The class is taking turns hosting ‘Aaron’ the class mascot. It is Little J’s turn so Little J, Nanna, Big Cuz, and Old Dog take Aaron on Country to look for mica rock, and along the way they photograph the expedition. Distracted by the events of the day, Little J loses Aaron and the family enrols the help of Uncle Mick, a Search and Rescue officer, to return him.

Explore - Participate in guided investigations to explore and answer questions

Theme - BIRDS

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz Episode 8 ‘Where’s Aaron?’, engage students with the following activities to support their observations and understanding about Australian nocturnal birds, particularly a Barking Owl.

Access Aboriginal stories and/or Torres Strait Islander stories about the significance of the Owl, such as:

• Utemorrah, D. & Lofts, P.  (2004).  Dunbi the Owl.  Sydney:  Scholastic Press (video)
• Weemulee the Owl
• Boobook the Owl: Stradbroke Island Story

Pose the question to the class: Why did the owl pick up Aaron and drop him high on a cliff?

Have students work in pairs to complete a KWHL chart and ideate what they know, what they want to know, and how they will find out what they don’t know. Students should outline their questions similar to this:

1. What was the owl doing at night?
2. What did the owl think Aaron was?
3. Why did the owl drop Aaron?
4. Why did the owl drop Aaron high on the cliff ledge?

Have the class identify and describe the nocturnal features of the owl and how it hunts at night.

For information, access the following website or apps:

• Birds in the backyard
• Atlas of Living Australia
• Australian Living Atlas:
• Birdlife Australia:

View the video clip/s:

• Barking Owls
• Why Do Owls Hoot At Night? Some Cool Owl Facts & Examples
• All About Owls for Kids
• Who Knew? Amazing Owl Facts!

As a class, share the responses of the pairs. For a consensus, focus students on the physical abilities of the owl to hunt at night, especially their enhanced sight and hearing, soft feathers to fly silently, and talons for grabbing its prey.

Watch the following video clips that explore the difference between the sounds made by birds when hunting:

• The silent flight of an owl - Natural World: Super Powered Owls Preview - BBC Two
  This is an experiment in which audio engineers record the noise made by different birds’ wings as they fly.
• What makes owls so quiet and so deadly?

Have students draw and/or label an image of an owl showing the physical characteristics they use for hunting. The students should also include images of an owl’s various feathers, including a wing feather, tail feather and contour feather.

Enter the information about their owl into the individual student’s science journal. The journal records all the observations, research, evaluations and reflections a student has about the science they discover.

Students should be able to respond to the questions posed at the beginning of the activity with validated facts about the owl and its behaviour at night.

“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