School Field Trips

Animals Educating the World… One Child at a Time

preK-7 Zoo Curriculum Catalog

For the price of admission, the children get a hands-on interpretive educational presentation in the classroom that generally lasts 30-45 minutes. You get to spend as much time as you like in the exhibit area before or after the presentation. It often works well to have the children enjoy the exhibit before the presentation. Also, for groups larger than 25, we will generally split them up and have half in the class and half in the exhibit area and then switch. We also have a GLCE tailored educational scavenger hunt for the children while in the exhibit area.

Our interpretive educational presentations meet the Michigan science Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) for K-7. There is a three part curriculum… First is a pre-trip lesson the teacher can use the day before the fieldtrip, second is in the classroom during the fieldtrip, and third is a post-trip lesson the day after the fieldtrip.

The price of admission is:*

Age 2 and under are free
Ages 3-11 are $5.00
Ages 12 and up are $7.00
Seniors are $5.00

Memberships do not apply to field trips

*Note: Cost of the program is based upon attendance to the zoo with a minimum charge of $54 if there are less than eight children and two adults.

Great Lakes Zoological Society World of Discovery Reptile Zoo Interpretive Educational Program Catalog Pre-K through 7th Grade

• Pre-Kindergarten Lesson — Students will participate in a story-time session of The Mixed-Up Chameleon, by Eric Carle. After the story, students have a chance to see a chameleon up close, as well as a few other safe-for-youngster animals that they have the opportunity to touch and even hold. They finish their lesson by making a mixed up animal of their own.
• Kindergarten Unit — During the unit, students will examine the basic needs of life, as well as compare living and nonliving things. They will ask the question of what it means to be "alive," as well as what organisms need to live.
• First Grade Unit — First graders examine life cycles, by way of the egg. They'll get to see many different types of eggs, understand where they come from, and learn to associate eggs with babies and later forms of life. At the zoo, they'll see animals with different forms of life cycles from humans, and they will identify them within the zoo, as well as complete art projects on them in the classroom.
• Second Grade Unit — Second graders will explore the relationships between plants and animals. They'll learn the importance of animals to plants, as far as pollination, how some animals other than bees pollinate plants, and learn the waggle dance of a bee.
• Third Grade Unit — The third grade unit focuses on categorizing animals. The students will complete an investigation throughout the zoo by classifying the animals held within based on vertebrate/invertebrate, as well as reptile/amphibian/bird/mammal/invertebrate. Back in the classroom, students will share their favorite animal and classify it.
• Fourth Grade Unit — "How do rabbits avoid being eaten?" Fourth graders will ask this question and many others as they explore the topic of survival techniques, and then catalog a list of survival techniques they can find around the zoo. For their final assessment, students will have to create their own creature with at least three survival techniques, as well as craft a short descriptive writing sample about the same animal.
• Fifth Grade Unit — The fifth grade unit is one of our most exciting, where students look not only at animal adaptations, but also at their own. By the end of the unit, students will be able to answer why adaptations are vital to species survival, share the adaptations exhibited by one of the species at the zoo, and give purposes/benefits of that animal's adaptations.
• Sixth Grade Unit — Producing, consuming, and decomposing — which one are we? Sixth graders are going to examine the effects humans have on animal ecosystems, as well as create a food web depicting how an animal the student saw at the zoo interacts with other organisms in its ecosystem. The student will have to hypothesize how a human might affect that animal's ecosystem, even without ever coming into contact with the animal or knowing it exists.
• Seventh Grade Unit — How do we pass our traits on to our young? When sixth graders examine heredity, they'll be asking and answering that question. Aside from investigating the traits that the animals bear themselves, students will be asked to complete an inventory of their own traits, examining their genetic background as it relates to their parents. Reptiles are prime examples of inheritable traits, and this lesson really hits home with the visit to the zoo.
• Custom Unit Plans — Don't see a lesson that really fits with what you want? Let me know what you're interested in, and we can come up with something that fits your needs. I'm a state certified teacher with lots of experience in disabilities and accommodations, and have an extensive background in lesson plan creation, from elementary to collegiate levels.

For more information on our field trips, to receive a copy of our individual curricula for each grade level, or to schedule your field trip with us, you can call our Education and Outreach Coordinator at 734-332-1628 or email at education@glzszoo.org.

An interpretive educational program tailored to the appropriate age level Michigan Science Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCEs) with a nice cross discipline touch. The children are learning grade level content while in the exhibit and in the classroom.