Monotremes

What are montremes? They are a mammal that lays eggs and there are only two monotremes on the entire Earth. The platypus and the echidna. They are found in Australia and New Guinea.

The echidna is covered with fur and sharp spines that are used to guard them from harm. Where it is warmer in the north, the colour of the echidna is brown whereas in the cooler south, they are black.

As I said before, what makes them a monotreme is the fact that they lay eggs. They do this rather than have live birth. For the echidna mating occurs during the winter months and around 22 days later, the female will lay a soft leathery egg directly into her pouch. After ten days, a baby emerges from the egg and the size of it is no larger than a jellybean. It suckles from two milk spores in the pouch and stays there for up to 55 days. During this time it begins to develop spines. After all this, the mother digs a burrow for the young one and comes again five or so days to suckle it for an extra seven months.

The platypus is the other monotreme. It's appearance shocked early scientists and were first thought to be a joke. It has a sleek fur-covered body, webbed feet and a smooth, leathery bill.

During June to October is the time to breed for the platypuses but can occur earlier in northern latitudes. Mating takes place in the water and from about 12-14 days, the female lays 3-2 eggs in a nesting burrow. These eggs are incubated by the mother's belly and tail and hatch after about a fortnight. By six weeks of age they have grown fur, have opened their eyes and may leave the burrow for short periods of time. Sooner or later they are weaned by 5 months of age.

I think that these are very interesting creatures that we should all look out for.

The echidna

The platypus

Seed Dispersal - quick notes

types of seeds ...
winged seeds
round ones that float
dispers some seeds have to burnt. bushfires

birds disperse by pooing.

Treasure Hunt

1. About 664,000,000 entires
2. Here is the link.
3. column heater
4. 96.8
5. Nose Flute
6. Mary Britton Miller
7. A star shape
8. Richard II, King John
9. 1813
10. Chocolate point, blue point, lilac point and seal point

Challenge - Creosote Bush

Some interesting facts and information about the creosote bush are:

• It is known to live for more than 2 years without water.


• The newest population of these bushes came into their area 11-1200 years ago.


• The leaves keep water in them because they are thick and waxy.


• They grow in individual patches.


• They don't germinate because their water sucking skills sucks all the seeds up.

Extra Credit Challenge

First, think about nouns - you already know about proper and common nouns. Now it is time to study abstract nouns.

Look at the narrative writing instructions on my program.

Your topic is about a visit of a little girl to her grandmother. The grandmother wants to give her an important trinket or momento from her china cabinet.

Extension Work - Transport Part 2

- Write about the advantages and disadvantages of public transport.

Today, there are many different types of transport. You have public or private. The individual and the group. But now that I think about it, what are the advantages an disadvantages of the public transport?

Using public transport is helpful for the environment. With the ozone layer disappearing, having more people on a piece of machinery. This is an advantage for old people to because it can prevent them from driving again in a good way. They can rely on the new bus driver as well as the comfort of knowing that they are in good hands. Another point is the cost of petrol and food prices. A bus or train ticket can cost $56 for a student per term. If you think about it long enough, that it about the price for a full tank of petrol and think how many times you have to fill you tank up each term. An extra bonus is that buses are always put first for traffic. These are the good reasons for using the public system of transportation.

The disadvantages now. Can you really trust the timetable? Some have found that the public transport can arrive late and think of a tight schedule. You have to be at a meeting by 2:00 and it takes 15 minutes to get there. You decide to take a bus but it arrives 10 minutes late. You miss the meeting and you are probably going to get a big shouting from your boss. This is a good thing for using a private use of transport. Also, it doesn't stop right next to your house which is sometimes inconvenient. When you have a big family it is hard to get them all to the bus stop especially when the bus stop is far away. When inside the bus you have things which are uncomfortable. You have bubble gum on the seats everywhere. Under and on top. I find quite disgusting.

From my point of view would take the bus if it was necessary. It is cheap and usually efficient. Now with new buses, bubble gum is now not that visible and can save the environment more.

Extension Work - Transport Part 1

- How many means of transport can you name? Write a list.

