The penguins

Life skills

Grade 3

Conservation of our marine life

Module 5

The penguins and other sea creatures

Strange creatures

• Read the poem and answer the following questions:

Without wings I cannot fly

No matter how hard I try

I might be a bird after all

But from the sky I could never fall!

A lonely little horse-fish I will never be.

With my friends I play games in the deep blue sea

Instead of running madly around the race-track

With a shouting jockey on my back.

One of my friends is the walrus whale

Who allows me to ride on his tail.

He is sad because his friend has gone away

But we will surely find him one fine day.

All the creatures on this earth

Have the right to live from their birth

So that their numbers become more

and more

All these strange creatures that we adore!

G.J.B.

Questions:

1. Which marine animals are referred to in the poem?
2. Do you know which bird can swim but is unable to fly?
3. What do you think has happened to the whale’s friend?
4. What does the concept “endangered species” mean?

• Make a drawing of all the marine animals mentioned in the poem.

The penguins

More than 40 per cent of the world’s African penguins live on Robben Island and Dassen Island. Oil spills from ships that travel along the coast threaten their survival.

Millions of eggs were taken from Dassen Island between 1870 and 1967 to be dished up as delicacy. Fortunately the island was declared a nature reserve and as a result the penguin population on Dassen Island has grown to about 56 000.

Penguins are good parents. They mostly build their nests on the ground, using pebbles, mud and plant material. Both parents take turns to sit on the eggs. The fluffy chicks need to be taken care of over quite a long period and they are often looked after in groups – almost like in a crèche.

• Make a drawing of a mother penguin and her chicks.

The conservation of the jackass penguin

Birds that suffer from diseases or oil pollution are attended to at a centre at Blouberg near Cape Town. This centre is known as SANCCOB (South African National Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds). Similar centres can be found elsewhere in our country.

Write a letter to SANCCOB or to the similar centre near you. Find out what they do there. Use the following words as clues: peck, feed, oil, cleaning agents, food, accommodation, money, funds, etc.

The horse-fish

Did you know?

• The male horse-fish carries its young in a pouch on its tummy, just like a kangaroo mother.
• Horse-fish are bred near Knysna.
• A baby horse-fish is only four millimetres in length.
• A horse-fish floats vertically in the sea.

Link the riddle to the correct picture.

Imagine you are a horse-fish. Write a story to tell us what you do in the sea.

• Draw a horse-fish and his friends

Puzzle: Colour the shapes below in different colours. Cut out the shapes and build your own marine animals. Paste it onto cardboard and decorate the background.

Complete the questionnaire. Make a X in the appropriate block.

Assessment

Memorandum

• Learners could write a letter to SANCCOB.
• Art: paint a penguin. Also paint a lighthouse in the background.
• Inform the learners in general about other endangered species in marine life. Task each group to research a marine animal.
• Have a class discussion on useful items that can be obtained from the sea. (Emphasise the conservation of our marine life for future generations).
• Group discussion: take your learners to the library to do some reading on the habits of penguins. Let them discuss the information obtained in their groups (LO 3.5).
• Make a collage of marine animals.
• Songs to learn: Row, row, row your boat

The alley – alley oo

• SANCCOB’s address: 20 Pentz Drive, Table View 7441.