TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES international bestselling international Based onaconceptbyBenSmithWhatleyandbrought tolifebythecreatorsof Who knewthatcouldbesuchanadventure? All Dippywantsishappyfriends,aplacetosleep andlotstoeat. Dippy isadiprotodon,theBIGGEST, friendliestwombatwholived100,000yearsago. AN ‘ICEAGE’MEETSDIARY OFAWOMBAT STORY ABOUT THEBOOK and chaossetinthefascinatingworldofancient Australia megafauna. Diary of a Wombat a of Diary , this is a hilarious story ofprehistoricdaring , thisisahilariousstory STEM History Literacy Themes: 3+ for Suitable eBook: 9781460708514 9781460754061Hardback: ISBN Notes by: Barbara BraxtonNotes BEN SMITHWHATLEY BASED ONACONCEPTBY BY JACKIEFRENCHANDBRUCEWHATLEY DIPPY’S BIGDAY OUT

TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES story. Listsomeofthequestionstheywouldhave hadtoaskandinvestigate. Explore whatboththeauthor andillustratorwouldneedtoknowaboutmegafauna tocreatethis like“fossil”and“palaeontologist”theirmeanings, Introduce vocabulary wombat. change istoogreatorquickandsotheybecome extinct.Considerhowdiprotodonbecame Discuss howthingscanchangetoadapttheir environment asitchanges,butthatsometimesthe Introduce theconceptof“extinction”and“evolution”. concept ofmegafauna,thetimeframeandsetting ofthestory. Australian animalsovertimeR10704(accessible viaScootle)toenablestudentsunderstandthe dinosaurs) roamedAustraliathousandsofyearsago.UseappropriateresourcesfromExtinct Explain thatDippyandothermegafauna(hugecreaturesevolvedaftertheextinctionof • • • • Look attheothercreaturesoncover. hippopotamus. wombat(100cmx60cmandabout26kg)arhinocerosor size andcompareittoamodern (head totail),1.7mwideattheshoulderandweighed2800kg.Useameasureunderstandits Explain thatitisadiprotodon,anancientancestorofthewombatgrewtobe3.8mlong • • • • Examining coversgiveuscluestothecontents.(ACELA1433) • • • BEFORE READING How wouldyoufeelifdid?(ACELY1646) Would youexpecttoseeDippyonawalkinthebushtoday? Why dotheylooksoconcerned? creatures? Do theyremindyouofanymodern-day How hastheillustratormadeitlooksobig? How isitthesameas/differentfromawombat? What creaturedoesthisremindyouof? What doyouthinkthisbookisabout? Exploring thecontextoftext Building fieldknowledge Field knowledgeandcontext ACTIVITIES TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES knowledge and arangeofresources. (ACELY1665) usingthestudents’ counterparts with theirmodern Compare someofthecreatures inthestory listingthosecreatureswhoarefamiliar andthosewhoarenot. As youread,createachart characters thatarenon-threatening. (ACELA1786;ACELT1581) Discuss howtheauthorandillustratorhaveused language, humourandimagestocreatethe • • (ACELT1578; ACELY1670; ACELA1451) place tosleep. big plant;andwhathappenedwhenhetestedthe orangefood;howdiggingforantsleadstoa text, suchashowthekoalalandedonDippy’s head;whathappenedwhenhetriedtoeatthe Explore causeandeffectbyhavingthestudentsexplainsceneswherethereisnoexplanatory • • • • • • pictures. Invite studentstosuggestwhatishappeningoneachpageusingthecuesandcluesin labels toastheirdiscoveriesincrease.(ACELT1586; ACELY1651) thatstudentscanaddtheirpicturesandinformation Create aclassmuralofbackgroundscenery wasset. Explore whatstudentsthinkAustraliawaslikeduringthetimestory • Examine thepictureofDippysleeping. Exploring plotcharacterandsetting[forfiction] • • RESPONDING ANDEXPLORING Do thestudentsfeelscaredofhim?Ifso,explain why theyfeelthisway. (ACELT1783) How dotheotheranimalsfeelaboutDippy?Are theyscaredofhim? LY1649; ACELY1650) How doeseatingtherootssolveDippy’s problemoffindingsomewheretosleep?