Lesson video

Now in today's lesson, we are going to be learning about Australia.

What is Australia like? Is our question.

Australia is also known as Australasia and Oceania.

Australia is a country within the continent, and it's a big, massive land surrounded by the ocean.

So sometimes people call the continent Australasia, Oceania, or Australia.

But within the continent there's also a country called Australia.

So you might have an atlas or a globe that has this different information, but it all means the same place, and that's what we're going to learn about today.

Great.

So in today's lesson, we are going to be recapping the location of the continents, analysing a map of Australia, looking at the climate and the physical features of the continent, looking at some landmarks that you could see, and then lastly, some animals in the country of Australia.

I'm really excited.

So now you will need to get started, you will need a book or a piece of paper, an exercise book, a pencil, a coloured pencil to help us with our marking, and you'll need your big brain inside your head.

Okay? If you don't have those things, go and get those now.

Pause the video.

Great, now that you're ready, we can begin.

So looking back to last week, we learned what a geographer was.

Can you remember the definition of a geographer? So a geographer is a special type of who studies the.

? Can you remember? Can you say a geographer is a.

? Okay, should we check? A geographer is a special type of scientist who studies the earth, the land and the people.

Me and you, the people.

Great, well done.

So we're geographers, can you put your imaginary geographer hat on? Actually, maybe we should wear our snorkel.

So put your goggles on and then get your mouthpiece so that you can breathe.

Your snorkels, so we are ready to have our lesson today in the coral reef, 'cause we're under the water.

Now this is our 100% sheet, which has all the information we are learning this term.

So we've got some facts about Australia, we've got some information about the size, and lastly, we've got how many people live there, the population.

Now I'd like you to stand up behind your chair.

We're going to have a go at doing these star words.

Get your hands ready like this, so stand up wherever you are.

Are you ready? My turn, your turn.

I'm going to go first.

Star words, star words, star words.

Now it's your turn.

Currency.

Landmark.

Size.

Population.

Continent.

That's a tricky one.

Continent.

Continent, your turn.

Good.

Australia.

Great.

Ready, can you sit back down in three, sit down in two, sit down in one? Did you sit down? Were you super speedy? I bet you were.

Now take a look here at our map.

I'm going to say a continent and you're going to point to it.

Are you ready? So we have got North America.

Can you find it, point to it? Good.

South America, point to it.

Asia, point to it.

Australia, can you find it? Now can you find Europe? And lastly, can you find Antarctica? Great, let's check that we've got those on our map.

So we have got North America, which is the light green one.

We've got North America.

Then we have got South America.

We've got Antarctica at the bottom.

We've got Africa in the middle.

We've got Europe, Asia, and then we've got Australia at the bottom.

Great job.

Now you are going to need your pencil and your exercise book now.

I would like you to write the number one, and you are going to order the continents in size using their names.

So we're going to go from the largest continent to the smallest continent.

The smallest continent is Australia, so I've already put on there that Asia is the largest.

Then we've got Africa.

And the smallest is Australia.

Can you write those down in your book from largest to smallest? So pause the video and have a go at that now.

Okay, well done.

Should we check our answers? So you will need your coloured pencil or your coloured pen if you're going to tick.

Are you ready? So we're going to tick or fix.

So tick is you've got it right.

Fix means that you need to check it.

Now today, I would like you to fix your answer if you haven't spelled it correctly.

Okay, these are quite tricky to spell, so even if you've got it right, give it a tick, but I'd like you to write the correct spelling after.

Okay, you ready? So we've got Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.

Great job.

Now pause the video and check your spelling and give yourself some big ticks because you've worked so hard.

Fantastic job.

Okay.

Now Australia is the smallest continent.

It contains three countries.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, the continent Australia is also known as Australasia or Oceania.

It has a population of around 42 million people, but the country Australia, which you can see in the middle here has a population of 24 million.

If you visit Australia, if you go there on holiday or if you've been there to visit friends, or if you know someone that's been there, sometimes adults might say you're visiting the Land Down Under.

What do you think they call it the Land Down Under? Can you have a think? I'm going to give you 10 seconds.

Why is it called the Land Down Under? Have a think.

Think about the map, that might give you a bit of a hint.

Here's 10 seconds, ready? Go.

Why is it called the Land Down Under? So, it's called the Land Down Under because it's in the southern hemisphere.

So do you remember we looked at the map and we have the northern hemisphere and we have the southern hemisphere, and then in the middle, we've got the equator, which is the imaginary line around the earth.

Did you remember that? You did, great.

Now it's in the southern hemisphere, which means it's at the bottom.

That's why people say the Land Down Under, because it's down, it's at the bottom of the map.

So next time, if someone says that, you can share the wonderful knowledge that you know it's because it's in the southern hemisphere.

Great job, you are working so hard.

I'm so impressed.

Now we're going to work even harder.

Pick up your pencil.

I would like you to write down three countries in Australia now looking at the map.

So write the number one, and are you ready, steady, go.

