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Below are some talking points and activities to pass the time, all relating to today’s video.

Talking points

Discuss the ideas presented in the video with your family—at home or over video conferencing. Find ways to involve as many people as possible, especially those who you know are isolated by the lock-down.

• The basking shark can grow up to 10 metres long. This is about as long as a bus! How is this shark similar to other sharks? How is it different? The basking shark is not well-known and scientists don’t know much about it. Why do you think that might be? Did you like it? Why or why not?
• The scallop manages to escape from the eleven-armed starfish twice. How does the scallop move? What noise did it make? The starfish and the scallop seem to have quite a lot of personality. If you were making a cartoon about the sea floor, what kind of voice would you give each of them and what would you get them to say?
• The male pukeko organise their nest communally—the males take turns ‘sitting’ so they can also forage. Have you ever heard of a bird doing this? What could be the advantages or disadvantages of this system? This episode shows lots of socially-oriented animals. The penguins prefer to come ashore in groups. When one is injured, others stay around on the rocks with it. Basking sharks travel in groups. The spotted shag chicks hug each other so no one falls out of the nest. Did you have a favourite out of any of these animals? Why do you think animals help each other like this? Does it teach us anything about animals or change your ideas about animals in any way?
• The paradise shelduck nests high in a tree and her ducklings jump down to the ground soon after hatching. Did this feel worrying when you watched it? Why do you think the shelduck chooses such a high nest? Do you think ducklings sometimes die from the fall?
• Did you know that eels can be as old as 60 when they are finally ready to have babies? Did you know that eels are international travellers—coming from near Tonga when they are larvae, and going back to trenches near Tonga to mate and lay eggs at the end of their lives? If you have seen an eel in a creek, how old do you think it might have been? Why might it be important not to catch all the eels in our creeks, rivers and lakes?

Task—Make a “Repousse” badge

Repousse is the French art of metal-embossing.

1. Draw a Hector’s dolphin (or any creature you like) onto a tinfoil plate or dish. Ordinary tinfoil is too thin for this so you need something thicker.
2. Using a blunt pencil, trace heavily over your drawing. You can add some details around the main image if you want to, such as wave shapes or seaweed.
   
3. Flip the plate over and you will see the raised outline of the dolphin where you traced around it.
4. Cut around the image to make a badge shape. You can glue a safety pin onto it if you want to wear it. Take care with cutting this material as it can be sharp when cut.

Send us a picture of your “Repousse” badge!