Conserving tree kangaroos

Year level: Lower secondary Learning outcome Students examine the range of activities designed to assist in the protection of tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea . Find the Torricelli Mountains in Papua New Guinea in an atlas or online map. Describe the terrain and location of roads and major towns. Suggest how people might obtain their food and earn a living in this area. Look up and define the terms 'marsupial','holistic', 'sustainable', 'hygiene', 'moratorium', 'rotational' and 'compliance'. Read Villagers conserving tree kangaroos Write and discuss your answers to the following questions. 1. What are the common and local names of the two types of tree kangaroo living in the Torricelli Mountains? 2. What changes to the lives of the local communities led to a trebling of the population? 3. What factors (apart from an increased number of people to feed) led to a dramatic increase in the hunting of the tenkile for food? 4. What is the purpose of the TCA? 5. What are some activities of the TCA? 6. What introduced food has replaced the tenkile in the local diet? 7. What are the benefits of rotational gardening? 8. How has the installation of water tanks improved villagers' lives? 9. What did 'lots of tok tok' achieve? 10. What do communities do to ensure their areas are protected from over-hunting and development? Calculate the annual percentage increase in tenkile population from 1999 to 2005. Estimate the size of the tenkile population today and in 1945. Graph the annual population of the tenkile from 1945 (using your estimated population then) to your estimated population for today. Justify your figure for the population today based on your graph. Explain your reasoning for your choice of population in 1945. Predict the population in ten years' time. Discuss the factors that might influence this prediction as well as the reliability and accuracy of your graph's data. Assessment task Imagine you live in one of the villages protecting the tree kangaroos. Write a story or draw a diagram contrasting life before and after the Tenkile Conservation Alliance's work, suggesting your hopes for the future.