Week+1-+Interconnectedness

Summer Exploration 2013:  How are we ALL Connected? **__ Day 1: __** **__ What MATH, ART, SCIENCE, LANGUAGE, S.S. Do You See? __**  Breakfast on the Go, and then off to the Gorilla Habitat! We read aloud from a fan favorite: __//**"The One and Only Ivan"**//__ by **Katherine Applegate.** As we learned about Ivan the Gorilla's habitat in the book, the habitat of the Gorillas and Monkeys at the Zoo was being cleaned for another day of visitors. We were able to see the keepers remove a gorilla and 2 Monkeys from the habitat and how they clean their space each morning. Tomorrow we hope to see more of the actual animals, but it was an "eye opening" experience for many of the students as they had never thought about how the zoo cleans "house" for their tenants!

In the afternoon, we ate lunch by the Zebra exhibit and discussed what "courtesy" looks like at the zoo. We also discussed how to appropriately use technology such as cell phones and geared them up for their first small group outing. Each group had 9-10 students and each had a cell phone with the teachers numbers programmed in it. We gave them 20 minutes with the mission in mind to find "MATH, ART, SCIENCE, LANGUAGE, S.S. at the ZOO. Students will be sharing their ideas on Day 2.

After collecting ideas of "MATH at the ZOO", etc., we gathered students, discussed the highs and lows of their first small group mission and then discussed what "**OBSERVATION**" means. **Rachel W. said, "It means to look closely at something."** All students could agree to that, and away we went! To the Cat Complex at Henry Doorly Zoo. Here, students observed and wrote a list of all of the "CAT BEHAVIORS" they were able to see. Students will discuss those behavior lists today and share our what they observed. One group of students even timed the repetition of breaths a Siberian Tiger took in 1 minute. THAT IS Observation at it's best! **__ Day 2: __** **__ What Has Changed? How do we observe and track changes? __** Gorillas Galore! Students listened and observed our friendly Gorillas as they played early morning games...keep away! There were a variety of ages of these wonderful animals and they all played a little before keepers made their presence known. They stood at the back of the habitat behind glass, gave a hand signal and the primates lined up at their designated door ready to go to their underground home so they keepers could clean their domain. After, we made new observations of the same "lazy" cats in the complex we looked at yesterday. They were definitely not LAZY in the morning! They were pacing, roaring and playing as we watched to see new cat behaviors. Students then talked about the changes they saw and their theories as to why they saw those changes.

Lunch was served and then 6th grade was off to the //** HOT SHOPS **// art studios to meet Co-Owner and Operator, Tim Barry. He is an artist himself and showed us how to create a clay pot, he introduced us to different kinds of art, including glass blowing. Ed, a glass artist, told us about the science behind glass blowing - how to heat it, cool it, spin it, blow it into a bubble or make a vase...WOW! We were impressed! media type="youtube" key="ZLJWscfFTf4" width="504" height="377" align="center"



Sculpture Tour media type="youtube" key="B_eEq3aeWm4" width="560" height="315" align="center"

Clay with Mr. Barry  Importance of Staying Focused media type="youtube" key="I_Sw-HCcMSE" width="560" height="315" align="center"

**__ Day 3: __** **__ What's the Difference? __** Fontanelle Forest after breakfast was a great way to start our learning for the day! We met with Fontanelle's very educational staff to discuss how species are classified into 3 very important groups: Consumers, Producers and Decomposers. We also learned about the types of Consumers: Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores. Do you know the difference? If not, ask your student! We also were able to meet some "friends" of the forest. "Box Turtle" media type="youtube" key="m6qYf7d7lP8" width="560" height="315" align="center"

"Fox Snake"

media type="youtube" key="Sv2CgVnPeqs" width="560" height="315" align="center"

Going... Going... Almost Gone...

**DECOMPOSITION TAKES TIME!** **This is a process that happens over many years. Depending on the size of the tree, it can take over 100 years!**

After our very informative discussion, we went out in 3 small groups to explore the forest. We were charged with the task of finding examples of Consumers, Producers and Decomposers. This is what we found: DeerLizardDifferent types of birdsSnapping TurtlesDucks LichensMoldFungi Variety of TreesPoison IvyPoison OakVariety of FlowersShrubs
 * Consumers:**
 * Decomposers:**
 * Producers**:

In the afternoon, we returned to the Henry Doorly Zoo for lunch and then - a small group Mission. Students were sent out with the task to find Consumers, Producers and Decomposers within the Zoo. They could visit any habitat they wanted within reason of the time limit. Below is an example Johnathan Stiverson found of a consumer within the Zoo grounds. **Ask your student what they found on their adventure!**



**__ Day 4: __** **__ Does the Zoo Have an Animal Hospital? __** Students were geared up to see something in a new light. So - to the aquarium we went! Students sketched their favorite Ocean dwelling creatures and then were asked to find the 3 categories of species we discussed Wednesday. Many students were stumped when it came to decomposers in the Ocean - **Can you think of any**? We added that to our "WALL OF INQUIRY" where students posed questions that they just have to know before the Summer Exploration is over! Scott Aquarium Shark Tank media type="youtube" key="iKa1v13NFPo" width="560" height="315" align="center"

Engineering at it's finest! Students get to clean an Scott Aquarium Tank! media type="youtube" key="BYn-tFnvgp8" width="560" height="315"

Later this morning, we visited the Henry Doorly Zoo Animal Hospital - and met Dr. Julie! WOW! She was amazing! Check out the videos below! Introduction - Dr. Julie @ Henry Doorly Zoo = = media type="youtube" key="0sBKofd5KDE" width="560" height="315" align="center"

Immobilizing AnimalsBeing A Zoo Vet media type="youtube" key="2Jz_6f6IY6w" width="560" height="315"

Treating Large Animals @ The Henry Doorly ZooAnimal Training & Student Questions media type="youtube" key="4qtIVi6w6qU" width="560" height="315"


 * __ Day 5: Hitchcock Nature Center __**

Starting our first long distance Hike at Hitchcock Nature Center! We hiked 1 mile to the Pond Area. We saw many types of decomposers along the way! As we arrived, we instantly saw turtles and frogs. As we listened we could hear the frogs communicate.

We decided to sit and sketch or write about what was around us. Chad Graeve from HNC stopped by with his children and showed us some tadpoles and other creatures he had captured from the pond. He is in charge of keeping the Nature Center healthy.



After a 1/2 mile hike back, students were exhausted! Lunch back at the Zoo was great and we discussed the habitats we saw at Hitchcock compared to the controlled habitats we have experienced here at the Zoo. Amazing Discussion!