EAL/D News

Over the last 2 weeks, some of our EAL/D students have been learning about ring-tailed possums, chaco tortoises, spiny leaf insects, pythons and white lipped tree frogs in preparation for our visit from Taronga Zoo’s Zoomobile. Alex, from the Zoo, and Barabara, from Thalgarrah, spent time with us last Wednesday and students had the opportunity to share with them the knowledge they had gained before getting to see and touch the animals, as well as ask questions.

Over the next few newsletters, different groups of students will share their thoughts or writing with you. This week we will hear from Hooria, Arjun, Namishree, Dilkosh, Tajmeet, Basima, Minh and Heaven.

The Spiny Leaf Insect:

The female’s legs look like leaves. She has spikes on her legs (Tajmeet).

The male has wings (Heaven).

The female lays smooth, hard eggs (Minh).

The Spiny Leaf Insect eats leaves (Basima).

The Spiny Leaf Insect has little hooks on its feet to climb trees (Arjun).

The male can fly. The female lays eggs and they hatch and grow (Dilkosh).

Children’s Python:

Pythons have soft, smooth scales and they eat frogs, lizards and mice (Minh).

Pythons live in the desert (Heaven).

The Python has soft, smooth scales (Austin).

The Python has a long, narrow body (Namishree).

Shingleback Lizards:

Shingleback Lizards have a wide tail (Basima)

Shingleback Lizards have short limbs and a blue tongue. They have scales (Tajmeet).

The Shingleback Lizard has bumpy scales and a blue tongue. They poke out their tongues to scare predators (Hooria).

The Shingleback Lizard has a wide tail (Dilkosh).

White Lipped Tree Frog:

White Lipped Tree Frogs drink through their skin (Tajmeet).

The White Lipped Tree Frog lays up to 100 eggs. The eggs hatch. (Heaven).

The White Lipped Tree Frog tadpoles grow and grow and grow and turn into tree frogs (Arjun).

Chaco Tortoise:

The Chaco Tortoise has a hard shell (Basima)

The Chaco Tortoise has scales on its forelimbs (Tajmeet).

The Chaco Tortoise eat cactus leaves, grass, berries and fruit (Austin).

The Chaco Tortoise has a hard shell (Dilkosh).

The Chaco Tortoise has scales on his front legs (Hooria).

Ring-tailed Possum:

The Ring-tailed possum has tiny babies. The babies climb into the pouch. Possums sleep in the day and are awake in the night (Minh).

They are nocturnal (Tajmeet).

The Ring-tailed Possum has whiskers, a long tail, sharp claws and large eyes. Babies live in a pouch (Dilkosh).

The Ring-tailed possum eats leaves and berries at night (Namishree).

My favourite animal was the ring- tailed Possum because it was soft (Tajmeet).

My favourite animal was the Ring- tailed Possum because it eats flowers (Heaven).

My favourite animal is the Chaco Tortoise (Basima).

My favourite animal was the python because it has a long tongue and I wasn’t scared of it. (Minh).

My favourite animal was the python and I would like it as a pet (Austin).

My favourite animal was the Chaco Tortoise because Chaco Tortoises have hard shells (Dilkosh).

My favourite animal is the python because it was soft and cold and it stuck out its tongue (Hooria).

My favourite animal was the Ring- tailed Possum because it has claws and it felt soft (Namishree).

My favourite animal was the Ring- tailed Possum because I love possums (Arjun).