Classroom lesson 路 Komodo dragon馃嚠馃嚛 Indonesia

The Komodo dragon

The biggest lizard on Earth - and it lives only here

A large Komodo dragon walking across stony ground, with its tongue flicking out

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The Komodo dragon is the largest lizard alive today. It can grow up to 3 metres long - about the length of a small car - and weighs as much as an adult human. The wild ones live on just a few small islands in Indonesia, including the island they take their name from: Komodo Island.

Tell me more

Komodo dragons look a lot like creatures from dinosaur times - because their family really is that old. Their ancestors have been walking on Earth for millions of years. Today they live on only five Indonesian islands and nowhere else in the world.

Despite their name, they cannot breathe fire. But they do have a few amazing tricks. They have a long, forked tongue, like a snake's, that they flick out to taste the air. Their tongue picks up the scent of food from far away and sends a kind of 'smell map' to their brain.

Komodo dragons can run surprisingly fast for short bursts - around 20 km/h, faster than most adults can sprint. They can also swim between nearby islands. Baby Komodos hatch from eggs the size of grapefruits and spend their first few years living up in trees, where they are safer from bigger Komodo dragons below.

Scientists believe there are only about 3,000 left in the wild. To protect them, Indonesia has made their islands into a national park called Komodo National Park. Visitors must walk with a trained ranger and stay together in a group, so everyone is safe and the dragons are calm.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might a baby Komodo dragon be safer up in a tree than down on the ground?
  2. 02What is the difference between a lizard and a dinosaur? Are Komodo dragons either, both, or neither?
  3. 03What is one rule you would make to keep both the Komodo dragons and the visitors safe?
Try this

Classroom activity

Mark out 3 metres on the playground floor with chalk - that's the length of a big Komodo dragon. As a class, work out: how many of you would need to lie head to toe to match one?