Prospect Park Zoo
10th Grade
Animals
and Adaptations
Grade
Level: 10th
Learning
standard: S2c, S2d, S7d, S5f
Time
Requirement: Approximately 40 minutes preparation time and 4 hours at
the zoo
Topics
Covered by this Lesson: Foraging ecology, Endangered species
Objective:
Materials
Required: Notebooks, cameras(optional)
Learning
Prerequisites: students will have knowledge of: trophic levels, food chain,
food web, theories regarding natural selection, ecological niches
Visit:
Students, teachers, and a guide will convene at the Orientation Center.
The tour guide will give a short slide show featuring several wild animals
in their natural habitat. The guide will then introduce several of the
zoo animals that the children can touch, observe and ask questions about.
There will be a break for lunch. After lunch the students will be taken
to visit the rest of the zoo where, they will get a chance to see the other
animals. They will be allowed to visit the commissary where the food
is prepared for the animals. The visit will end with the feeding of
the sea lions.
Post
Visit: Group Project:
Students
will separate into groups. Each group will chose at least two of the
animals seen at the zoo. The students will then create a booklet for
younger children, incorporating pictures and explaining the ecological niche
of each animal in language suitable for that age group. The project
will be graded.
Possible
Questions:
Where
do microorganisms fit into the trophic levels?
Why
is the porcupine and the hedgehog not related?
What
remains would you use to explain the eating habits of a fossil?
Explain
the phrase the world's energy comes from the sun.
Explain
the phrase the flow of energy through ecosystems is linear.
MSTEP
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