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.

Explore - Participate in guided investigations to explore and answer questions

Theme - SEASONS

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 2 ‘Wombat Rex’, engage students with the following activities about the observable changes in the landscape.

Observing and describing the seasons

Brainstorm how students would describe each of the seasons. Some students will not be able to recall from memory how the seasons change, as many parts of Australia have little evidence of a change in season. Produce some stereotype images of the four seasons and ask the students questions about what they observe about them. Ask students what they think the seasons look like, sound like, feel like, taste like.

Suggested resources

• Seasons with Dirtgirl! 
• Seasons song
• Provensen, A. & Provensen, M., (joint author.) (1976). A book of seasons. Random House, New York.
• Franklin and the Four Seasons: Ep. 52, Franklin and Friends, Treehouse Direct  

Use a Gregorian calendar (solar) to explain when the seasons are experienced in Australia, and a globe or map to explain how the seasons are different for countries in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.

Have students explore special seasonal festivals from around the world, including harvest festivals, New Year celebrations, celebrations of a certain crop or harvest (such as the cherry blossom in Japan), etc.

• Significance of Sakura: Cherry blossom traditions in Japan
• Songkran Day
• Holi in India
• La Tomatina
• Harbin Ice and Snow Festival
• Venice Carnival, Italy
• White Nights Festival & Scarlet Sails – St. Petersburg, Russia 

Have students describe how the seasons are experienced and celebrated on Country, therefore, what are the visible signs of seasonal changes? On a class calendar, record the climatic characteristics and times of the year for the wet season, dry season, bird, animal, insect, and/or fish, migration, temperature changes, and wearing different clothes, etc.

Use the following resources to research the way in which Aboriginal peoples and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples understand their seasons. Access the following resources,

• Indigenous Weather Knowledge
• About the Indigenous Seasons Calendars
• Miriwoong Seasonal Calendar
• The Seven Seasons of the Kulin People

Use the CSIRO interactive weather chart to find the language group whose land the local school is built on. Identify the characteristics of the local weather across the seasons and observe the anticipated changes to the environment because of these seasons.

Ask students to keep a Weather Diary for one month in which they make a list of information including:

1. date
2. time of day
3. temperature
4. weather condition (e.g. dry, wet)
5. sky features (e.g. clear, cloudy, overcast, storm).

Using their recorded data, students can compare their data with other students and/or the Bureau of Meteorology, and make conclusions about what the characteristics are for the current season they are experiencing.

Suggested resource:

• Measuring and describing weather