Introduction

Read students p.20-22 of "Looking at the Environment" by David Suzuki.

Discuss key words; balance, ecology, ecosystem, living, non-living, habitat, extinct, introduced. Use definitions from Pelican Lagoon Research Centre to help explain.

Refer back to lesson on food chains. What happened during a calamity? How does this relate to an ecosystem?

Activity

Split students into four groups. Each group to read either Echidna or Rosenburg's Goanna Fact Sheets.

Students to list information about their animal under following headings

Habitat

Predators

Prey

Non-living needs

Threats to existence

Groups swap lists with the other group and draw comparisons with ecosystems of the echidna and the goanna of the Kimberley region using same headings.

Evaluation

Were students able to select information and put it into the correct heading. Were they able to make comparisons by listing similarities and differences of Kimberley animals?