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.

Explore - Participate in guided investigations to explore and answer questions

Theme - DAY & NIGHT

Revisit the names of the two main birds featured in Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 13 ‘Night Owl and Morning Maggie’, the Barking Owl and the Magpie. Have students suggest which bird is nocturnal and which diurnal. Explore what the meaning of both words: nocturnal and diurnal.

View the clip/s on Barking Owls and have students explain how they sound:

• Barking Owls and compare it to other native birds featuring in the clip,
• ‘Bills Birds 2 - Yidumduma Bill Harney

Note the Aboriginal names of each of the birds.’ Specifically the Barking Owl (Jerregeg).

Access images of the Barking Owl to show students. Have the class identify and describe the features of the owl that allows it to stay awake at night to hunt. Access information and maps on the location of habitats:

• Atlas of Living Australia
• Birdlife Australia
• Bird Finder
• QuestaBird Atlas of living Australia
• All About Owls for Kids 
• Who Knew? Amazing Owl Facts! 

Have students work in pairs to complete a KWL chart for the topic ‘Owls that are native to Australia’. The pair needs to collaborate on what they know about owls, what they want/need to learn about owls, and how they will find out about native Australian Owls. As each pair finds a type of Australian owl, list it as a class compilation of owl types.

As a class, develop a list of Australian owls and mark on a map of Australia where you would find certain owls. Add an image of the owl to the name on the map. Construct a class presentation of the native owls found across Australia, but have students pay more attention to the owls in the local area.

Organise a ‘Night Hunt’ (with parents/carers) to find owls in the local reserve or park. If possible, record their sounds and take photographs.  Alternatively, visit the local wildlife sanctuary/zoo or invite a wildlife officer to visit the school to talk about native owls and other bird species in the local area.

Access Aboriginal Dreaming stories and/or Torres Strait Islander Bipo Bipo Taim (Before Before Time) stories about the significance of the Owl, such as.

• Utemorrah, D. & Lofts, P.  (2004). Dunbi the owl .  Sydney :  Scholastic Press
• 17. How the Night Owl Came to be, Gadi Mirrabooka, Book of Australian Aboriginal Traditional Dreaming Stories:

Show the students images of sculptures of owls created by Aboriginal artists and/or Torres Strait Islander artists, e.g.

• Menagerie: Contemporary Indigenous Sculpture

Discuss the shapes and structures of the sculptures, the colours and use of materials. Have students use modelling clay, plasticine, wire, etc. to construct the body of an Australian owl and then add colour and found materials. The students should take note of the features of the owl and make sure these are constructed and patterned correctly within their designs.

Display the sculptures and label the types of Australian owls they represent.

Have students accompany the models with information about their owl. Take photographs of the models and enter the images and information about native owls 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