Be in the Know
Biology, Career Education, English, Social Studies
Within several of the activities and in In the Know section are terms that will help students to speak and write with more specificity. Depending on the size of your class, you might give pairs of students a term from In the Know to define, to find the etymology, use in sentences and give examples of them. For example, “safari park.” What does “safari” mean, its etymology and distinguish a “safari park” from a safari or game reserve. Are there any safari parks in your state? Where are the nearest ones located? Are any in the news?
Work at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Biology, Career Education, Photojournalism, Science
Teachers might begin by sharing “Day in the Life of a Great Cats Keeper,” a photo diary following a National Zoo’s Great Cat Team from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Insight into the workings of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute is gained reading “Veteran National Zoo curator Smith lands top job. ” Brandie Smith is the second female in the zoo’s 132-year history to be the director of the large operation.
Another Smithsonian zookeeper is introduced in Petula Dvorak’s column, “Black zookeeper aims to shed unicorn status through outreach.” Craig Saffoe tells of his path to a career as curator of large carnivores and why he began the Association of Minority Zoo and Aquarium Professionals. One of Saffoe’s more recent cases is shared in “Surviving covid by skin of her teeth” on the zookeeper's role in keeping a lion alive at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
Feed the Animals
Biology, Character Education, Health, Science
Teachers may begin this activity by asking students if they have pets. What do they feed them? Food homemade or bought at a pet store or grocery store? When and how much food is given? Do they have animals with special dietary or medical needs?
What do they think farmers feed their cows, pigs and chickens? After eating hay and corn, how animals such as cows, sheep and goats provide milk, wool and meat for humans and fertilizer for the fields. You might discuss arrangements made with produce departments and restaurants to get discarded vegetables and meals. Consider why finely chopped lettuce might be a treat for chickens.
How much food and what kind is needed daily in zoos to feed the variety and number of animals who live there? A Smithsonian article, “Feeding the Animals at the National Zoo,” adds nutritional needs to the cookbook of foods to feed different animals.
Jennifer Watts, director of nutrition at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, when interviewed in 2013 said that “Over the course of a year, the zoo buys 85,000 pounds of meat products and about $150,000 worth of whole prey items like mice, rats, crickets and mealworms.” And if that’s hard to picture, how about this: Watts orders fish once a year, mostly capelin and herring. “When I ordered the capelin this year, I ordered 120,000 pounds,” she says, “which was three semi trucks full of fish.”
Students might compile a list of food items bought for the pets of their classmates. They might interview pet food supply stores on the amount and kinds of food sold in a week or month. Students might check online for the kinds of pet foods available, including food for exotic animals.
You might read “Record manatee deaths cause Florida to try feeding program,” “How the monarch butterfly migrants became refugees — from us” and “Is medicine a threat to horseshoe crabs?” These articles include the food needs of animals and the food chain for survival. Solutions to Causes of Manatee Deaths takes a closer look at the KidsPost article. Read “The great white shark next door” which includes movement of aquatic mammals and fish influenced by water temperature, climate change and available food sources. The devastation that comes when the basic need for water is unmet during droughts is seen and found in the photo essay, “‘If they die, we all die’: Drought fells Kenyan herds.”
Consider a Career in Veterinary Medicine
Career Education, Science
To begin, teachers might ask students about their experience taking animals to a veterinarian’s clinic. You might read or have students read “A Day in the Life of a Vet,” a blog from Briarhill Veterinary Clinic. Another possible reading is “A Typical Day in the Life of a Veterinarian.”
The KidsPost article “African clinic goes wild with veterinary care” opens the door to the Onderstepoort Wildlife Sanctuary Clinic in South Africa.
After reading about people who care for animals, have students do the research-based, career education activity, A Career in the Zoo, Veterinary Clinic or Animal Reserve?
Face Illness and Demise
Biology, Career Education, Character Education
With older students, teachers may wish to include the difficult times faced when a beloved animal becomes ill or ages. Three suggested articles:
• “Surviving covid by skin of her teeth” on zookeepers’ role in keeping lion alive at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
• “ Photobombing gorilla Ndakasi dies in caretaker’s arms”
• What happens when an old elephant dies? Read “Preparing for a massive farewell.”
Debate Natural Habitat vs. Development
Biology, Business, Debate, Economics, Ecotourism, Environment
Indonesians are debating whether to develope tourist facilities or keep the natural habitat from infringement and possible destruction. Read and discuss “Development and conservation clash at Komodo National Park”
