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Iowa Core Literacy and Social Studies Standards

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Iowa Core Literacy and Social Studies Standards

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SS.2.16 Using maps, globes, and other simple geographic models, evaluate routes for people or goods that consider environmental characteristics.

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2.MD.D.10 Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems using information presented in a bar graph.

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Iowa Core Literacy and Science Standards

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Iowa Core Literacy and Science Standards

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2-LS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.

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VA:Cn11.1.2a

(National Art Standard)
Compare and contrast cultural uses of artwork from different times and places.

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Iowa Core Literacy and Literacy Standards

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Iowa Core Literacy and Literacy Standards

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SL.2.2  Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

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Evaluate environmental characteristics that affect people and goods using simple geographic models.

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Collect and organize data in picture graphs.

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Determine if a plant needs sunlight and water to grow.

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Interpret and communicate meaning through art.

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Describe key details from information presented.

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Discuss features of a map.  Review multiple maps, globes, and images to observe the environmental characteristics of Australia.

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Western Australia

Western Plateau
The Western Plateau is covered with great deserts and large plains with regularly spaced sand ridges and rocky regions, rising from 300 to 600 m (1,000-2,000 ft) high and constituting most of the western half of the continent, it is roughly four times the size of Texas or about the size of Argentina.
Much of the Western Plateau is uninhabited with the exception of the coastal regions and scattered places of local communities of Indigenous Australians. The deserts on the plateau are the spinifex dominated Great Sandy Desert, the rocky Tanami Desert, the gravel-covered Gibson Desert which has also red sand plains and some isolated salt-water lakes, and Australia's biggest desert, the Great Victoria Desert. East of the Gibson Desert lies Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park with Australia's most famous natural icon Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock.

Central Plains
The Central Plains also known as the Central Lowlands, consisting largely of a series of drainage basins, including the Great Artesian Basin (GAB), one of the largest artesian groundwater basins in the world. The Central Lowlands with an area of 1,751,500 sq km (676,250 sq mi) is the largest area of internal drainage in the world.

Eastern Australia

Eastern Coastal Plain
The narrow fertile coastal strip along the eastern seaboard of Australia is known as the Eastern Coastal Plain, they are bordered by the Great Dividing Range in west and the South Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea in east.

Eastern Highlands (East Australian Cordillera)
The eastern highlands is also known as the Great Dividing Range. The eastern highlands consists of a complex of hills, mountain ranges, plateaus, planes, upland areas and escarpments, ranging in altitude from 300 to more than 2,100 m (1,000-7,000 ft). The complex of mountain ranges is called the East Australian Cordillera which extend along the entire length of the country's eastern seaboard (length: 3,500 km (2,175 mi)) from Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland southward to Tasmania. Highest point is Mount Kosciuszko, located in the south eastern corner of the country. With an elevation of 2,228 m (7,310 ft) it is Australia's highest mountain.

The world's largest reef system the Great Barrier Reef is situated in the Coral Sea, on the north-east coast of Australia. The UNESCO World Heritage Site contains the world's largest collection of coral reefs. The reef is composed of over 2,900 reefs and 900 islets and islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometers (1,600 mi) north-east of the continents eastern seaboard. The Great Barrier Reef covers an area of approximately 344,400 sq km (133,000 sq mi), it is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms, and is probably the richest area in terms of faunal diversity in the world.

Tasmania
Australia's largest island (68,400 sq km (26,410 sq mi)) is situated 240 km (150 mi) south of the continent's south eastern seaboard. Australia's smallest and most mountainous state is separated from the mainland by Bass Strait. About half a million people live on Australia's favourite vacation island.

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Topographic Map of Australia - Nations Online Project

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Western Australia Western Plateau The Western Plateau is covered with great deserts and large plains with regularly spaced sand ridges and rocky regions, rising from 300 to 600 m (1,000-2,000 ft) high and constituting most of the western half of the continent, it is roughly four times the size of Texas or about the size of Argentina.

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Read aloud from an everyone book discussing facts about Australia.

Include additional books of various reading levels discussing the people and animals of Australia, goods and services, and environmental and geographic features.

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Observe the environment, animals, and landmarks of Australia.

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Create an ABC’s of Australia book including facts such as landforms, landmarks, famous people, the capital, the national symbols, etc.

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Using a shoebox and a variety of media, create an Australian landscape diorama.
(Diorama - a model representing a scene with three-dimensional figures, either in miniature or as a large-scale museum exhibit.)