Okay, let's check your answers.

So you could have written New Guinea, Australia or New Zealand.

Give yourself a tick.

Make sure that you check your spelling, because it's on the side, so make sure you spelled it correctly.

Great job.

Give yourself a self-five.

When you give yourself a self-five, you hold one hand up and you high-five like this.

Or, if you've got someone next to you, you can give them a high five because you're working so hard.

Now let's look at the currency used in the continent.

Now in the continent Australia, Australasia, or Oceania, however you call it.

It is- They use, sorry, different currency.

A currency is a system of money, which is how you pay for things.

So we use money to pay for things.

Now, here in Australia, in the country, they use something called the Australian dollar.

So we use, in England, we use pounds and they use something called the Australian dollar.

Have a look at the pink and purple note at the top that's got a five on it.

Who can you see on that note? Have a look really carefully.

Who is it? Now that, you might have got it right, is Queen Elizabeth II.

That's our queen.

Do you remember last week that we talked about how the queen is the sovereign for lots of different other countries? Yeah, you did.

You remember, great.

So here we go back to our map we looked at last week.

She's the sovereign, an important figure, in other countries, and that includes the three countries that are in Australia.

So you can see here on the map, if you find Australia, you can see where she is also the sovereign.

So that's why she is on some of their money, some of their currency.

Now let's dive into something called the climate.

So the climate talks about the weather, it talks about the temperature and all the things within the atmosphere of the continent.

So Australia really, really, really exciting, because we are in the northern hemisphere, currently, we have spring, and then after spring, so we have spring, then we have summer, then we have autumn and winter.

So in summer, when we have summer, Australia have winter, they have the opposite to us.

So when we have summer, they have winter.

When we have winter, they have summer.

So you can see here, really silly, there's a picture of a snowman, but it's made out of sand, so it's a sandman with a Christmas hat.

Why do you think he's wearing a Christmas hat? What season do you think it is in Australia when they are celebrating Christmas? So think, what season is it when we have Christmas? So it's their summer.

So when we have Christmas, it's winter and it's cold, but in Australia, it's the summer, so they could go to the beach to celebrate Christmas if they wanted to.

Wow, that'd be really fun, wouldn't it? Now, in some parts of the continent, they have something called monsoon season.

Let's say that.

Monsoon.

Monsoon season is where in some parts of Australia, it can rain continuously, it can pour down, and it floods lots of the land.

Okay.

Now let's talk about some physical features.

Most of Australia is made up of desert called the Outback.

What's it called? It's called the.

? I didn't hear you, can you say it a bit louder? It's called the.

? Outback, great job.

It's called the Outback.

Now it's a desert in the Outback, and the weather can change depending on the season.

So in the summer in the desert, it's 50 degree Celsius, which means it's so hot.

If you went there you'd have to put on loads of sun cream to protect your skin and maybe a hat and some glasses to protect your eyes.

But in the winter in the desert, it can be really cold.

It can be minus 10 degrees.

Really cold.

But not all of Australia is a desert.

Some parts, they have snowy alps too.

And you can see here in the second picture, sorry, this side, in the second picture, you can see here a really, really tall feature of the land.

Now the country of Australia is an island, the country's an island.

That means it has a coastline all the way around it, and you can see on my next picture at the bottom, there is a picture of the beach, which is really great.

You can see that it's got lots of sand and a beautiful coast.

Now see this picture here? This is taken from space and you can see that there is oceans all the way around the island.

So if you were in space, this is what it would look like.

If you flew in a rocket all the way to space.

Now we're going to play true or false.

In your book, I'd like you to put a number two and you are going to answer these questions.

Are they true or false? So you're going to write the first one, A, then you're going to write true or false.

So I'm going to read them first and then you're going to have a go.

So A says they both have mountains and deserts in Australia.

Do they have both mountains and Australia? B, it is summertime in Australia during winter in England.

Is that true or false? C, there are 44 countries in Australia.

Is that true or false? And lastly, D, Australia is an island surrounded by beaches.

True or false? So pause the video and have a go at those questions now.

Well done.

You are working so hard, I am so impressed.

Let's check our answers, get your coloured pencil, ready, get ready to tick, or fix if you've got it wrong.

If you've got it wrong, don't worry.

We all make mistakes, it's okay.

We can fix it with our colour pencil.

Are you ready? So they have both mountains and deserts in Australia.

True or false? True, they have desert and they have mountains called the Australian Alps.

B, it is summertime in Australia during the winter in England.

You're right, because we have the opposite seasons.

C, there are 44 countries in Australia.

There are three countries in the continent of Australia, so that's false.

And lastly, Australia is an island surrounded by beaches.

Is that true or is it false? It's true.

Great job, give yourself ticks if you've got all of those right.

Okay.

We're going to talk about some landmarks now in Australia that you could go and visit if you went into this wonderful continent.

Now first, we're going to look at Sydney Opera House.

So my turn, Sydney Opera House.

Your turn.

