ACTIVITY 2: MY LIFE.
S E T - U P"
Print this document. Read out the story, or if you want, you could get each
person in turn to read out one sentence of the story.
Then do the Activities.
OVERVIEW
EGG
This tells the story of Louisa the Little
Penguin, and how she lives.
AGE RANGE - 6 +
NOTES
THE ACTIVITIE S
The Little Penguin is an interesting bird that lives along our Victorian
coastline. It doesn’t fly but it is an excellent swimmer and catcher of fish.
Because it is a bird it needs to breathe and sleep out of the water. It has short
flippers rather than wings.
CHICK
Notes are provided on page 19, for
anyone who wants to use these resources
in the classroom.
This simple story-telling activity is followed by questions and drawing
activities.
Schools and families may make unlimited
copies for the purpose of learning about
the coast.
ADULT
F O L L OW- O N I D E A S
Pick a coastal creature or plant that you like, and tell and illustrate its story. The Species Cards from
Activity 1 can help you do this.
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MY LIFE - LOUISA THE LITTLE PENGUIN
Crack! Crack! My beak
breaks through my shell.
Awesome!
I snuggle up to the
soft, warm body next
to me. A gentle
cooing and a nuzzle
from a beak. Bliss!
Soon there’s another
comforting body in our
little home. And a little
piece of something fishy
to fill up my tummy. Yum!
Sometimes mum stays with me, sometimes
dad. As I get bigger they leave me for
longer. Boy, am I starving by the time they
bring me food. Grumble!
My little fluffy body is changing to feathers
and I’m getting bigger. Nice!
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MY LIFE - LOUISA THE LITTLE PENGUIN
One day, I’m allowed to
poke my head out of our
burrow. It’s so bright out
here that my eyes hurt
but I get used to it. Mum
or dad take me out for a
look around at night but
we are always ready to
scurry back to our
burrow if we need to.
Fast!
One night we have a
close encounter with a
cat and I only just make
it back home, minus a
few tail feathers. Whew!
One day, mum takes me
for a swim. I enjoy
paddling with my
webbed feet. It’s tricky
getting onto rocks when
we climb out of the
water. Awkward!
Pretty soon I’m getting good at diving
down deep and then shooting back up to
the surface again. I even caught a fish.
Wow!
We always come out of the water when it’s
getting dark and head back in before
sunrise. Mum says it’s safer that way.
Today we met a seal in the water and we
all raced to the shore. Scary!
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MY LIFE - LOUISA THE LITTLE PENGUIN
One evening I meet
Sam. Pretty cute. We
hang out together, doing
somersaults in the water
and racing each other to
the pilchard school.
Woohoo!
Eventually we dig out our
own burrow in the same
dune as our parents and
snuggle in. Wonderful!
And you guessed it… Crack!
Crack! A tiny beak started to
poke out of my beautiful egg.
Awesome!
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D R AW Y O U R O W N L I T T L E P E N G U I N
Hatching
Feeding
Walking
Swimming
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T H R E AT S T O T H E L I T T L E P E N G U I N
1. Draw lines to match the pictures with the threats in the middle.
2. Draw a circle around the threats that are caused by people.
Oil spills
Rubbish
C A N D E S T ROY
PENGUINS’
B U R ROW S
Walking in dunes
CAN MAKE
PENGUINS
D ROW N
Cats
Storms
CAN KILL BABY
PENGUINS
CAN POISON
PENGUINS
Seals
Sand boarders
Foxes
Dogs
Pacific Gulls
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T H E L I T T L E P E N G U I N ’ S B O DY
The Little Penguin’s body has some special features to help it survive. Complete
the sentences below to say what these features are.
... help me stay afloat, and keep me
warm.
HOOKED BEAK
... helps me to hang onto fish.
WA T E R P R O O F F E A T H E R S
S T R E A M L I N E D B O DY
... help me swim but they are not so
good for running.
S H O RT F L I P P E R S
WEBBED FEET
. . . h e l p m e t u r n q u i c k l y u n d e r w a t e r, b u t
are no good for flying.
... helps me swim really fast.
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NOTES ON LOUISA THE LITTLE PENGUIN
The LittlePenguin (aka. Fairy) is Victoria’s penguin and as the name suggests it is one of the smallest of the
penguins. It lives in colonies along the coast including at Phillip Island, St. Kilda and near Apollo Bay.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS TO DISCUSS:
•
Why doesn’t this bird fly? (Answer: it has developed swimming characteristics through evolutionary change)
•
Looking at its body, what helps it to swim? (Answer: it has webbed feet, and small flippers)
•
How far can a penguin swim? Where does it swim to? (Answer: it swims up to 100kms per day to find food)
•
What does it eat? (Answer: it eats mostly pilchard fish)
•
How many eggs can hatch at a time? (Answer: it has one to two eggs.)
•
Where does it make its burrow? (Answer: it makes its burrow in sand dunes where there is vegetation stabilising
the sand.)
•
Which animal threats does the penguin face? (Answer: foxes, dogs, cats, and seals threaten it.)
•
Which human threats does it face? (Answer: the main threats are loss of habitat because of housing
developments and marinas, trampling of dunes, oil spills, plastic and other rubbish.)
You can find out more about the Little Penguin from the Phillip Island Nature Park website:
http://www.penguins.org.au/
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