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Collect daily data with a Plant Growth Worksheet from the three plants that the class is growing in Science. At the end of each week compare the data collected and create a picture graph to represent what was found.

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Practice reading a variety of picture graphs.

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Reading picture graphs: multi-step (article) | Khan Academy

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​Interpret picture graphs (pictographs) to answer multi-step questions about a context.

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Watch videos on how to make picture graphs and bar graphs, and how to use the graphs to solve simple equations.

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Picture Graphs Second Grade - Kids learn about Picture Graphs

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Identify information to set up the initial bar graph or picture graph and use that information to draw a picture graph representing the data collected from the plants.

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Take seeds from the Australian Bluebell. Plant them in 3 separate pots. One of the pots is the control. It will be watered regularly and set in the sunlight. The second pot will be placed in a dark area not to get sunlight and will be watered regularly. The third pot will be set in the sun, but it will not be watered.

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How Do Plants Grow? (Young Scientist Series)

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Keep a journal about the progress of all three plants.

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Create a kangaroo plant holder to hold students Australian Bluebell flowers.

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Kangaroo Crafts for Preschool and Elementary Children. Great Teacher Resources for Australia Unit Studies or Australia Day

Kangaroo Planter Craft for Kids - Australia Day Craft

Great preschool and elementary craft for Australian Unit Studies

Potting Soil

Flowers or Flower Seeds
How to Make the Kangaroo Paper Cup Planter Craft:
1. Print out the kangaroo pattern, and cut them patterns out. Use the patterns to cut the shapes from tan craft foam.

Member's Pattern

Digital Download - $2.00

2. Cut about 1" off the bottom of the craft stick and then paint the craft stick and cup to match the craft foam shapes.

3. Glue the ears, nose, and eyes to the head shape, and then glue the head onto the rounded end of the craft stick. Glue the arms onto the stick below the head. Glue the stick to the inside of the cup as shown in the picture.

4. Glue the legs to the cup as shown in the picture.

5. Place a small flower in the cup and fill it with potting soil.

Logan and his father made this craft for Australia Day. Logan loved using the Kangaroo's pouch to store his toy trucks. Logan rated it 4 out of 5 because it was fun, useful, and very cute!

Watch Logan and his Dad make this craft on Logan's Life.

See Copyright Information

Kangaroo Planter Crafts Made by Followers

3D Messenger Kangaroo Craft for Kids

Great preschool craft! Use this craft for your Australia Day Celebration.
How to Make the 3D Kangaroo Craft:
1. Print out the patterns or draw the head, arms, legs and pocket on to card stock and cut them out. Have your children color the kangaroo and pocket.

Member's

Instant Download - $2.00

2. Fold the legs in so that the kangaroo stands up.

3. Glue the pocket onto the belly of the kangaroo.

4. Have your children write something about Jesus on the note paper and place it in the pocket. Tell them to have the kangaroo deliver the message to someone who doesn't know about Jesus.

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Make a Fun Math Review Game
Kendra, from Aussie Pumpkin Patch, used this craft to make a math review game for her kids. She glued the kangaroo pattern to the back of a can and the pocket to the front. She placed pieces of paper with math facts inside the can. Visit Aussie Pumpkin Patch to see how to play this fun game.

Kangaroo Stuffed Toy Craft for Kids

Made with shredded recycled packaging paper or grocery bags this fun craft will delight young children. It is simple to make and costs very little. Use this craft to go along with the suggested books about kangaroos below.
How to make:
1. Print out the patterns or draw the head, arms and legs on to card stock and cut them out. Have your children color the pieces.

Member's

Instand Download - $2.00

2. Stuff a Ziplock bag with shredded brown packaging paper and then fold the two zipper-edge corners in towards the middle of the zipper and staple them together. (You can recycle other brown or tan paper such as old envelopes, lunch bags, grocery bags, etc.)

3. To finish tape the head, arms and legs to the bag.

This is a Kid-tested Craft

Watch 6 1/2 year old Cole, and his brother's, Will, and Luke Make this Craft on Youtube to see how your child might do making this craft.

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Little Joey Paper Plate Craft

Use this craft and the suggested books below with your Australia Unit Study
How to make:
1. Print out the Patterns or draw the head, legs and tail onto card stock and cut them out.

