Kookoo kookaburra. Broome, Western Australia : Magabala Books
- The Magpie and the Crow - Fire & Rescue NSW (pdf)
- Mudgedell, M. (B.) N. & Williams, S. & Nicholls, C. & Mudgedell, M. N. (2002). The cocky, the crow and the hawk: a Dreaming narrative. Kingswood, SA : Working Title Press
- Magpies have chortled since the very first dawn (Noongar culture), Sydney Morning Herald
- Urrpara the Magpie, Judith Pungarta Inkamala, terracotta pot
- Utemorrah, D. & Lofts, P. (2004). Dunbi the owl. Sydney : Scholastic Press (video)
Divide the class into two groups: (1) the Barking Owls and (2) the Magpies.
Each group is to develop a report on the bird of their group. Each student should contribute two facts and one image/video clip about the bird which can be compiled into a group PowerPoint, Prezi, or Glogster presentation.
Questions for students to research could be:
- Is the bird nocturnal or diurnal?
- What is the scientific name/s of the bird? Species, Genus, Family, etc.
- What other birds are related to it?
- What are the colours and other physical features that distinguish the bird?
- What physical features allow the bird to be nocturnal?
- What is the natural habitat, and where is the bird found in Australia?
- What does the bird sound like?
- What does the bird eat, and how does it hunt for food?
- What are the natural predators of the bird?
- How big does the bird grow, and are there ways to tell the difference between males and females?
- When do the birds mate, and how many eggs are usually laid?
- Which bird, male or female, sits on the nest, and how long does it take to incubate the eggs?
- How long does it take for the birds to mature and leave the nest?
- What is the life cycle of the bird, and how long does it live?
- List the names of the birds in four different Aboriginal languages and/or Torres Strait Islander languages.
- Find Aboriginal Dreaming Stories and/or Torres Strait Islander Bipo Bipo Taim (Before Before Time) stories about the birds.
Suitable websites or apps for students to use to find the information include:
- Atlas of Living Australia
- Barking Owl (video)
- Birdlife Australia
- Bird Finder, Birds in Backyards
- National Field Guide apps, Museums Victoria
- QuestaBird, Atlas of living Australia
- QuestaGame
- Australian magpie, Wild Speak
Encourage the groups toshare their presentations with the class.
Have students enter the information about their bird into the individual student’s Science Journal.
A science journal is a record of a students’ observations, experiences and reflections. Each entry is dated and annotated by the student. Annotations may include written labels, drawings, diagrams, charts, small specimens, photographs, and graphs. Student engagement and learning is evident in the science journal.”
Sourced from: Primary Connections, Linking science with literacy
Additional activities and information for students:
- How a birds' eggs form, Discover Wildlife
- Egg-layers great and small
- The Life Cycle of a Bird (KS2) Explained
A science journal is a record of a students’ observations, experiences and reflections. Each entry is dated and annotated by the student. Annotations may include written labels, drawings, diagrams, charts, small specimens, photographs, and graphs. Student engagement and learning is evident in the science journal.”
Sourced from: Primary Connections, Linking science with literacy