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A Day at the Zoo
Robin Shaw
Corono del Sol High School, Tempe, Arizona
Subject: Science/Biology
Grade: 9-10
"It was really thrilling to see kids excited
about something going on at school for a change."
Purpose and Description of Project
Robin Shaw proposed this project when her school district eliminated
field trips from the annual budget. Many of her students had never
been to the Phoenix Zoo, which she had hoped to visit in conjunction
with their study of wildlife, ecology, conservation, and the environment.
With no funds to take Shaw and her students to the zoo, they set
out to bring the zoo-and the excitement, motivation, and learning
that result from field trips-to their school.
Activities
The original plan for a slide/sound presentation snowballed into
a day-long series of activities. The following comprised the project's
final agenda:
- The student-made audiovisual presentation was the "heart"
of the project. Students attended workshops on all aspects of
the photographic process. The zoo's photographer offered tips
to improve their picture-taking and provided general information
on the animals for the accompanying script. The final program
was compiled from over 400 slides taken at the Phoenix Zoo by
a group of student volunteers. However, all students were involved
in preparing this hour-long program-taking pictures, being photographed,
developing film, and mounting slides. Shaw and her students then
wrote and recorded the final script with background music.
- A National Park Service ranger led a discussion on "environmental
ethics. "
- Participants viewed "Among the Wild Chimpanzees,"
a National Geographic Society Film of Jane Goodall's 25 years
of research on chimpanzees.
- A wildlife manager from the Arizona Game and Fish Department
discussed "Wildlife-Oriented Careers."
- Volunteers from the Phoenix Zoo Outreach Program brought reptiles,
birds, arachnids, and mammals to the school for a presentation
on animal adaptations.
- Participants watched "The Way I See It," a Kodak
film that showed students a different view of science-through
the eyes of a camera.
In addition to taking part in the day's activities, students (and
some teachers) wore animal costumes. Each student researched his
or her animal's characteristics, adaptations, etc., and designed
a costume based on this information.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
To prepare the slide show, Shaw and her students used
35 mm cameras,
15 rolls of slide film, high contrast film for title slides, slide development
chemicals and materials, two KODAK CAROUSEL Slide Projectors and screen,
a tape/slide synchronizing dissolve unit, a cassette tape recorder
for recording narration with music, and an amplifier/speaker.
A video cassette recorder, a video camera, two monitors, and an
overhead projector were used during guest-speaker and outside-film
presentations. Shaw was able to obtain most of the materials and
equipment using the school's audiovisual budget. Students used
teacher-prepared worksheets to plan and evaluate the project.
In addition to the resource persons mentioned above, two audiovisual
consultants provided suggestions for preparing the slides, constructing
library displays, and coordinating visual and written resources.
Of course, the largest resource was the Phoenix Zoo which provided
the slide subjects and much of the information used for the script.
Outcomes and Adaptability
Shaw says that student involvement "far exceeded their involvement
had I done all of the preliminary research and work for an actual
field trip." The attention and cooperation of the local media
and community resource persons increased student motivation and
enthusiasm-not only among the biology students but also throughout
the entire student body. Shaw finds this a terrific accomplishment,
and adds that "my students were very proud of their effort."
Student worksheets indicated that their knowledge of ecology,
conservation, and related topics had increased dramatically, and
their costumes showed true understanding of animal adaptations.
Shaw feels that it would be easy for a teacher interested in conservation
and/or animals to carry out the same type of program in cooperation
with a zoo, park, museum, or arboretum. She strongly recommends
that the slides be developed and mounted by the students- "much
less expensive and it is a marvelous learning experience "