Zoo Project

The project topic that I chose to work with in my classroom was zoo animals. I decided to choose animals because my students always showed a strong interest in them. When they were asked what animals they would like to learn about, the vast majority of the children listed animals that live in the zoo. After determining the topic, we then made a project web together. We began by listing the animals they believed lived in a zoo. Once we began discussing the types of animals, they talked about the people who work in a zoo and take care of the animals. This led to a discussion about the types of food the animals eat and that someone would have to feed the animals. Once this list was complete, I asked them if they thought there was anything else in a zoo besides animals. They then compiled a list of other areas that may be in a zoo. After the web was complete, the children decided on several questions that they wanted to answer about zoo animals. For more detail, please see the attached project web and questions.

After the questions were generated, I needed to come up with an initiating activity that would assist them in discovering the answers. I decided to set up a display of the animals next to the materials used by workers in the dramatic play area so they could design a zoo. I also placed several books that discussed the animals listed and their habitats, as well as pictures of the various animals. I introduced the activity to the children, as they were transitioning from small groups to free choice. I told them I tried to put all of the materials they listed in their web in dramatic play area, and they could design whatever they wanted there. I reminded them that if there was something that was not there, they could ask and we would try to find the appropriate materials together. The children were very excited and all but one child played there the first day.

This initiating activity led directly into the cognitive activity. The children built habitats for the different types of animals. My goal for this activity was that they would research appropriate habitats for animals and use abstract materials to construct them. I interacted with the children in the research and the set up of the various habitats. The habitat the children became the most involved in was the lion and tiger exhibit. We looked at various encyclopedias and books to see how they live. We discovered they lived in African savannas, and what those environments were like. We saw trees, rocks, grass, sand, and pools of water. We also learned about their prey.

The children decided to use the sand table for the savanna and gathered the appropriate animals. Some children built trees for shade, using plastic cups, paper bags, tissue paper, construction paper, and tape individually and others worked in pairs. Other children decided on making a watering hole using tissue paper and felt. They used pieces of yarn for grass and odd pieces of paper for rocks. They made food for the animals having decided that the zookeepers would not let the lions eat the other animals.

This activity related to our curriculum because children had to take on imaginary roles, plan how to care for the lions and tigers, investigate habitats and food, and build an appropriate structure to meet the needs of the big cats. My goal was met as the children used books to research the habitats and abstract objects, such as cups and tissue paper, in order to build concrete objects.

The social/emotional activity revolved around a favorite book of the class, I Don't Want to Take a Bath. I read the story after building the lion and tiger habitats the next day. Since the main character is a tiger cub and the story revolves around bathing and family relationships, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to discuss social activities among zoo animals. My goal for this activity was to identify family roles and expectations among tigers, and to extend that to the children's families.

While reading the story, we discussed the way the mother tiger carried her cub by the neck, how tigers bathe, and how tigers interact with other animals. In the story, the tiger got along and played with all of the other animals, so we first had to dispel fiction from fact. Many of the children remembered the research done in the zoo area, and used that as a reference for how big cats actually get along with other animals. We discussed the tiger cub not wanting to take a bath, but his mother insisting that he take one. The children related the experience to themselves and shared how they argue with their parents about bathing. We discussed whether or not it was important to take a bath, and they said that it was. We also discussed how the mother and her pride take care of her cub by playing with him and carrying him. They compared that to how their families take care of them.

This activity became integrated into the curriculum because we discussed family roles and expectations, ways of handling each other, and prides or teamwork. The goals were met because the children were able to relate the experiences of the tiger cub to their own lives. They discussed the roles of the tiger family and realized the similarities all on their own.

My physical activity was for the children to make zoo posters. As we read more about zoos in our investigations the children pointed out how each exhibit has a sign to tell you what types of animals live there. I decided to let them make their own posters for their zoo. My goal was for them to plan a poster and use fine motor skills to cut out shapes and objects.

In order to make the posters, the children had to find pictures they liked. We used the computer together and they picked out different pictures that they liked. After printing, we gathered the materials they wanted to use. They chose things like construction paper, markers, glue, glitter, pencils, and scissors. Some of the children were able to cut out the pictures without any assistance, as well as write the names of the animals. Some of the younger children needed a line drawn around the animals in order to cut them out and help forming letters. They all decided how to arrange the pictures, words and glitter by looking at pictures of actual zoos. They then posted them by the appropriate exhibits.

This activity was integrated into our curriculum because they had to use fine motor skills to cut out the pictures, write the words, and prompted them to use their cognitive abilities to plan their posters to look attractive and enticing. In this way my goal was achieved.

My linguistic activity centered on a big cat, a leopard. One girl in particular loved the leopard book. She also loves to draw and color. She was admiring a picture in the book one day and I asked her if she would like to make that leopard. She excitedly replied yes so I got some large paper. My goal for this activity was for the children to use their measuring, comparing, matching, and fine motor skills in order to replicate a life size leopard.

