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 :

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:

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:

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:

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