Grade 3 Zoo Enrichment Project - 2nd Video Conference with the Zoo

At the end of the 1st video conference students were give the names of the 4 animals that students would be making enrichments for: the lion, the polar bear, the mule, and the gorilla.  Students were asked to complete research on each animal and, working within safety guidelines for each animal, design and create an enrichment for the animals that will be placed in with the animal to provide some activity for each animal.  This video conference was a debriefing to find out what students have done as well as review basic concepts of animal behavior.  

Grade 3 Zoo Enrichment Project - 1st Video Conference with the Zoo

On January 6, 2013 students were introduced to how to observe animal behavior by the Buffalo Zoo Education staffers Rebecca Balk and Rebecca Muffaletto.  Here are photos of the first video conference involving Mrs. Longo, Ms. Choma and Mr. Ostrowski's classrooms. (Video clips will be uploaded when technical difficulties are resolved)

Grade 3 Zoo Enrichment Project - Research

Grade 3 Students began the research phase and design phase for their Zoo Animal Enrichment projects. Students are in 4 groups: Gorilla Group, Polar Bear Group, Mule Group, and Lion Group.

Below are some samples of their research and drawings (1st and 2nd drafts) of their Enrichment Projects: 

Enrichment for the Mule

1st Draft                                                      2nd Draft (a little more specific)

Enrichment for Gorilla

1st Draft

Draft #2 (more explanation for how to get the food into the cardboard banana)

Enrichment for Polar Bear

Various drafts from students

Make a ball filled with fish for the polar bears

These students want to make a plastic fish filled with fish for the polar bears

 

These students want to make a plastic seal filled with fish for the polar bears to play with

Grade 8 Characterization Phase 1 - Ms. Purpora ELA

The 8th grade students will be doing a project on characterization.  They will be using a 2 liter bottle and a styrofoam ball to create a character from the revolutionary war time period.  The students will also be conducting interviews with each other to discover more about the characters. 

Grade 8 Characterization Project - Phase 2

Students made drawings of their bottle designs after researching their character and before they began to do the 3-dimensional bottle character.

Building the bottle designs begins....

Grade 3 Designing Enrichments for Animals at the Zoo

GRADE 3 - Mr. Ostrowski, Mrs. Popa, Ms. Choma, Miss Knapp and Mrs. Longo are guiding students through a Habitat Inquiry Unit.  

This exciting unit extends what students have been learning through their Habitat science kit and allows them to put into practice their knowledge of habitats and the organisms that live there by designing an enrichment for a Zoo animal.  Below are pictures and videos of the students' first video conference with the zoo education staff.

ZOO ENRICHMENT PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Students will research the behavior, needs, and habitat of an assigned Zoo animal (Lion, Mule, Polar Bear, or Gorilla).  Then in groups they will design and build the enrichment.  Students will visit the zoo and the zookeeper will place the enrichment into the habitat with the animal, so students (and the public) can view how the animal interacts with the enrichment.

Videos of students in their first video conference; learning about animals and adaptations:

Photos of students engaged in the video conference: