Who Lives Where?
Sorting Australian sea animals by where they live: the Great Barrier Reef, the open sea, the mangroves and the kelp forests of the south.
How it plays
Sea animals drift about; your child drags each one to its home. First there are two homes (the Reef and the open sea), then three, then four, with the mangroves and the kelp forests of the south. When an animal gets home, Ruby Roo says one thing about it. On the first screen you can set “How fast they swim”, “How many of each” and “Keep them where I put them”.
What it's for
Sorting Australian sea animals by where they live: the Great Barrier Reef, the open sea, the mangroves and the kelp forests of the south. There is no score to lose and no way to fail: a wrong move is met with a gentle nudge, and a level ends when it's done.
Away from the screen: Bath-time homes
About two minutes, with things most homes have.
- In the bath or a tub, make two homes: a cup for the reef and the open water for the sea.
- Use any bath toys as sea animals.
- Your child says where each one lives and puts it there.
- Swap: you put one in the wrong home and they fix it.
Three questions to ask while they play
- Which animal is the biggest? Where does it live?
- Why do you think the clownfish stays on the reef?
- Which home would you like to swim in?
Play together
Things to say or ask
- What a big whale shark! Where does it go?
- You put the turtle on the reef. Six kinds of sea turtle live on the Great Barrier Reef.
Taking turns on one device: One of you names an animal; the other finds it and drags it home.
If they find it hard
On the first screen, slow “How fast they swim” right down and set “How many of each” to one. Name each animal as your child picks it up.
Every fact, and where it comes from
What Ruby Roo says in Who Lives Where? was checked against the page it links to.
- After a summer feeding on krill in Antarctic waters, humpbacks migrate north to sub-tropical waters, up to 10,000 km a year. (Australian Government (Save Our Whales))
- Most humpbacks in Australian waters migrate north from June to August and back towards the Southern Ocean from September to November. (Australian Government (Save Our Whales))
- Humpbacks mate and give birth in the warmer northern waters. (Australian Government (Save Our Whales))
- They feed on krill in Antarctic waters in summer. (Australian Government (Save Our Whales))
- Anemonefish live with anemones: they are immune to the stinging tentacles, which protect them, and they remove parasites and sediment from their host. (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)
- Giant clams are the largest mollusc on earth, growing over a metre long and living for over 100 years. (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)
- Six of the world's seven marine turtle species occur in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)
- Turtles nest on the Reef's islands and Queensland's coast, from late October to February; Raine Island and Heron Island are key sites. (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)
- Hatchlings emerge from December to May and orient towards the brightest direction and the shape of the horizon. (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority)
- Weedy seadragons are found only in southern Australia, in kelp forests, seagrass meadows and sponge gardens; males carry the eggs on their tails until they hatch. (Derwent Estuary Program)
- The Australian sea lion is endemic, restricted to South Australia and Western Australia, breeding mostly on offshore islands. (South Australian Government (state of the environment report cards, 2023))
- Whale sharks are harmless filter feeders that eat plankton; they are most reliably seen at Ningaloo from March to July. (WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions)
- Estuarine crocodiles live in rivers, lagoons, swamps, mangroves, estuaries, beaches, coral reefs and the ocean in northern Australia. (Queensland Government)
- Mud crabs prefer shallow, muddy-bottomed mangroves, sheltered estuaries and tidal flats, from NSW around the north to Shark Bay. (Sydney Fish Market)
- White sharks occur in coastal, shelf and slope waters around southern Australia and travel long distances, to New Zealand and South Africa. (CSIRO)
What it practises
- Sorting by two things. Putting things into groups by what they look like, then by two things at once: orange and round, small and pointy.
AC9MFSP01 (Mathematics, Foundation); AC9MFM01 (Mathematics, Foundation); EYLF 4.2 (Early Years Learning Framework V2.0) - Australian animals. What animals look like and where they live (My animal friends cards).
AC9SFU01 (Science, Foundation); AC9S1U01 (Science, Year 1)
The codes are from the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (for children from birth to five) and the Australian Curriculum v9 (Foundation to Year 2). Each links to the official wording. Every skill, and the games for it.
What it costs, and what we collect
Nothing, and nothing. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking of any kind. Which games have been played is remembered on your own device and is never sent anywhere. The full version is here, and it's short.
Where it lives
Who Lives Where? is part of Australia's seas. It works on a phone, a tablet or a classroom screen, and once it's been opened it keeps working with no signal at all.
Updated