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Going ape: educational fun at the zoo |
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Jun 26, 2007 |
Did you know that primates have color vision, forward-facing eyes, five digits on each limb and inhabit tropical regions?
If you didn’t know that, search the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo Web site. Better yet, search the Woodland Park Zoo. Or the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma. Or the small-but-sweet Cougar Mountain Zoological Park in Issaquah, or the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park near Mount Rainier.
Each of these facilities offers a wealth of learning for kids (and grown-ups), exposure to animals they won’t be seeing around the neighborhood and an abundance of sheer delight.
When you visit a zoo with your child, you share memorable Kodak moments, not to mention priceless teachable ones. The challenge is this: How do you inject learning ops into those outings and still preserve the fun factor?
Rachel Montgomery seems to have it figured out. The former biology teacher (and Seattle resident) takes her kids — Lydia, 5 and Ella, 4 — to the Woodland Park Zoo at least once a month. These girls know the zoo so well they often request visits to specific exhibits.
Montgomery, a bit of a zoo guru, supplements zoo expeditions with home projects. For example, her children particularly love the zoo’s new addition, Zoomazium, an indoor play space that includes the Nature Exchange. Here, kids can trade their nature knowledge for points — and win items such as a fossilized shark’s tooth.
When Lydia won a shark’s tooth not long ago, Montgomery tossed plenty of books and nature magazines her way and initiated chats about sharks, teeth and fossils. “The kids have become more sympathetic to animals and more curious about them,” says Montgomery. “They are learning about habitats and conservation, and that many of the animals are endangered.”
Prepare for your visit
Kids learn better when they know what to expect at the zoo, says Cathleen McConnell, academic and community programs manager for Point Defiance Zoo. Animal Encounters, a link on the Point Defiance Zoo Web site, lists the daily zoo schedule, which often includes such activities as a live animal show, a marine mammal talk, and a reef shark feed. Parents and kids can also preview the new Kids’ Zone, which includes an area for children to feed or groom goats and sheep.
McConnell suggests parents and kids do some at-home prepping before zoo visits. The Web site’s downloadable Classroom Connections link offers ideas such as the following, designed for third- and fourth-grade teachers (but equally usable for parents):
• Lead a discussion about adaptations (characteristics that living things have that help them to survive in their environment).
• Ask students to name some of their adaptations and how they help them to survive.
• Ask them to begin naming animal adaptations that they are familiar with.
• Ask them to write about an imaginary animal and describe its habitat and the adaptations it has to help it to live there.
Be sure to acquaint kids with the park’s layout and geography, says Katie Remine, school program supervisor for the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo. “Studies show that if children come into an unfamiliar situation, they can be overwhelmed,” she notes. Study a map of the zoo. Where are the elephants? The monkeys? Even more important: Where are the bathrooms?
Be observant
Once at the zoo, help your children make observations about the animals, says McConnell. “Don’t just say, ‘That’s a tiger.’ Look at it and ask your kids to notice its characteristics. Why does the tiger have stripes? Is it resting or active? How does it survive in its habitat? What do tigers need to survive?”
Younger children like to compare the animals to their own developing bodies, she says. “These kids are beginning to figure themselves out. Ask them, what body part does the whale use to move? How does the monkey’s mouth compare to yours? Where are the reptile’s eyes?”
It helps to focus on a theme, says Remine. Build the day around discovering which animals are camouflaged and which have colors; which have four legs and which have two; or which are primates.
Zoo grounds are often divided into “bioclimatic zones,” or unique habitats that range from the tropical rain forests to the icy far north. Families can limit their zoo visit to one or two of these zones, she says.
If you’re in the mood for a more intimate, mini-zoo experience, head for the Cougar Mountain Zooological Park in Issaquah, where, according to curator Robyn Barfoot, every animal is chosen for its educational value. “We feel the job of these animals is to enlighten the public,” she says.
More than 100 creatures inhabit this zoo, but when you visit, Barfoot points out, you get to see them all. The zoo (it calls itself a “living classroom”) offers lectures, docents, knowledgeable zookeepers and lots of personal attention from staff, she says.
“We like to take the time to answer questions and get kids excited about the animals,” Barfoot says. “We’ll draw the kids in by saying something like, ‘Isn’t our alpaca fantastic? Now let me tell you about the vicuna, its endangered relative.’ That’s how we educate.”
Linda Morgan, ParentMap’s associate editor, writes frequently on education issues.
Learn more
Find out about zoo schedules, activities, special events and more at these Web sites:
Woodland Park Zoo: www.zoo.org
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium: www.pdza.org
Cougar Mountain Zoological Park: www.cougarmountainzoo.org
Northwest Trek Wildlife Park: www.nwtrek.org
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Preschool & kindergarten 
