Teacher Resource
Di mana cicak?

* About geckos: As anyone who has ever travelled to Indonesia knows, geckos are ubiquitous and engaging animals seen on walls and ceilings in most buildings. Many Australian students may not have seen geckos before. Find out and record what students already know about geckos on a class chart, then:

• In pairs or small groups, have students read this script for a traditional fable / story about geckos - Cicak and Kancil (in Word or PDF). Explain that the text contains a mixture of Indonesian and English, but that they can probably work out the meaning from the context (what is happening in the story). Ask them to take one or more parts in the play each, and read through the play to the end. Then have them read it again, writing down each new Indonesian word or phrase that they find and what they think it means in English. As a whole class, read the play checking the meanings that students have worked out. What characteristics were revealed about geckos? Do students know any English stories that explained animal characteristics in this way? (Any of Aesop's fables and many Aboriginal legends do this.) Why are these sort of stories written?
• Discuss where students may have come across real geckos. (They are found in many parts of Australia as well as Asia.)
• Look at photos or websites or bring real geckos into the classroom if possible.

As students complete puzzles in the learning object, they will be given gecko facts that can be added to the classroom chart. Students may look for further information about geckos themselves - there are many interesting facts that are not included in the learning object! The Resources section has a list of online and offline resources about geckos.

* About Indonesian bathrooms or kamar mandi: The Level 1 puzzles are set in an Indonesian bathroom. Discuss with students the differences between an Indonesian kamar mandi and 'Australian' bathrooms. For example:

• In groups, ask students to describe an 'average' bathroom in their local area. How similar are their bathrooms? Is there more than one type? Do people use bathrooms in the same way? How?
• Display kamar mandi photographs or view videos (see Resources section) and ask students to note the similarities, differences and points of interest using a thinking tool, such as a Venn diagram.
• Discuss bathing in Indonesia compared with their local area of Australia, with the focus on what happens and why. Points to be discussed could include:
  • Where does the water come from? In the old days, and in many poorer villages still, people don't have running water in their homes. Instead there are public water holes where people collect water in buckets to carry to their homes to fill drinking tanks and bak mandis. This is often a job for girls and women, and is very hard work.
  • How are Indonesian bathrooms used? People wash by using the dipper to pour cold water from the bak mandi over themselves, then soaping up, then washing all the soap off by using the dipper to pour cold water from the bak mandi over yourself again. You should never get dirt or soap in the bak mandi water! It needs to be kept clean for other people to use.
  • Why only cold water usually? Being hot all year round people don't need hot water and often shower or bathe several times a day to refresh themselves.
  • Not everyone has a bathroom. Many poorer people use public washing places. What other countries have public bathhouses? Many places including some parts of Australia, Japan, Scandinavian countries. In the public washing places, people wash together, but there are usually separate sections for males and females.
  • Do Indonesian people use shampoo and soap? Yes, they do. Many of the same brands. However poorer people can't afford big bottles of shampoo, and usually buy sachets because they are much cheaper. Unfortunately empty sachets are sometimes left on the ground, perhaps because traditional containers were made of biodegradable materials like banana leaves, so dropping those didn't matter.