8.5 Evolution of Australian Biota


Engaging students is one of the most important aspects of education. It explains why I have spent all my Sunday playing with play-dough for Slowmation. 

It can be hard to engage students in the evolution of Australian Biota. One of the ways I would do it is by showing them a youtube video for a few minutes. There are so many great clips that are available. I think pictures  can speak a thousand words. I personally love Youtube as a tool in class. The clip below is great as it shows a timeline of the past and also shows future trends. 

The next part of the activity cycle is giving the students a jigsaw puzzle  of Gondwana to work on. They would have letters of the alphabet on certain parts of the map to match the pieces. The students will cut out the shapes and have to put the puzzle together. They would also have to think about the species they expect to see , eg ratites, such as the link below:
http://www.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/2/5/2925372/gondwana_puzzle.pdf  and 
http://sparrow1985.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/long-gone-gondwana1.pdf


I remember being in EES class last semester and watching students roll their eyes when Dr Wil introduced the new topic. When the puzzle came out, it allowed the students to take a breath, and have some time to recollect some of the information that they may have forgotten. During the puzzle activity, I will be facilitating and encouraging the students to use resources such as the internet for more information. 
One of the main misconceptions is the sheer amount needed for continental drift to occur. Andrew Jarrett helped this issue by sharing his experience:
" To put this into perspective, I will tell students that by the time Australia collides with Indonesia, their X millionth grandchildren will be the current Australians. This will hopefully contextualise the speed of continental drift to the students so that the concept is better understood.' I love this analogy. 

Deconstructing is looking at the species that are located now in different continents such as Ostrich, Rhea, Emu & Kiwi. Some students can easily do this activity and others will struggle. I like selecting my own student group combinations so students can be challenged and out of their friend circle, and students from different abilities can be grouped for scaffolding purposes. 

The final step of the learning cycle is piecing the information together . Students are also encouraged to think about the future and where we are heading. Continental drift doesn't stop. (Some students may not sleep at night )

This activity and module is one that stimulates interest in a lot of students. It is also a topic that some find boring and unstimulating. I think engaging students is the most important step of the  learning cycle.