Little J is initially scared to approach the ‘monster’ in the back yard. Encouraged to face his fears, he vows to catch the frilly-necked monster and sets about building a monster trap with the help of Levi.

Elaborate - Sequence steps for making designed solutions and working collaboratively.

Theme - TRAPS

trap with the help of Levi.

Write the word ‘Trap’ on the board or IWB, and ask students what they understand by the term. Have students suggest the type of traps that they know about.

As a class, view the clip, Fishing (video), Episode 25: Bunda, My Place for Teachers

Ask students to notice what considerations Bunda and his brother Garadi made to design and construct their fish traps. As a class, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy adopted by the brothers.

Access digital resources that display different types of Aboriginal traps, such as:

• Fish:
  • The Story of the Brewarrina Fish Traps 
  • The fish traps at Brewarrina are extraordinary and ancient structures
  • Aboriginal fish traps
  • Aboriginal fish traps
• Eel:
  • Aborigines may have farmed eels, built huts
  • Aboriginal Fish and Eel Traps 

Compare the designs of these designs to traditional traps from other cultures, through broad resources such as: Fish Trap

Quiz students on the similarities and differences of the fish/eel trap designs and ask them to consider why these similarities and differences may occur.

Access the resource below about a wallaby trap and use a Venn diagram to discover any similarities/ difference with the design of this trap to the fish/eel traps:

• Indigenous wallaby trap from northern Queensland

Have students suggest the purpose of a trap (e.g. restricting movement, hold an animal, stopping entry, etc.). Consider the reasons why the design of the trap would change. Ask students to nominate other everyday traps that they would find in their environment, such as mouse/rat trap, butterfly net, insect traps, bird house (trap door), etc.

View Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 9: ‘Monster Dog’ again and have students notice the design of Little J’s trap. Ask students to suggest what materials Little J used and how he enticed his frilled-neck monster into the trap.

Develop a ‘design brief’ for students to design and build their own trap for an imaginary monster or toy. The design brief will need to accommodate the type/size of animal they want to trap. Using found materials, have students work individually or in groups to construct their trap. Ask students to evaluate their trap design:

• What do I like/dislike about it?
• Does the design work as well as I proposed?
• How would I improve my design?

Additional resources:

• NAIDOC Week: 10 Inventions of the Aboriginal People 
• Fact sheet: Aboriginal flaked stone tools 
• Is it a fish? Animal Search                                                                                      Identify six fish from among other types of animals. Sort animals into groups based on their physical features. For example, identify a group of animals that have a backbone, then identify a subset that breathe with gills. Work through a list of features to classify animals and identify a fish. This learning object is one in a series of four learning objects.
• Indigenous bark canoe from New South Wales