Once the paper was out, I asked her how big we should make the leopard. She asked how big a real one was, so we looked it up in the book. We learned a leopard can vary in size from 3 to 7 feet. She chose to make hers 6 feet long. We got a ruler and began measuring and marking off each foot. We quickly learned that our paper was not long enough, and we would need two sheets together, on which I quickly outlined the leopard for her. We began looking at the spots and discussing the different shapes we saw. She decided to begin drawing the eyes and mouth, and told me where I should start drawing spots. By this time the other children were also intrigued and began helping me with the spots. They all noticed how the spots were different so they separated themselves into teams of belly spots, back spots, head spots and leg spots. I simply observed the process. They also did the same for the fur having noticed some fur was orange, while some had a yellow tint, and some was pure white. They asked me to divide the leopard into sections so they could keep it straight. The entire class, minus one boy, participated in this activity. It took about a week to complete, but when they were done, they had made a 6-foot leopard and hung him on the wall. One girl also decided to draw him a tree because she saw a picture in the same book where the leopard was laying in a one. She made him a tree out of butcher paper, construction paper, tubes, and stickers.

This activity integrated the curriculum concepts of measuring, comparing, matching, discussion, labeling, and teamwork. My goals were accomplished as the children really compared and matched the picture to their drawing. They wanted to make sure the fur was perfect, and the spots matched exactly. They measured to make sure the leopard was the right length, and also made sure the spots were the right size.

Daily the children participated in the language activity. My goal for this was for the children to answer the questions they posed at the beginning of the project and to express these answers in a large group setting. At the end of the day, we would review the questions and see if anyone had discovered an answer. If a child said yes, then he or she would share the answer and how they found it. For example, one child learned that lions eat zebras because he saw it in the encyclopedia when he was researching the lion habitat. I wrote the answers down that were shared and we reviewed questions that had no answer yet, and we also added any new questions the children had come up with during the day.

This activity was integrated into the curriculum because the children used labels and words to describe experiences. They also provided examples and reasoning for their answers. They learned to take turns answering, and to respect each other when listening. This also helped them to develop a sense of self-worth when they had discovered an answer and could teach their peers. My goal was met, as the children were more than willing to share answers to the questions, and also wanted to make sure they explored any unanswered questions.

My culminating activity was field trip to Saginaw Zoo. This was appropriate as it allowed the children to physically experience the concrete setting they had been building for so long. They could also find answers to a few of the unanswered questions. I typed up the remaining questions and the children and their parents had them with them to answer through out the trip. My goal was for the children to experience the zoo and the animals they had been researching and my goal was partly achieved. This zoo had a few of the animals the children had researched, but did not have most of them. This did however lead to an excitement over new animals. When we were back in the classroom, the children all wanted to learn about horses, as there was a horse at the zoo. When they were building barns for their horses in the block area, I knew the zoo project was over, and the horse project had begun.

My project had several strengths. The ones I noticed the most were the investigation, teamwork, and excitement. The children really insisted on reviewing the books before building anything. They wanted to make sure they had it perfect. They worked really well in teams. The aesthetic activity is the perfect example of this. They all worked on this and came to agreements about color placement, and spot size. They did not argue once over the leopard. They were also very excited about every activity that came out. They were able to choose the vast majority of them, which gave them a feeling of ownership. All but one boy, who has been mentioned before, could not get enough of the zoo animals.

There were some weaknesses as well. At times I felt as if the topic was too broad to bring a sharp focus for all of the children. While most were interested in the big cats, some were more focused on ocean animals, polar bears, butterflies, or veterinarians. It was hard for me to spread myself around to all of the interest areas and make sure everyone was involved. Especially since the one boy really showed no interest at all.

Another weakness was a lack of resources. Books became our major resource, as well as a couple of movies. However, there were no local experts or hands on activities for the children. Even the zoo did not have most of the animals the children were looking forward to seeing. After this project, I understand why you should limit the topics to ones that are relevant to the children's immediate world.

I believe the experience of implementing this project was very positive for the children. Every day they were bringing in a story to share, or were sad if there wasn't enough space at the zoo for them to play. They would find other ways to play zoo. For example, a few children made paper zoo puppets at the writing area so they could play zoo there. The boy who seemed completely uninterested turned out to be the biggest sign of success for this project to me. My paraprofessional had run into him and his mom one day after the field trip and his mom said how obsessed the boy had become with the zoo. She said all he ever does is talk about zoo animals, and want to watch animal shows. So, the one little boy who showed no interest in class had also reached a level of excitement. This verified my belief in the success of this project.

This experience was also very positive for me. Although I would have changed a few things, such as the zoo we went to, or having more resources, I really enjoyed this time with the children. I got to really just play with them, instead of constantly being worried about directly teaching them skills. Also, by sitting back and observing them at play, I realized that the skills I had been so worried about them learning had integrated themselves into the various activities. I had worried about one boy's counting skill, but there he was counting the spots on the leopard's leg to make sure the drawing and the picture in the book matched. The project is something I will definitely do again. The children not only learn various curriculum goals, but they learn to just have fun, that school is fun and I learned how to just have fun with my kids again.