I didn't hear you, can you say it louder? Sydney Opera House.

Good.

Sydney Opera House is in Australia.

Where is it? I didn't hear you, it's in.

? Good.

It's a bit strange talking to your computer or your tablet, but don't worry, it's okay, because I need to be able to hear you.

So Sydney Opera House is in Australia.

It's a performing arts facility, so they do lots of concerts there, like singing and dancing.

7 million people visit that every year, and it took 16 years to build.

Such a long time.

Queen Elizabeth II opened it in 1973, and she's been there four times.

She's very busy, so she can't visit there all the time.

She's very, very busy, the queen is.

So Sydney Opera House is in Australia.

Now this is where I am.

I'm in the Great Barrier Reef.

Can you say that, Great Barrier Reef? Can you say it like a robot, Great Barrier Reef? Wow, great robot voice.

So here, the Great Barrier Reef is in Australia.

It's a coral reef system, and it's the largest in the world.

If you flew to space, you would be able to see it.

It's that big.

There are hundreds of different types of animals that live there.

You've got things like sea turtles, giant clams, seahorses, sea snakes, stingrays, and even some sharks.

If you've watched "Finding Nemo", lots of the animals that are in that film are based on the Great Barrier Reef.

So behind me, you might recognise this picture is a picture from the film "Finding Nemo", 'cause I thought you might like it.

Now, if you look at the picture a bit more closely, at the bottom, can you see the coral, the hard parts that look a bit different from the fish? Corals are tiny animals which cling onto the rocks, and they stay there their whole lives.

They never move.

Now something that's happened to the Great Barrier Reef, it's really sad, because of all the factories and because of all the cars and pollution, all of those types of things, something called climate change, it's really affected all of the coral.

We can see here, the coral has been bleached because the water is getting too hot and storms flood the coral reef with lots of polluted water, which makes it turn white like this.

But the coral can still live like this, but it just puts it under a lot of stress and in danger of dying.

So that's why we must make sure we walk places instead of going in the car if we can.

Like walking to school.

Now another place is the Kakadu National Park in Australia, which is the second largest park in the world.

It's the size of a place called Slovenia.

It's that big.

It's huge.

Now you could go visit the Tongario, which is the first national park in New Zealand.

It's centred around three active volcanoes.

So an active volcano is a volcano that still erupts.

So it doesn't erupt every day, it's every few years it might happen.

I think the last time it happened was in 2012.

So here you can see this picture of this volcano erupting.

Now in your books, I would like you to write down where these places are.

What country are they from? Are you ready? Pause the video and write that in your book now.

Well done, you are working so hard.

Let's check our answers.

So Sydney Opera House is in.

? Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef is in.

? Australia.

And the Tongario Crossing is in New Zealand.

Great job.

Now let's look at some animals.

Are you ready? So stand up.

I want you to stand behind your chair, or wherever you are, and I want you to jump like a kangaroo.

Can you jump like a kangaroo? Can you do that? Jump around the room.

A kangaroo is a mammal.

It belongs to a group of animals called the marsupials.

Now they are animals that carry their young in their pouch, which is sometimes in front of their belly.

So they're types of animals and they carry their young in a pouch.

You can see here that the kangaroo has really strong legs, because it jumps, and a baby kangaroo is called a joey.

Can you say that? Joey.

So a marsupial carries their young in a pouch.

So a kangaroo is part of that group.

In Australia, you could see a wombat.

Can you crawl along the floor like a wombat? Maybe you can ruffle your nose like this.

Wombats are found in the wild in Australia and they are also marsupials.

They carry their young in a pouch and they live in burrows, which are holes in the ground.

But they are nocturnal, which means they're awake at night and sleep during the day.

Bats are also nocturnal if you've heard of them before.

Okay, ready for the next one? Koalas.

Now koalas are animals from Australia.

You might have heard them being called koala bears, but in fact, koalas are not bears.

But they're really, really good at climbing.

They carry their young in a pouch too.

Can you remember what it's called if a mammal carries their young in a pouch? They're called marsupials, can say that word? Marsupials.

Good job.

They have really sharp claws so that they can cling onto the branches and they are herbivores, which means they only eat plants and vegetables, and that kind of thing.

They don't eat any meat.

They are plant-eaters.

So now, my favourite task for you today, I'd like you to draw three animals you could see in Australia.

There are some other ones here that I haven't mentioned.

You might know them already, like the giant green sea turtle.

So I would like you to draw three that you could see in Australia.

So write the number four and do that now.

Okay, well done.

You have worked so hard today.

Now is the time for you to complete your quiz on Google Forms, where you can really show off your knowledge that you have learned today, and really excitingly, if you would like to, you can ask your parent or carer to take a picture of your work and they can share it with me on Twitter.

So they can Oak National Academy and put the hashtag #LearnWithOak.

That's where I've already been seeing an incredible amount of work.

Have a lovely rest of your afternoon, year one.

And I will see you for our next lesson when we fly to Africa.

Bye.