(ACE- Why isitallunsuitable? offooddoeshetry? What sorts How doesDippygetdistractedashesearchesforanewplacetosleep? Howdotheyfeel?youknowthis? Are theyangry? Why dotheanimalswakeDippyup? fromlong,longago? How doestheillustratorsuggestthatthisisastory Responding tothetext Responding andexploring ACTIVITIES TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES Compare ACELY1658) which anddetermine one(ACELY1648;Identify thedifferencebetweenanimaginativetextandinformative • • • • ACELA1463; ACELA1453ACELA1447). differences inpurpose,structure,languageandillustrations.(ACELA1430;ACELY1665; repertoire. repertoire. Share otherstoriesbyJackieFrenchandBruceWhatley toextendthestudents’literary to say, readandspell.(ACELA1818;ACELA1824) Explore wordslike‘diprotodon”andhowtheycan bebrokenintosyllablestomakethemeasier (ACELT1593) fromtheperspectiveoflittlebirdthataccompanies Dippy.As aclass,retellthestory • • • • that useathirdpersonnarrator. Examine thestructureoftextanddiscusswhoistellingstory. Compareittoothertexts • • • EXAMINING Examining visualandmultimodalfeatures(whererelevant) Examining grammar Examining textstructureandorganisation What featuresmake understanding? (ACELA1449;ACELA1469) andenhancingthestudents’ How dotheillustrationscontributetotellingstory How dothesetechniquesmeettheneedsoftargetaudience? How doestheuseofpunctuation,textdirectionandfontsizecontributetotellingstory? and elaboration? withouttheneedforexplanation How dothewordsandillustrationscombinetotellstory interested toexploreothermegafauna. Add thestudents’commentsandpicturestoclassmural.Encouragethosewhoare fromthisone? What havewelearned fromfictionbooks? factualinformation Can welearn ACTIVITIES Dippy’s Big Day Out Day Big Dippy’s Dippy’s Big Day Out Day Big Dippy’s withanon-fictiontextaboutdiprotodonsandexaminethe Dippy’s Big Day Out is Out Day Big Dippy’s aworkoffiction? . TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES • • • • • • • • • • reviews booksforyoungchildrenonherblogTheBottomShelf. AustraliaandPETAA.classroom andwrittenmanyunitsofworkforEducationServices She currently librarian. Shehaswrittenanumberofbooksfocusingoncreatingpracticalactivitiesfortheprimary Barbara Braxtonhasbeenaneducatorformorethan45years,over20ofthoseasateacher BIO-NOTE ADDITIONAL RESOURCESANDLINKS TOOTHERTEXTS The GiantsofAncientAustralia Megafauna Exhibition-BTN Resources availablethroughScootle Meet theMegafauna Australian Megafauna Australia’s Megafauna The MegafaunaofAustralia Common Wombat Diprotodon Australian Museum TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES by thefirst human settlersofAustralia. era, theGiantWombat ofthemodern Australian crocodile. Andtowardthe start was alsotargeted made atastysnackforthe giantmonitorlizardMegalaniaaswellthe Quinkana, aplus-sized preyed onbyThylacoleo,the"marsupiallion,"and itmayalsohave Diprotodon wasalmostcertainly the samecouldn'tbesaid forDiprotodonbabiesandjuveniles,whichwere significantlysmaller. A full-grown,three-tonGiant Wombat immunefrompredation–but wouldhavebeen virtually 7. DIPROTODON WAS MENU LUNCH ONTHYLACOLEO'S males species, differentiatedfromoneanotherbytheir size. Femaleswerealmosttwo-thirdsthesizeof Over thecourseofnineteenthcentury, paleontologistsnamedahalf-dozenseparateDiprotodon 6. DIPROTODON THANTHEFEMALES MALESWERE LARGER clustered-together Diprotodonjuvenilesandaged herdmembers. ago asitistoday. Extremedroughtconditionswouldalso explainoccasionalfossildiscoveriesof bitasmuchtwomillionyears –almostevery climates.Australiacanbepunishinglydry warmer initially cameintoexistenceinresponsetoglacialconditionsandbecameextinctwiththeonsetof factors. Andwasalmostcompletedbytheendoflasticeage.Itisbelievedthatmegafauna The extinctionofmegafaunaaroundtheworldwasprobablyduetoenvironmentalandecological 5. MANYDIPROTODON HERDSPERISHEDFROM DROUGHT fromNewSouthWaleslived everywhere toWestern Territory. AustraliatotheNorthern animals existedinjustoneortwoareas,theGiantWombat couldbefoundalloverthecontinent.It One ofthemanyfascinatingfactsaboutDiprotodonwasthatitlivedalloverAustralia.While 4. DIPROTODON ACROSS RANGED THEEXPANSE OFAUSTRALIA kilograms inweight)orrhinoceros(upto3600weight),whichitisoftencompared Kilograms. Althoughmassive,theDiprotodonwassmallerthaneitherahippopotamus(upto4500 holdsthetitleoflargestmarsupialever.The Diprotodoncomfortably ...weighingupwardof2,800 3. DIPROTON WAS MARSUPIALTHAT THELARGEST EVERLIVED about thesizeofarhinoceros. would haveweighedinexcessof3tons.Knownalsoasa“GiantWombat”, thesemarsupialswere sizesandmarsupialswerenodifferent.Thisanimalwasapproximately10feetlong to enormous animalgrew Diprotodon wastrulyagiganticanimal.DuringthePleistocenePeriod,justaboutevery 2. DIPROTODON, THETHREE-TON PREHISTORIC WOMBAT Sir RichardOwen,whodescribedandnameditin1838. marsupial inacaveNewSouthWales inAustralia.Afterdiscoveringthem,hethensentthemto It wasfirstdiscoveredduringthe1830sbyMajorThomasMitchell.Hefossilsofthis teeth.” Its namemeans“twoforward 1. DIPROTODON DIPROTODON FACTS TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES and subsequentlydrowned. oftheselakes surfaces lakes. Thatsuggeststhatmanyofthesemarsupialsfellthroughthecrystalline recovered havebeenaroundsaltlakes.Someofthemalsofrominsidethe these animalsbeganmigratinginsearchofincreasinglyscarcesourceswater. Manyofthefossils Scientists believethatDiprotodonwentextinctbecauseofanextremedrought.Itisbelieved 11. WHYTHEGIANTWOMBAT WENTEXTINCT Rock paintingshavebeendiscoveredinQueenslandthatmay(ornot)depictDiprotodonherds. Megafauna andIndigenousAustralianscoexistedforatleast17,000years. 10. DIPROTODON HUMANSETTLERSOFAUSTRALIA WITHTHEEARLIEST COEXISTED Australia, asitcouldhavelivedoffanyplant. fromleavestograssesevensaltbushes.Which isprobablywhyitlivedallover on everything extremely largenoseandpronouncedfrontteeth.Morethanlikely, itwasanherbivore–feeding If youlookatDiprotodonpictures,thenyou’llnoticethatthismarsupialwascoveredinfur. Ithadan 9. THEGIANTWOMBAT WAS ACONFIRMED VEGETARIAN fromNewSouthWaleslived everywhere toWestern Territory. AustraliatotheNorthern animals existedinjustoneortwoareas,theGiantWombat couldbefoundalloverthecontinent.It One ofthemanyfascinatingfactsaboutDiprotodonwasthatitlivedalloverAustralia.While 8. DIPROTODON WAS ANANCESTOR OFTHEMODERNWOMBAT DIPROTODON FACTS www.australianmuseum.net.au www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-diprotodon-the-giant-wombat-1093327 www.newdinosaurs.com SOURCE TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES FIND THEMEANING Palaeontologist Environmental Megafauna Crystalline Prehistoric Marsupial Coexisted Herbivore Extinction Evolution Ancestor Gigantic Expanse Ice Age Glacial Perish Roam Fossil Facts TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES FIND AWORD DIPPY’S BIGDAY OUT TEACHERS NOTES AND ACTIVITIES Draw yourownprehistoricanimalwithknowledgeofscientificevidence. knowledge andscientificevidencearecalledpaleoartist. thatattempttoreconstructordepictprehistoriclifeaccordingthecurrent Artists BE APALEOARTIST