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.
What do they look like?
Where are they found?
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.
(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.
What are the physical features of this animal?
Why are these features needed in this habitat?
What does this animal eat?
What does this animal do during the day? Or is it nocturnal?
Does this animal have any natural predators?
Task 2 - Interview a koala
Create a 10 question interview for a koala.
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?
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.