Magali Madariaga

Australia. Information taken from www.deh.gov.au and Webster’s encyclopaedia.

Look for stingrays and fish that pass over the sandy plains, or crabs using their bodies as
camouflage to hide in the sandy sea floor. Write their names and colour them.

Dibujar un coral con rayas, peces, cangrejos, etc. Escondidos.

Did you know that...?

 The giant marine worm can grow up to two metres long. Dibujar un gusano largo que sale y
entra de diferentes agujeros en un coral.
 The sea mounts off the coast of Tasmania are remnants of extinct volcanoes.
 Deep sea mount fish such as Orange Roughy or deep sea perch can live for more than 100
years. Dibujar un pez viejito con bastón
 The most common species covering the Tasmanian sea mounts is a stony coral called
Solenosimila variabilis.
 The currents help remove waste products, keeping the ecosystem healthy.
 The sea is full of animals and plants that come in different sizes, shapes and colours.
 The smallest sea life form are Diatoms and other tiny microbes
 The biggest sea life form is The Blue Whale .it is the biggest known animal ever to live on sea
or land. They can weigh more than 50 adult elephants!
 Australia has the largest area of coral reefs in the world
 Horseshoe crabs have existed in the same form for 135 million years.

True or false?

1. The amount of fish harvested in the world is more than that of cattle, sheep, poultry or eggs.
2. Fish is the biggest source of protein.
3. The blue whale is the largest known animal ever to live on sea or land. Individuals can reach
more than 100 metres and weigh nearly 500 tonnes.
4. The blue whale's blood vessels are so big that a fish the size of a trout could swim through
them
5. The blue whale's heart, is the size of a plane.
6. A group of herrings is called a siege and A group of jellyfish is called a smack.
7. The blue fin tuna can swim up to 20 kilometres per hour.
8. Dugongs are sea cows.
9. Australia has 5000 coral species in the reefs
10. The highest tides in the world are at the Bay of Fundy. The difference between high tide and
low tide can be as great as a three story building.

1. yes
2. yes
3. no. Individuals can reach more than 33 metres and weigh nearly 180 tonnes
4. yes
Magali Madariaga
5. no. it is the size of a small car
6. yes
7. no . they can swim up to 90 kilometres per hour
8. yes
9. no. it has 500
10. yes

Investigate!
1. Is Australia the world's largest island?
2. Australia has all five of the world's temperature zones:
3. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest system of coral reefs in the world. How many separate
reefs does it have? / how long is it?

Information for the teacher

1. Australia is the world's largest island. Australia has about 12,000 islands within its waters.
The third biggest island is Kangaroo Island
2. tropical, subtropical, temperate, sub polar and polar.
3. it consists of 2,900 separate reefs and is 2,500 km in length. It has an area of around
344,000 km².