Prospect Park Zoo: Middle Grades

Conservation

Grade Level :  8^th Grade

Subject: Earth Science

Learning Standards:

Time Requirements:

       Pre-Visit Lesson = 45 minutes

       Visit = 120 minutes

Topics Covered by This Lesson:

       Conservation

       Endangered Species

       Reasons for endangerment

       Prevention

       Prospect Park Wildlife Center

Pre-Visit

       Purpose:

       To learn what conservation is.

       To have the students become acquainted with the layout of the Prospect Park Zoo and what they will be doing there.

Objectives:

Students will understand what they will be required to do during their visit of the Prospect Park Wildlife Center (hand out the task requirements for their visit: information they will be gathering and questions they will be answering).

Materials Required:

       Pictures of Endangered and Extinct Species

Student Learning Prerequisites:

       Students must know what species ; means and be able to list some examples.

Visit

       Students will go around the zoo with a notebook in hand and pick five species to observe.

       For each species, they will first describe it and then try to determine what it needs to survive (what habitat, food, etc.). 

       Have the students try to find the two species at the zoo that are endangered (red panda and cotton-top tamarin).  Have them explain why they think the species they have chosen are endangered.

       Have them come up with solutions on how to keep the species on their list protected and abundant.

Post Visit

       Assessment:

       Ask the students when returning to class what conservation and endangered means.

       Review with students the species they have observed at the zoo.

       Which ones do you think are endangered and why?

       What can be done to protect them?

       Extensions and Suggested Homework Assignments:

       Have the students devise a plan that would keep species from being endangered.

       Have the students search the Internet (www.fws.gov or www.aza.org) and/or library for other species that are endangered.  They can write a report on a chosen endangered species and their plan for keeping it protected.

Possible Questions:

       What human interactions with the environment cause certain species to be endangered?

       What natural disasters can cause certain species to become extinct?

       Why did the dinosaurs become extinct while other species survived?

       What parts of the zoo did you find most interesting?  What could have been better? 

       What does a zoologist do?  How do you become a zoologist?

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