The Louisville Zoo education department would like to welcome Roosevelt Perry to the Louisville Zoo for a week of science based learning at School at the Zoo. This is our first year working with Roosevelt Perry and we are happy to be partnering with their fourth grade team in 2016.
Our Zoo was packed with field trips on Monday October 31st, but we were able to get the students down to the quiet MetaZoo Discovery Center for their first lesson on animal structures. The students were visited by a hedgehog (vertebrate) and a cockroach (invertebrate) in class. After class they visited the Zoo’s Islands exhibit where they saw our Komodo dragon, Cuban crocodile, and Rock hopper penguins.
On Monday we also started our initial outdoor ant observation. The students ventured outside to look at ants that had been baited with tuna and honey. The students observed the weather, where the bait was placed, how many ants they observed, what color ants they observed, and the ants’ behaviors. Afterwards, students took time to look at various ant stations around the MetaZoo and compare their initial observations to the other bait spots.
We discussed what challenges ants face as tiny invertebrates. We created a list and recorded it on the whiteboard. We discuss ants more throughout the week. We were also visited
with two of our birds of prey/raptor animal ambassadors on Monday. Students were able to see the birds up close, ask questions, and learn about our rescue program here at the Louisville Zoo.