Who Lives Down Under? A Science Unit Study for Grades 2-5

Australian Animals Article

Australia is called the “land down under” because it is in the southern hemisphere. 

A huge percentage of Australia’s plants and animals are endemic. That means they don’t live anywhere else in the world. This may be because Australia is a huge island. The animals can’t travel to other countries. 

Australia is famous for kangaroos and koalas. These animal species are both marsupials. Marsupials are mammals whose babies are not completely grown when they are born. The babies live and nurse in a pouch on the mother’s belly. About 200 species of marsupials live in Australia. That’s a lot of little pouch potatoes!

Australia also has thousands of endemic bird, fish, and plant species. The beauty of this country displays the power and glory of our loving God.

Have you ever heard of a coelenterate? You may know more about them than you think. Coelenterates are aquatic invertebrates in the same animal phylum as jellyfish and sea anemones. You can picture those, right? Coelenterates are sedentary—they stay in one place rather than swimming. They excrete a chalky, hard exoskeleton called coral. Ah, now you recognize it! When coelenterates multiply and grow, their coral becomes a structure called a reef. Australia is the home of the largest reef in the world, called the Great Barrier Reef. Hundreds of aquatic species—colorful fish, happy turtles, huge whales, and microscopic bacteria—depend on the reef ecosystem for food and shelter.

Almost 50 million kangaroos live in Australia—way more than people. Baby kangaroos are nicknamed “joeys.” Red kangaroos should try out for the Olympics—they can jump 6 feet high and 25 feet long. They can gallop at about 35 miles per hour. 

Koalas are marsupials, not bears. They live in forests of eucalyptus trees and eat tons of eucalyptus leaves. They sleep more than cats—about 20 hours a day!

Platypuses have a bill like a duck, webbed feet like a frog, fur like a dog, and a strong tail for swimming like a beaver. They have spurs on their hind legs that can inject venom into attackers—but usually they escape by swimming away or hustling into their underground burrows. Platypuses are mammals because they feed their babies milk, but since they lay eggs, they are in a special group of mammals called monotremes. What creativity God has displayed in this unusual animal!

Quokkas are known as the “happiest animals on earth” because of the way God designed their smiling faces and because they are not afraid to approach humans. Early explorers called them big rats, but they are really cousins of kangaroos.

The Sydney funnel-web spider is the deadliest spider in the world. It is big and black, and its web looks like a tornado, so people in Australia know how to spot them. Its poison can cause death within an hour, but scientists have made an excellent anti-venom to save people who get bit. 

Kookaburras are large birds that sound like people laughing when they call. 

Wanna see a strange bird? Cassowaries are huge, flightless birds related to ostriches and emus. Their bodies are covered with thick black feathers, but their faces and necks are colorful. They have a bulbous growth on top of their head that looks like a helmet. Even though they eat fruit and like to hide in the forest, don’t think they are timid. If they get frightened, they will attack humans or other animals with their strong kicks and incredibly sharp claws. Some people call them the most dangerous bird on earth.

God designed sugar gliders in an amazing way to fly from tree to tree. They have soft flaps of skin from their wrists to their abdomen that stretch out like sails when they jump. The coarse hair on their tail also helps direct them when they fly. They are social and make good pets if they have lots of company and ample cage space to play. Gliders are small marsupials—so don’t call them a flying squirrel. 

Bilbies are cute nocturnal marsupials with a funny nickname. Some Aussies (people who live in Australia) call them rabbit-ear bandicoots. They are fast diggers that build several deep burrows a day. The burrows are really good for the western desert lands. They provide protection from the heat for bilby families, other animals, and germinating seeds. Some Aussies are worried about the extinction of bilbies—an aggressive rabbit species is taking over their habitat (the land and food sources where they live)—so they promote bilbies as being sweeter than bunnies.

Jokes

Why didn’t the kangaroo get the job? He didn’t have the right koala-fications!

What do you call a kangaroo eating vegetable stew on a rocket ship? A Mars-soup-ial!

Teaching Tips

• Prescreen online videos and photos of Australian animals to share while you read about them.

• Have your child choose one animal to learn more about through a library book.

• Prescreen a how-to-draw video of one of the animals and encourage your child to practice sketching skills.

• Show the location of Australia on a map or globe.

• Create a spelling or vocabulary list to memorize during the week or two that you spend learning about Australia. Suggested words: Australia, endemic, kangaroo, koala, marsupial, platypus.

• Learn other fun facts about Australia, such as:

  • What is Vegemite?

  • What is the climate?

  • What is it like living in the Southern hemisphere?

  • What are problems Australians face?

• Pray together for Australians to come to know Jesus.

© Copyright 2026 by Kristen White

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