Creating critter card games to learn about Swift Parrots

Life cycles, habitats, ecosystems and human impacts are all topics that have been covered with the younger classes by investigating the plight of a number of local endangered species. This year, the KP1 class turned their attention to the critically endangered, small, fast-flying, migratory and very cute Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolour).

The kids became researchers, finding out why Bruny Island has become such an important breeding ground for these adorable birds. Once the children had gathered all the important information, they created a card game where they had to match the survival requirements of the migratory Swifties with the appropriate resources without being hindered by one of the many threats facing the populations.

In a game of chance, the children determine if the Swifties will be able to fly safely across Bass Strait
without being blown off course. Will they find suitable nesting hollows to raise their chicks? Will there be a reliable food source close to their nesting site? Will the blue gums flower at the right time of year? Will they suffer the fate of being predated on by a sugar glider, or can they make it to Bruny Island, where, thankfully, sugar gliders have not yet reached?

By playing the interactive card game, the children are able to better appreciate just how hard it is for a specialised species like this to survive. In a recent combined class excursion to Inala, the Prep/1 kids loved teaching their older peers how to play the game, briefly taking on the role of experts on the topic of Swift Parrots. 

By building knowledge about the importance of biodiversity in our world, hopefully, some of these students will grow up caring for and taking action to protect our endangered species.