Wombat Rex: FOUNDATION - Science - Explain
One night, Nanna teaches Little J, Big Cuz and Levi about the star constellations through stories of the past. At school, Ms Chen encourages the students to investigate the evidence of dinosaurs. Little J and Levi set out to find evidence of dinosaurs themselves, happening upon the fossil of Diprotodon, also called Wombat Rex.
Explain - Engage in discussions about observations and represent ideas
Theme - DAY & NIGHT
After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 2 ‘Wombat Rex’, engage students with the following activities focusing on time, and seasonal changes to the environment.
Ask students to document the local weather over the period of a week. They should be able to collect data on the minimum and maximum temperatures from the local newspaper, weather app. or meteorology website. Students could observe periods of light in a day, e.g. dawn, morning, mid-morning, noon, early afternoon, evening, night, dusk; lengths of shadows; types of clouds; position of the sun in the sky; rain; wind direction, etc. for each day. Use a data observation sheet for students to record their observations.
Have students draw an image of their Country, house or school and have students represent it on a sunny day, and on a rainy day. Invite students to share their comparisons of weather conditions with the class.
As a class, view the Day and Night Video
Have students develop a set of questions they want to ask and respond to about the information in this video. Tune their attention to the night sky and what objects are in the night sky. Ask students if they think that these night sky objects have any bearing on the weather we experience on Earth.
Draw the students’ attention to the moon and its effect on the tides, the sun as our closest star, and its effects on the land, seas, meteors, comets, and other stars that appear in the sky at night.
Have students share their understanding about how the sky and the land are linked, and how one effects the other, particularly the variations of seasonal change, and day/night, etc.
Suggested resources