Tag Archives: emus

Why the emu cannot fly

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Before Book Week, Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 students were investigating the Aboriginal Dreaming story, Why the emu cannot fly. We found many versions of this story, including the picture book, Winin: why the emu cannot fly by Mary Charles & Francine Ngardarb Riches, and translated by Bill McGregor from the original Nyulnyul language. In this version, Emu is in dispute with a brolga.

This first Youtube version involves a crocodile and some Aboriginal hunters:

Talking Country: Worla [Why the emu cannot fly]

The following variation of the tale involves a brush turkey, and was created in claymation by young students at another school (some spelling errors):

Dinewan the emu and Goomble gubbon the brush turkey [Why the emu cannot fly]

This week, the students are studying factual information about emus, using books such as Emus by Caleb Whitehorn, in the Springboardseries, Feathered giants: the way of the emu by Henry G Lamond, and Emu by Claire Saxby & Graham Byrne.

Our research will be enhanced by the following Youtube clips:


Running emu


Emu hatching from an egg – beautiful HD footage from start to finish

And, just for a bit of fun:

Rod Hull and Emu – How to groom an emu [Hudson Brothers’ Razzle Dazzle Show]

Using an index: from A to Zebra

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It had to happen: another of my analogies has taken on a life of its own.

Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 students at my school have been studying Aboriginal Dreaming stories, interspersed with factual information about the animals/characters featured.

A few weeks ago, it was “Why the emu cannot fly”, followed by information reports about emus and other flightless birds. We also backed up the accumulation of facts with a few picture books, such as “Edwina the emu” by Sheena Knowles and Rod Clement, because fictitious Edwinda leaves poor ol’ partner Edward on the nest of large green eggs, just like in real life.

The students discussed possibilities of why emu eggs were green, and we considered the camouflaging patterns of baby emus, which enable them to hide in the shadows, away from predators. I compared their stripey patterns to that of zebras in Africa.

In our final week of the unit about dreaming stories, we’ve been using a book of Australian birds and I’ve been modelling the use of the index to look examples. The students were facinated that this particular index had no X, Y or Z, but someone in each class has usually been able to explain that, obviously, there are no major Australian birds starting with those letters. (I think I even said something stupid like, “If zebras were Australian birds, they’d be listed down here”, as I pointed to the end of the index – with my index finger.)

Of course, a whole week later, our oral revision of Australian bird facts had turned up the inadequacies of human memories. My question about camouflaging emu chicks was answered thusly:

“Baby emus have stripes so that goannas and snakes will mistake them for zebras.”

I’d been consoling myself by telling another teacher who came into the library the next day – we had a good laugh about it – but then, as if planned that way, one of her students came out the same factoid.

Oh dear. Chinese whispers are alive and well. And so, too, are Australia’s feral zebras, it seems.
Zebra with spots
The infamous spotted zebra of western Sydney: we believe he can camouflage in a litter of dalmations.