RIC-6277 I can dance the Barramundi

ECHIDNA
Preparation
• Collect pictures of echidnas.
• Share and discuss the echidna pictures with
the class.
• Say the rhyme with the actions for the class.
• Discuss facts about echidnas (see ‘Additional
activities/information’).
• The echidna is an egg-laying mammal.
Sharp spines cover its back and sides. Its
front legs are very strong and it has claws
shaped like garden spades which can dig
under large heavy rocks to loosen them
so the echidna’s long tongue can search
for food. The echidna forages for up to 18
hours a day, probing the ground with its
snout and using its sense of smell to find its
food—ants, termites, worms, beetles and
earthworms—which it gathers and crushes
with its long, sticky, roughly-textured
tongue. The echidna has a purposeful gait
and is a good swimmer. It sleeps under
bushes or in hollow logs, rock crevices,
rabbit or wombat burrows. When disturbed,
the echidna curls into a ball, making it almost
completely covered with spines; however,
its belly remains vulnerable to attack from
wild dogs. Echidnas, however, are survivors.
They are generally solitary and have been
known to live to 45 or 50 years of age.
• Great-granny echidna will soon be 50 years
old! Write and decorate an invitation asking
family and friends to her birthday party and
then decide on a menu for the party. For
example:
Who:
What:
Presentation
Additional activities/information
The family of Great-granny
echidna are pleased to invite you
to Great-granny echidna’s 50th
birthday party
• Say the rhyme with the actions again for the
class.
• The class claps the beat while saying the
rhyme.
• The class says the rhyme with the actions.
Where:
When:
Menu
under the coolibah trees by the
Matilda Billabong
on Saturday 4 March at 7 am
barbecued worm sausages with termite
sauce
fresh beetle bread rolls
earthworm salad
homemade ant-flavoured ice-cream birthday
cake
Discuss what might have happened at the
party. For example, ‘Great-granny loved
her birthday presents, especially a little
silver coin with a picture of an echidna on it,
wrapped in a fresh green gumleaf. The little
echidnas played “Pass the parcel” and the
older echidnas played “Marco Polo” in the
billabong’.
©R.I.C. Publications
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• Discuss how to play ‘Marco Polo’.
• Discuss Australian money. View five-cent
coins and discuss the design of the echidna.
• The design of the echidna (also known as
the spiny anteater) on the Australian fivecent
coin was created by Stuart Devlin.
I can dance the barramundi 4
R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au
ISBN 978-1-74126-424-1