Member's

Digital Download - $2.00

2. Color the patterns.

3. Color a paper plate brown and fold it in half. Cut a one-inch slit on one side of the folded edge and glue the tail inside the slit. Glue the edges of the paper plate together.

4. To finish glue on the head, legs and arms onto the folded paper plate.

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Good Books About Kangaroos

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Kangaroo Planter Craft for Kids - Australia Day Craft Great preschool and elementary craft for Australian Unit Studies Potting Soil Flowers or Flower Seeds How to Make the Kangaroo Paper Cup Planter Craft: 1. Print out the kangaroo pattern, and cut them patterns out. Use the patterns to cut the shapes from tan craft foam.

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Find examples of Australian artifacts and identify processes used to create it.

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Read books with illustrations representing the use of dot art, a technique used by Australian artists.

Sun Mother Wakes the World: An Australian Creation Story By Diane Wolkstein; Patterns of Australia

By Bronwyn Bancroft; Colours of Australia By Bronwyn Bancroft;  Shapes of Australia By Bronwyn Bancroft

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Video explaining how dot art has been used throughout history to tell stories.

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Through the use of color, shapes, and dot art, design your own boomerang to tell a story.

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We are exploring Australian Aboriginal culture as part of the Around the World in 30 Days Series hosted by Cutting Tiny Bites. Two things that we will learn about on Australian Aboriginal culture are: Aboriginal Art and the Boomerang. Aboriginal Art refers to artwork made by indigenous people of Australia, the most famous style of art being Aboriginal Dot Painting. The Boomerang, on the other hand, is part of Aboriginal culture because it was a hunting tool used by indigenous Australians in the early days. We will end by letting the kids create an Aboriginal Boomerang Craft. We also provided a free printable boomerang template below to assist in the process of making this craft for preschool kids.

Quick Facts on Australian Aboriginal Art

Explain a bit of history to the kids: In the early days, Aborigines would paint on a wide variety of media which included leaves, rocks, bark, sand and wood. Artwork in these types of media beautifully reflected stories and legends expressed by the Aborigines, but as you can imagine these media were easily erased or were prone to decay. Then in 1971, a group of artists from Papunya in the Northern Territory of Australia started painting on canvas and this was when the popularity of Aboriginal dot painting emerged. These artists were known as the Papunya Tula Artists. Show the kids these examples of Papunya dot paintings for inspiration...

* All 3 artworks featured above is from the National Museum Australia website.
Australian Aboriginal Boomerangs

Australia is very much known for the boomerang. Let the kids know that these were originally used by the Aborigines as a hunting weapon. Because of the shape of the boomerang, it revolved at speeds that one cannot see it when thrown. It actually injured or even killed native animals such as birds and kangaroos.

Today, boomerangs are mostly used for sport or as artwork. It is quite common to see hand painted boomerangs in Australia today, such as this one:

Aboriginal Boomerang Craft

This Aboriginal Boomerang Craft will combine what you just talked about with the kids: Australian Aboriginal Art and the Boomerang.

What you need for this Aboriginal Boomerang Craft:

How to make this Aboriginal Boomerang Craft:

2) Using the template you printed out, trace the shape of a boomerang on an empty cereal box (or cardboard). Then cut out.

3) Your kids are now ready to paint and design. Simply dip a cotton bud into some paint. Then create patterns on the boomerang just by putting dots of paint. Encourage the kids to create circular patterns as inspired by the Aboriginal artwork featured above.

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Australian Aboriginal Boomerang Craft - Kidz Activities

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We are exploring Australian Aboriginal culture as part of the Around the World in 30 Days Series hosted by Cutting Tiny Bites. Two things that we will learn about on Australian Aboriginal culture are: Aboriginal Art and the Boomerang. Aboriginal Art refers to artwork made by indigenous people of Australia, the most famous style of art being Aboriginal Dot Painting.

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Watch Seven Worlds One Planet. Episode 4: Australia & A Devil in Name Only.

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Understanding an astounding animal who has been saddled with a name it doesn't deserve.

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Read article: Australia’s Winter Wonderland

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Australia's winter wonderland | BBC Earth

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Australia is synonymous with many things; surf, sand, sun... and snow? While the land down under may be better known as a place where you can risk getting a bad sunburn in an all-day beach adventure, across parts of the great southern country, layers of snow cover the ground.

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Write 3 facts about the new animals that you have learned about and share with a partner.

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Draw pictures of the new animals learned about to go with the facts chosen.