June 07, 2017 : What Do Zoos Do?

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in The Denver Post. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers

Click here to download the PDF for this lesson

Activities:

1. Get a large piece of paper to create your own “zoo.” First, cut out newspaper pictures of all the animals you might find in a zoo. Now divide your paper into sections for your zoo. Draw the appropriate habitats for your animals and paste them in their own sections. For example , if you find a polar bear, you would draw a pool with ice; if you find an iguana, you would draw a desert. Give your zoo a name.

2. Collect news stories about wild animals in this country or other countries. For each story, list what you learned about the animal(s) . How would that information help you if you were going to create a place for the animal in your zoo?

3. For fun, look at team names in the sports section and put them in two lists: wild animals (the kind you might find in a zoo) and domestic animals. For each of the wild animal names, write a sentence explaining why you think the team picked that name.

4. How are these important to zoos: (a) school field trips, (b) Species Survival Plan programs, (c) conservation programs and (d) the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)?

5. Design your own zoo education program. Design and describe five activities you would develop for students who come to the zoo to learn about the animals. Pretend the students will be in grades 3 to 5.

Mini Page activities meet many state and national educational standards. Each week we identify standards that relate to The Mini Page content and offer activities that will help your students reach them.

This week's standard:
Students understand the interactions of animals and their environments. (Science: Life Science)

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)