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Zoo Curriculum Web
Developed by Michelle Warden during Web Institute for Teachers, 2003.
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Welcome to the Zoo Curriculum Web. We both know that your class loves the zoo and they love animals. So why not capitalize on that? This Curriculum Web is based on that assumption and the assumption that cross curricular units can be used to successfully address state goals and your own objectives for student learning. Students will be introduced to the concept of virtual tours, increase their vocabularies, prepare presentations, use higher order thinking skills, and have fun in the context of learning about modern zoos.
The aim of this Curriculum Web is to inspire and motivate students (2nd-4th) to read, write, investigate, create, and problem solve. The broad topic is zoos.
Teaching is a difficult job, and so is learning. Anything that can make the process easier and more effective should be embraced. The students at my school have low reading and math scores. I hope to use the "passion" of my students to engage them in a learning experience. I chose zoos as my topic because my students love going to the zoo and they love animals. I also think that this topic will provide many opportunities to integrate core subject areas. Furthermore, it should lead students to think about ecology and conservation issues.
At the end of this Curriculum Web students should:
1. have been on a virtual tour of a zoo web site
2. have taken notes about a web site and an actual zoo
3. know what a URL is
4. be familiar with what a typical zoo looks like
5. have designed their own mini-zoo
6. have thought about some of the issues surrounding animal care
7. have thought about
issues related to endangered and extinct species and the role of modern
zoos
8. have created a flyer using art and language arts skills
9. made a presentation
to the class or small group.
State Goals
State Goal 12 Understand the fundamental concepts, principles, and interconnections of the life, physical, and earth/space sciences.
State Goal 1 Read with understanding and fluency.
State Goal 3 Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.
State Goal 5 Use the language arts to acquire, assess, and communicate information.
The target audience is students in second through fourth grade. It is also an option to team up older students with younger students to complete some of the activities or projects.
Students should be able to read at a second grade level; have familiarity with using a web browser and KidPix or paint program; familiarity with Kidspiration; have mouse and basic keyboard skills; and be able to write.
The subjects that can be integrated into this curriculum web are language arts, math, science, technology, and art depending on whether the Curriculum Web is used in its entirety.
The lessons and activities should be adaptable according to determining factors such as grade level, access to computers, ability levels, and grouping strategies used. Furthermore, all components of this curriculum web can be used in full or in part. It is not necessary to use all components if there are time/skill/grade level constraints.
Note: Students should have a notebook to use exclusively for this curriculum
web. Notetaking is one of the components graded in the rubrics.
1. Discussion: Ask students what they know about zoos and zoo animals. Allow
students to talk about zoo field trips and what they saw at the zoo. Tell students
that
they will be going on a trip to the zoo but will first visit some zoos on the
Internet.
2. Students will complete the zoo WebQuest at the following URL: http://webinstituteforteachers.org/~mwarden/ZooQuest.html
The WebQuest will take about five sessions to complete. Students will work in small groups or independently to complete the tasks. Students will be required to take notes in their Zoo Curriculum Web notebooks or journals. The products required for the ZooQuest are a flyer advertising the zoo virtual tour and a presentation of the site to the class. Full directions for the task and process, etc. can be found on the web site. Final products should be presented to the class or small groups of peers and measured against the provided rubric on the WebQuest page.
3. Take a "real" field trip to Brookfield Zoo (or whatever zoo is convenient for you). Students should be making comparisons between this zoo and the zoos they visited online. Students should also be making notes or drawing pictures of the things they find most interesting or cool at this zoo and observations they make regarding the care and upkeep of the animals and their habitats. Upon return to the classroom, students should write a short paragraph comparing and contrasting the real zoo to the virtual zoo and illustrate it. If possible, it would be ideal to have a zoo docent discuss some of the ways the zoo cares for the animals and tries to make them comfortable and happy. Also, the zoo docent may be able to breifly address ways that the zoo is helping animal populations and habitats in the wild. http://www.brookfieldzoo.org/
4. Discussion: The zoo is a very interesting and fun place, but what about the animals? Where do they come from? Why do we have zoos? Should we have zoos? Discuss extinction and endangered species and how zoos are now trying to help revive endangered species populations and educate the public. (See optional activity number 6 below.) http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/jobs_science_habitats.html
5. Students will complete a second WebQuest at the following URL:
http://webinstituteforteachers.org/~mwarden/curricwebzoo/design.html
Students will use either a paint program, KidPix, Kidspiration, or traditional art supplies to create a site map for their ideal zoo. Students will consider what they would include if they were designing a zoo. This might include types of animals, types of habitats, and other services that zoos provide to animals and people. Students may use the zoo web sites and animal web sites to find some of the information needed to complete this activity. Students will write a short essay describing their zoo in more detail and explaining some of their choices for what they did and did not include. (See optional activity number 5 below.)
Additional Activities:
Students should now have completed two large-scale projects: the ZooQuest and the zoo site map. At this point some fun follow-up or supplemental activities would wrap the project up nicely. These activities can also be used intermittently between the larger projects listed above. These are optional.
1. Students should be reading different books about animals and zoos that can be found in the resources of this guide or in your public library for independent reading and/or guided reading time. You can find online stories at the following link Animals, Myths and Legends - Tales from Oban the Knowledge Keeper.
2. Vocabulary quiz about the key words learned. If the quiz is used, students should be writing key words in their journals as they are introduced during the lessons.
3. Games on the Switcheroo Zoo web site.
4. Students will complete math problems using facts about animals.
5. Students can create a tiger habitat for a zoo online at National Geographic for Kids.
6. Each student will complete a short independent research project about an endangered species. They should answer the questions provided in paragraph form about their animal and have an illustration of the animal in its habitat. Two great sites to use for this are:
Students will need access to computers with Internet access; notebooks and pencils or pens; assorted art supplies; KidPix or other paint program; Kidspiration or Inspiration; and multimedia may be used.
A variety of books about the topics covered in this Curriculum Web should be made available in the classroom library. Here a few book ideas:
1. Rubrics will be used to assess the webquest project, site map project, and research project. Peer and teacher reviews using the rubrics are recommended. The rubrics are embedded in the WebQuests, but can also be printed out and written on. Printable rubric page.
2. Students may be assessed through conferences with the teacher during the process of completing the activities required. During the conferences, the teacher will check on student progress and redirect or assist if necessary.
3. Students can be assessed by their performance on the optional activities, as well. The online vocabulary quiz and math questions can be used as an assessment for a language arts and math grade, respectively.
Animal pictures were found at:
Pics4Learning http://pics4learning.com/
Awesome Clipart for Kids http://www.awesomeclipartforkids.com/animals.html
1,2,3 Spot http://www.123spot.com/clipart.htm
Search Kids Digital Library for Children (found clip art image of zoo site map) http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/kiddesign/searchkids.shtml
Animation Factory http://www.animfactory.com/
Designed to a T http://www.designedtoat.com/dividers.htm
Granny O's http://www.geocities.com/grannyo_2001/index2.html
Visit the Web-based Resources page for a list of URLs used during development of this WebQuest for reference and/or ideas. Some also have great information and activities for kids but did not fit into this Curriculum Web.
| URL | habitat | endangered |
| extinct | diet | species |
| virtual tour | site map | population |
| services | observation |
This Curriculum Web developed by Michelle Warden. Last updated July, 2003. Feel free to share any feedback or questions using this contact form.