1. car
2. bus
3. train
4. coach aka the really big bus
5. horse carriges
6. bike
7. scooter
8. your own invention such as your feet
9. airplane
10. monorail
11. trams
12. ferry
13. boats like speed boat and yatch
14. motorbike
15. rickshaw

- What are the different parts of a car called?

These are just some of the many parts of a car.

• wheels like steering and the road ones
• brakes
• battery
• bumper
• choke
• gearbox
• tail pipe/ exhuast pipe
• fuel tank
• headlight muffler
• speedometer
• mirrors

Extension work - transport

WORKSHEET No 1

- How many means of transport can you name? Write a list.
- What are the different parts of a car called?
- Write about the advantages and disadvantages of public transport.
- Plan a three-day trip by car to some places you like. Show your
itinerary on a map. Indicate the distances in kilometres. Refer to
the different sights you will see and the activities you will do.

Sorry Day

Sorry Day was made to say sorry to the Aboriginal people that were taken away from their parents when they were young. These children were known as the Stolen Generations. They were brought up in a different culture, religion and grew up with foster parents. Sorry Day is when Australia honours those who went through this treatment and celebrates ways forward for Indigenous and non- Indigenous people.

Events around the country are held to support Sorry Day. One of these events was in 2000 on Sunday, 28th of May. This event was called the Corroboree 2000 Bridge Walk. More than 250,000 people participated to show their support for the Indigenous people of Australia.

On the 13th of February, the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made an official apology to the Aboriginal people from the government of Australia. This was a very important day for all Australians, white or Indigenous. Below is a copy of the main part of his speech.

-I move:

That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history. We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation's history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.
A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed. A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.
A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.

When thinking of Sorry Day, it reminds me of the Stolen Generations and I am glad that an apology is made and now we can move on.

Sorry Day Challenge

It's history, what happened

Aboriginal story to read out to class

This is homework/ challenge for Friday, Saturday, Sunday

For class on Monday

Shakespeare Challenge

William Shakespeare is renowned as a playwright but was also a poet and actor. He is regarded by many people, as the greatest English writer in the English language He was born 444 years ago in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, sometime in April, 1564 while the exact date of his birth is not known he was baptised on the 26th of April and died 52 years later on the 23 of April, 1616. Though he is dead, his famous works including Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew, still live on.

He was most famous for his 38 plays but he wrote sonnets and poems too. One of his sonnets is called Sonnet 18.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed,

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Here is a version of Sonnet 18 describing the poem in modern English:

Shall I compare you to a summer's day?

You are more lovely, pleasant and more even tempered,

Rough winds do shake the little buds of May:(Spring in Australia)

Summer doesn't last long,

Sometimes the sun is too hot,

Often it's cloudy,

Everything that is pretty becomes less prettier,

Becomes less prettier by chance or the changing of the seasons,

But you will stay like a summer's day forever,

You won't lose your prettiness,

You won't die,

You will live forever,

As long as people can live and read,

As long as there are people existing they will be able to read this poem which is about you and so you will stay alive.

His plays are categorised in tragedies, comedies and histories. The Taming of the Shrew is known as a comedy. It is about how a rich noblewoman, named Katherine, who is a very bad tempered scold who meets a fortune hunter man named Petruchio. He decides to 'tame' Katherine by embarrassing her in a number of ways and makes her an obedient wife. The story ends happily as Katherine is no longer rude and as always, they lived happily ever after. This is one of the many great stories written by William Shakespeare.

In his plays, Shakespeare has made some famous quotes. Here are a few:

'To be or not to be - that is the question...' Hamlet

'I have done nothing but care for thee,
Of thee, my dear one, thee my daughter...' The Tempest

'A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!' Richard III

'What's done is done' Macbeth

'All the world's a stage' As You Like It

'O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?' Romeo and Juliet


Whether it is tomorrow, decades or centuries, William Shakespeare's work will live on forever.





Painting of William Shakespeare from the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Shakespeare Challange

Date of when he lived

Poems and plays

Types of plays:
tragedies comedies histories
List some of the famous plays and poems
-Romeo and Juliet
-Sonnet 18

Quotes
Photo of Shakespeare