teaching resource

‘An Impossible Animal’ Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Updated: 31 Aug 2026

Explore how scientific study and collaboration allowed for understanding more about an animal species using our ‘An Impossible Animal’ Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheets.

Editable: Google Slides
Non-Editable: PDF
Pages: 1 Page
Years: 5 - 6

Curriculum

VC2S6H02

Scientific understandings, discoveries and inventions are used to inform personal and community decisions and to solve problems that directly affect people's lives
VC2S6I06

Communicate ideas and processes using evidence to develop explanations of events and phenomena and to identify simple cause-and-effect relationships
VC2E5LY09

Use comprehension strategies, such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring and questioning, to evaluate information and ideas to build literal and inferred meanings
VC2E6LY08

Use comprehension strategies, such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring and questioning, and connect and compare ideas from a variety of sources to build literal and inferred meanings
VC2S6H01

Scientific knowledge changes over time, often resulting from collaboration or by building on the work of others, and leads to advances in science <ul> <li>researching how the discovery of a biofluorescent flying squirrel led to discoveries of more fluorescent mammals, such as wombats, bilbies, echidnas and bandicoots, as scientists collaborated with other scientists across fields of science and internationally</li> <li>researching why European naturalists and scientists first thought the platypus was a fake animal, and how scientists such as those in the Australian Platypus Conservancy are collaborating in ongoing research to understand the features and behaviours of platypuses</li> <li>exploring why developing new erosion mitigation techniques such as contour banks and strip-cropping requires the collaboration of geologists, hydrologists and farmers</li> <li>researching how contemporary restorative ecology adapts and builds on the traditional ecological knowledges of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples</li> <li>researching how scientists, manufacturers and farmers collaborated to use compressed gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) in the development of fire extinguishers, planting crops and paintball</li> <li>examining why ecologists collaborate with engineers and computer scientists to develop remote sensing techniques, identify patterns in habitat change and make predictions about the survival of organisms</li> <li>constructing a timeline to show how contributions and collaborations of scientists, mathematicians, engineers and astronomers from many countries have advanced ideas about space and the solar system through development of models, gathering of evidence and, more recently, space exploration</li> </ul>

teaching resource

‘An Impossible Animal’ Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheet

Updated: 31 Aug 2026

Explore how scientific study and collaboration allowed for understanding more about an animal species using our ‘An Impossible Animal’ Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheets.

Editable: Google Slides
Non-Editable: PDF
Pages: 1 Page
Years: 5 - 6

Explore how scientific study and collaboration allowed for understanding more about an animal species using our ‘An Impossible Animal’ Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheets.

Explore ‘An Impossible Animal’ With Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Invite your Year 5 and 6 students into one of science’s strangest true stories with this engaging pack of platypus reading comprehension worksheets. These activities explore how early European naturalists believed the platypus was a fake animal, and how modern scientific evidence proved it to be real, remarkable, and unlike anything else on Earth.

This printable pack of Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheets blends literacy, critical thinking, and science inquiry, helping students analyse misconceptions, evaluate evidence, and understand how scientific knowledge changes over time.

Science-Based Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Students examine the mystery of the “impossible animal” through a rich set of activities designed to build a strong understanding:

Reading Comprehension Passage & Questions – A student‑friendly text explains:
- why early scientists doubted the platypus
- which features seemed unbelievable
- how modern research confirmed its existence
- what makes the platypus scientifically unique
Vocabulary Exercise
Two‑Page Comprehension Quiz
Rewrite the Expert Opinion Activity – Students read an incorrect diary entry written by a 1700s scientist who believed the platypus was a hoax. Using modern scientific knowledge, they rewrite the entry to correct misconceptions.
Fix‑the‑Fact Worksheet – Students identify incorrect scientific claims and use text evidence to rewrite them accurately.

Download These Platypus Worksheets Today!

Your printable pack of Platypus Worksheets is ready to use. It is available in both PDF and editable Google Slides format. To get your copy, click the dropdown arrow on the download button and select your preferred file type.

An answer key has been provided for easy marking.

More Resources Exploring Animal Species

Keep the animal exploration and scientific learning going with additional science‑and‑reading activities such as:

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Giant Squid Reading Comprehension Worksheets - Year 5

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Kangaroo Adaptations – Science and Literacy Worksheets

Discover unique kangaroo adaptations with a printable Reading comprehension worksheet pack.

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Koala Adaptations Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Learn about the physical and behavioural adaptations of the koala with a set of printable reading comprehension worksheets for Year 4-5.

Curriculum

VC2S6H02

Scientific understandings, discoveries and inventions are used to inform personal and community decisions and to solve problems that directly affect people's lives
VC2S6I06

Communicate ideas and processes using evidence to develop explanations of events and phenomena and to identify simple cause-and-effect relationships
VC2E5LY09

Use comprehension strategies, such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring and questioning, to evaluate information and ideas to build literal and inferred meanings
VC2E6LY08

Use comprehension strategies, such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring and questioning, and connect and compare ideas from a variety of sources to build literal and inferred meanings
VC2S6H01

Scientific knowledge changes over time, often resulting from collaboration or by building on the work of others, and leads to advances in science <ul> <li>researching how the discovery of a biofluorescent flying squirrel led to discoveries of more fluorescent mammals, such as wombats, bilbies, echidnas and bandicoots, as scientists collaborated with other scientists across fields of science and internationally</li> <li>researching why European naturalists and scientists first thought the platypus was a fake animal, and how scientists such as those in the Australian Platypus Conservancy are collaborating in ongoing research to understand the features and behaviours of platypuses</li> <li>exploring why developing new erosion mitigation techniques such as contour banks and strip-cropping requires the collaboration of geologists, hydrologists and farmers</li> <li>researching how contemporary restorative ecology adapts and builds on the traditional ecological knowledges of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples</li> <li>researching how scientists, manufacturers and farmers collaborated to use compressed gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) in the development of fire extinguishers, planting crops and paintball</li> <li>examining why ecologists collaborate with engineers and computer scientists to develop remote sensing techniques, identify patterns in habitat change and make predictions about the survival of organisms</li> <li>constructing a timeline to show how contributions and collaborations of scientists, mathematicians, engineers and astronomers from many countries have advanced ideas about space and the solar system through development of models, gathering of evidence and, more recently, space exploration</li> </ul>

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