If you could go to the zoo every week...

[masterpiece]

what would you have your kids do?

 

My boys will be in 6th and 8th next year and I'm planning on having them study biology. I have my curriculum picked out for them (Ellen McHenry's Cells, The Brain, and what there is of Botany for the younger; ck12.org and the Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments, plus some additional reading, for the older). We regularly schedule four days a week of classes and reserve a fifth for outings. This year, however, the outings have morphed into projects that they're each working on at home, so we really haven't gone out to explore as much as I would have liked.

 

So I'm thinking that for next year we could plan on going to the zoo once a week for a light academic day, but I can't really figure out what I would want them to do: pick an animal (or two, or three, or...?) and observe them throughout the year? Obviously, the animals are not in their natural habitats, and we can't actually measure them or weigh them, so what CAN we do? (Can you tell biology isn't one of my strong subjects :glare:?)

 

(We live in a major European city, where the only animals we'd easily be able to observe in the wild would be...um...pigeons.)

 

Thanks!

L

[Alessandra]

Have you thought of classification/taxonomy? In a lot of zoos, there will be collections arranged by the type of animal -- reptiles, birds, etc. If there is an outdoor African plain, it will be mainly mammals. So your dc could, say, learn about reptiles, different groups of reptiles, reptile anatomy & physiology, etc. You could take a few weeks or more for each group.

 

Heinemann has some nice books in their Classifying Living Things series that could serve as a spine.

 

Tree of Life, by Rochelle Strauss is a good one-volume book on classification/ biodiversity.

 

You could incorporate geography by having dc draw distribution maps for various species. You could incorporate art by having them draw animals -- there are a number of how to draw, step by step books for various animal groups. Dover also has coloring books.

 

For certain animal groups, there could be special topics -- such as migration when you study birds, food chain if you have African plains animals. Habitat study would also be appropriate -- and don't forget to include plants. Biodiversity. Endangered animals -- you could incorporate politics/economics/ethics here. (We eat hamburgers from cattle raised in Brazil in areas where the forest has been clear cut. What about foreign companies cutting forests in Indonesia? What about population growth in Africa?) Extinct animals - you could incorporate history/explorers. Not suggesting you do research for all these topics -- often zoos have displays and often there is info/handouts on their websites for teachers -- maybe you could use some of this.

 

Then there could be special zoo topics -- such as breeding programs, habitat conservation (for most good zoos, the zoo display is just the visible part of their mission), reintroduction of species, pollution and other threats (like humans!) to animals, how zoos re-create habitats for their displays, zoo standards and accreditation, etc.

 

The AZA site might have some info you could use:

 

http://www.aza.org/

 

ETA -- just saw you are in Europe. AZA might still have some helpful ideas. Not sure what the EU equivalent is, but zoos do cooperate internationally, esp in breeding programs.

Edited April 6, 2012 by Alessandra

[delaney]

:lurk5: we could do the DC zoo every week and even the Baltimore zoo some weeks.....listening in!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

what would you have your kids do?

 

My boys will be in 6th and 8th next year and I'm planning on having them study biology. I have my curriculum picked out for them (Ellen McHenry's Cells, The Brain, and what there is of Botany for the younger; ck12.org and the Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments, plus some additional reading, for the older). We regularly schedule four days a week of classes and reserve a fifth for outings. This year, however, the outings have morphed into projects that they're each working on at home, so we really haven't gone out to explore as much as I would have liked.

 

So I'm thinking that for next year we could plan on going to the zoo once a week for a light academic day, but I can't really figure out what I would want them to do: pick an animal (or two, or three, or...?) and observe them throughout the year? Obviously, the animals are not in their natural habitats, and we can't actually measure them or weigh them, so what CAN we do? (Can you tell biology isn't one of my strong subjects :glare:?)

 

(We live in a major European city, where the only animals we'd easily be able to observe in the wild would be...um...pigeons.)

 

Thanks!

L

 

If there are baby animals born in the zoo when you're starting (or a pregnant animal), then you could have them record info about size and behavior with the other animals.

 

Or you could have them focus on a different animal each week and think about topics of taxonomy and how the animals are similar or different. Or about how very different animals fill the predator and prey niche in different environments.

 

If that doesn't work out, there's always the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Pigeonwatch

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I also have a the Smithsonian Guide to Zoo Animals, which is set up like a bird guide, but is about the animals found in a zoo.

 

I read Life at the Zoo a couple years ago and enjoyed it. It alternates between chapters about the zoo vet's experiences and historical chapters about how zoo culture and environments have changed over the years. Might be an interesting springboard for discussing zoo architecture and public education displays.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Check out the zoo's education page. I've used ideas from the Toledo Zoo and Ft. Wayne Children's zoo.

[momma aimee]

what would you have your kids do?

 

My boys will be in 6th and 8th next year and I'm planning on having them study biology. I have my curriculum picked out for them (Ellen McHenry's Cells, The Brain, and what there is of Botany for the younger; ck12.org and the Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments, plus some additional reading, for the older). We regularly schedule four days a week of classes and reserve a fifth for outings. This year, however, the outings have morphed into projects that they're each working on at home, so we really haven't gone out to explore as much as I would have liked.

 

So I'm thinking that for next year we could plan on going to the zoo once a week for a light academic day, but I can't really figure out what I would want them to do: pick an animal (or two, or three, or...?) and observe them throughout the year? Obviously, the animals are not in their natural habitats, and we can't actually measure them or weigh them, so what CAN we do? (Can you tell biology isn't one of my strong subjects :glare:?)

 

(We live in a major European city, where the only animals we'd easily be able to observe in the wild would be...um...pigeons.)

 

Thanks!

L

 

we go to the zoo every other week all season. mine are a lot younger though

 

first trip we do something like, make a list of animals we want to learn more about, or made a list of animals by first letter (that is made a list of all the A ones, a different list of the B ones and so on)

 

we talked about habitats and -- same and different -- what did we observe about animals with the same kind of habitat?

 

we played observer and sat by an active animal for a long time and watches what they did -- swing, eat, scratch self..

[elegantlion]

This would also be a good time to add photography and drawing. I would buy a nice drawing journal, like a moleskine, and have them add something each week.

[masterpiece]

Wow! You guys are full of great ideas! Thanks so much; all this is very helpful to me.

[Karen in CO]

Take a look at the scheduled zookeeper talks and animal feeding times to see what they offer. We've gone to our zoo frequently for the past dozen years and still find things to do. Start with slowly working your way through each of the areas. We typically bring our lunch and take turns choosing which animal to eat lunch with which lets us spend an hour in one small area. This morning my older dd spent over an hour observing the wolves alone. Over the years we've learned the best times of the day to see each animal so we know who is active at what time of day. Photography and sketching are great additions to this type of study.

[thegirlwhopaintedtrees]

Do you know if your particular zoo has education classes? Our zoo has homeschool classes every other Wednesday, for example.

[Miss Tick]

:iagree:They might have an outreach or education coordinator and it would be worth your time to talk to him/her. They also might have a "junior zookeeper" program (our local zoo does, but my dc are too young, so I haven't investigated). You might be able to set up interviews with different zookeepers. That might be really interesting since I assume different people have different jobs. Maybe you could study an animal and then meet with a knowledgeable zookeeper to ask questions, or give a presentation.

 

I've had good luck making cold-calls lately, can you tell? :001_smile: