The night of the bilby: Safe habitat

Copyright Curriculum Corporation

Resource title: The night of the bilby: Safe habitat Digital resource identifier: L908 Resource description In this learning object, students explore the environment of the bilby and make it safe for the marsupial. Stage of schooling: Lower Primary CCE focus: Citizenship in a Democracy

Context
Students look at the desert environment to understand where the bilby lives and who its predators are. They make a series of decisions to protect the bilby and understand the role they can take to safeguard Australian animals and the environment.

Opportunities for Civics and Citizenship learning

‘The night of the bilby: Safe habitat’ provides opportunities for students to:

• explore issues around endangered species, including what threatens them

• research what makes a species ‘endangered’

• find out about groups who support the protection of native Australian animals

• consider what action individuals can take to support the protection of endangered species.

Ideas for the classroom

• Ask students to say what they think the term ‘endangered animals’ means and make notes on the board.

• Conduct a discussion about what we can do to help to help endangered animals. Write the students’ suggestions around the definition.

• Describe what a bilby looks like and the environment they inhabit.

• Explain to the students that they will be looking at ‘The night of the bilby and making decisions to keep it safe’. This activity should be done in pairs so that discussion can occur about what to do.

• Complete the activity and discuss the outcomes.

• Ask students to suggest ways in which the class could raise money to support an endangered Australian animal such as the Tasmanian devil. This activity could be extended by undertaking a fundraising project.