Year 7

Tasmanian devil week

- Taronga session

Interview with a koala

Activity 1 - Brainstorm

Task

Use the Koala brainstorming activity Google Slides to record everything you already know about koalas.

  1. What do they look like?

  2. Where are they found?

  3. What makes koalas interesting animals?

  • Click on the button to open a new tab and view the Google Doc.

  • Click on the Use Template button to create a copy for you to edit.

close up of koala joey showing large black nose, big fluffy ears, holding onto tree trunck

(c) Andrew Daly, Taronga Zoo. Used with permission.

Activity 2 - Video session

  • Watch the video to learn about a day in the life of a koala keeper.

  • In your exercise book or folder record as many interesting facts as you can.

Interview with Koala keeper Liv by Zoo Education Officer Alex

Duration 6:10

Did you hear some words you didn't understand?

  • browse - cut branches with leaves on them that koalas eat

  • high water content - something that is juicy and full of water like a leaf or piece of fruit

  • species - a group of similar organisms that can reproduce

  • mature leaf - old leaf

  • nutrients - chemicals necessary for life and growth, usually found in food

  • physiologically - relates to the function and body of living organisms

  • inverse - opposite

  • iconic - widely known about and related to something, e.g. koala are an icon of Australia

Activity 3 - Post video task

Task 1 - Background research

Complete some background reaearch on koala and add the information to the notes you took from the the video in Activity 2.

  1. What are the physical features of this animal?

  2. Why are these features needed in this habitat?

  3. What does this animal eat?

  4. What does this animal do during the day? Or is it nocturnal?

  5. Does this animal have any natural predators?

Task 2 - Interview a koala

Create a 10 question interview for a koala.

  1. Consider the following:

    • What might they be afraid of?

    • What their habits are?

    • Why they eat what they do ?

    • How iconic they are to Australia?

    • Their day to day routines?

  2. Find a family member to pretend to be the koala and answer your questions.

(c) Alexandra Heagney, Taronga Zoo. Used with permission.

Activity too easy?

Turn your interview into a biography about the Koala.

Handing in your work

Don't forget to hand in the work you completed today!

  • Your teacher will have told you to do one of the following:

    • Upload any digital documents you created and any photos you took of your written work to your Learning Management system (MS Teams, Google Classroom for example).

    • Email any digital documents you created and any photos you took of your written work to your teacher.

Make sure you keep any handwritten work you did in your exercise book or folder as your teacher may need to see these when you are back in class.