Curated OER
Analysing Scientific Explanations for Megafauna Extinction
Students compare explanations for Australian's megafauna extinctions and identify reasons for popular acceptance of certain scientific explanations. They debate and analyze scientific explanations.
Curated OER
Giants of the Animal Kingdom
Fourth graders examine the megafauna found in Australia. They create a food web using cut-outs and develop a timeline to show changes in the fauna over time. They draw their own megafauna scene for their classroom.
PBS
Nova: Bone Diggers: Australia's Vanished Beasts
Get profiles of 10 different examples of Australia's extinct megafauna. Each profile includes a picture of what the animal looked like.
Museums Victoria
Melbourne Museum: Meet the Skeletons: Varanus (Megalania) Priscus
Varanus priscus was a prehistoric lizard that lived in Australia in the Pleistocene Period. Some information and pictures can be found here.
PBS
Nova: The Extinction Enigma
45,000 - 50,000 years ago the megafauna of Australia became extinct. This interview investigates several possible causes such as, continental drift, human impact, and climate change.