Our Week at Zoo School!

What a spectacular week of learning at Zoo School! From exciting demonstrations and up-close animal encounters to behind-the-scenes tours and so much more, the adventures never stopped! What a wonderful opportunity to explore, discover, and learn!

TUESDAY

We hit the ground running with a behind the scenes tour of the seals! We learned why the zoo trains animals to learn behaviours. The keepers showed us how Isadora and Misha, two northern fur seals, are trained to have their teeth brushed. We had a giggle at their toothpaste flavour ... salmon!

Each day we take part in animal observations. Today the students broke into their small groups to observe and sketch the gibbons, seals, and lemurs!

Our day wrapped with an up close encounter with 16 year old Bob, the central Asian tortoise. Tortoises live on land and cannot swim. Bob is a herbivore and especially enjoys lettuce! Tortoises are solitary, so Bob prefers to live on his own at the zoo. 

WEDNESDAY

Today we visited the commissary. This kitchen feeds all the animals at the zoo! We learned about carnivores, herbivores, and insectivores. We were excited to see the foods the zoo uses to feed the animals, peek at the animals' menus, walk through the grain area, and examine the insect room!

We crossed paths with Lucy, the Asian elephant. At 51 years old, Lucy is fully retired and is not out on exhibit for public viewing. She does go for walks to exercise and we were lucky enough to catch her special stroll!

Wednesday wrapped up with our daily animal observations! Groups observed the same animal as yesterday, noticing differences in behaviours from day to day. 

Despite the shorter day, we made lots of miles!

THURSDAY

Our day kicked off with an up-close encounter with Pepperoni, the blue-tongued skink! We learned that Pepperoni is a lizard who loves warm weather because she is cold-blooded. This means she relies on outside sources of heat, like the sun or a special heat lamp, to keep warm. Pepperoni is also an omnivore, enjoying bugs, plants, and even the occasional mouse! But here’s the most fascinating fact of all: Pepperoni uses her tongue to help her smell. How amazing is that?

We popped into the nocturnal area and were excited to see the fruit bats in action! Their neighbours, the sloths, barely moved a muscle. What a perfect opportunity to compare two very different nocturnal animals. 

We kept the learning going as we observed and journaled new animals today! 

A special guest speaker, Anna, visited us. She is a marine biologist and a shark expert. We peppered her with marine questions and were fascinated to learn about her field work!

Zoo School offers special opportunities to go behind the scenes. Today we got up close with the red pandas. They are incredibly fluffy herbivores who are arboreal, meaning they live in trees. These pandas climb down trees headfirst! Their claws help them grip and their tails provide balance. 

As the day wrapped up, we reflected on the animals we have seen, sorting them into the areas they live. We've learned so much!

FRIDAY

Today was our visit with an urban farmer! We had prepared questions in our journals and were excited to learn about farm animals. Our favourite part was hearing the roosters cock-a-doodle-doo!

We examined x-rays of a variety of mystery animals at the zoo. We discussed what the animals might be and where they might live using information in the images. This was tricky but fascinating!

We made many miles exploring today! We enjoyed a little extra "free" time to visit our favourite animals.

Zoo School was truly amazing and we came home absolutely exhausted every day! Yes, all of the walking was tiring and we also got a tonne of fresh air, but a huge part of WHY we were so tuckered was because of HOW we learned. We explored, wondered, compared, observed, problem solved, predicted, and learned so very much. 

As we prepare to return to our classroom, we are so thankful for the opportunity we had to learn at Zoo School. Thank you to all of the adult helpers to supported our week, the incredible zoo staff, and our students, who rose to the challenge each and every day!