Asia Education Foundation

Animals of Indonesia

Upper Primary Unit

Studies of Asia Learning Emphases

Developing concepts of Asia

Being informed about contemporary issues

Specific Indonesia focus:

Acquire knowledge about the diversity of Indonesian animals and their habitats.

Develop an understanding of the importance of projects for the conservation of Indonesian animals and their habitats.

Students research and demonstrate an understanding of wildlife found throughout the Indonesian archipelago.

Animal Research
Animal Group
Animal Habitats
Protecting Animals
Animal Diary
Animal Soundtrack

Teaching and Learning Activities

Animal Research

Students brainstorm a list of wild animals that live in Indonesia.

You search the Internet to find the names of five more Indonesian animals. Add these animals to the class list.

Students select one animal to research on the Internet, recording their answers on My Indonesian Animal Activity Sheet. Students must show the location of the animal's habitat on the map of Indonesia provided.

Animal Groups

Students transfer the information about their animals' habitat to a giant class map of Indonesia.

In chosen animal groups, eg the tigers, the orang-utans, students generate a concept map using headings from My Indonesian Animal Activity Sheet. For example:

Concept Map

Animal Habitats

Students create a diorama, collage or pop-up book depicting their animal in its habitat and share their work with the class, providing a report in written or spoken form.

Protecting Animals

Students form small groups focusing on an Indonesian animal they know to be endangered.

Using the Internet, including the following websites, students find information and note why the animal is an endangered species.

Students decide on suitable courses of action to ensure the survival of their animal.

Students present their action plan as an ad campaign to the class.

Animal Diary

Students imagine what it might be like to live in different habitats: the jungles of Sumatra, the open grasslands of Komodo Island, in the top of the rainforest canopy in Kalimantan, etc. They brainstorm and list descriptive words such as lush, green, steamy, searing, wet, scary, cool, muddy.

Students imagine being an Indonesian animal in these places. What would they see? What time of day would they wake up? What would they eat? Where would they sleep?

As the Indonesian animal, students keep a diary of what takes place in their life over a year, making one entry for each calendar month about major events, eg mating, birth of young, arrival of the wet season, interaction with humans (ie impact of logging, hunting). Students will need to draw on the information recorded on the class concept maps and other resources.

Students present their diary, A year in the life of..., attractively decorated.

Animal Soundtrack

Students create a soundscape depicting a day in the life of Indonesian animals in a particular setting. Students think of significant events in an animal's day, eg sunrise, hunting for food, sleeping time, the impact of the monsoon rains and wind.

Students form different habitat groups, eg jungles, grasslands, rainforest, and review examples of these places and animals using sites on the Internet.

In their groups, students think of ways to present these daily events as music or sound, eg light brushing of cymbals to represent sunrise, tinkle of triangles to represent running and the brushing of the tambour to represent the steaming midday heat.

Students write a musical score to reflect their musical interpretation of the animals living in their habitat.

Students perform their work in individual groups.

Resources