Congratulations! You have just been hired by Zelda the Zookeeper to design a new animal habitat for the city's zoo. The zoo is very run down and the visitor count has been decreasing. The city council decided to let Zelda hire consulting teams to design new animal displays. With these new displays, the city hopes to help improve the conditions at the zoo as well as increase the public's interest in seeing animals in realistic habitats. So, get to work!
 

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The Task
Your mission is to design a new habitat for an animal that could live in a zoo in your area. In order to have your habitat approved by Zelda and the city council, you need to have the following:

an educational sign to display near the habitat
a tour guide's script and fact list
a model of the habitat
a presentation to Zelda and the city council

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The Process
You will need to complete the following steps to accomplish this task:

Determine your work organization. Will you be working with a group or independently? If you are working as a group, decide what responsibilities each person will have.
Choose an animal that could live in a zoo in your area. When choosing an animal, consider your climate and the climate the animal needs; if they're not the same, can you change the climate or can the animal adapt to your climate?
Start a project journal to record information, thoughts, and ideas as you work on this project. To start the journal, brainstorm and write down the information that you already know about the animal and its habitat.
Write a list of questions you have or predict others might have about your animal and how it can live in your zoo. Divide the questions into these categories:
natural habitat
biology (information about the animal's body)
behaviors
captivity concerns
human impact on its survival
Research your animal to answer your questions. Record answers and any other necessary information you find. Add more questions whenever you think of them.
When you have information about each of the categories, discuss as a group:
Is it possible to build a zoo habitat for this animal?
Will this animal survive if placed in a zoo?
If you are confident the animal will survive, design a habitat as similar to its natural habitat as possible. Don't forget to consider the size of the habitat, the animal's behaviors, and safety for visitors.
Now create the tour guide's script, including information about the animal in its natural habitat and human impact on that habitat. Write a fact list for the guide to refer to when people ask additional questions.
Create the educational display near the habitat, including a life cycle diagram (what the animal looks like at each stage of development), food chain diagram, and information about how this animal is uniquely adapted to its environment.
Plan a presentation to Zelda the zookeeper and the city council to convince them to fund your habitat for the city zoo.
Present your project to Zelda and the city council (your class).

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Resources
Zoo Links

The ZooNet is a great place to start gathering information about what other zoos know about the animal that you are responsible for.
The Electronic Zoo is a great place to look up additional facts about animals.
World Wildlife Fund has information about species at risk.
Wild Ones has animal and zoo information.
Animal Omnibus has links to lots of animals. (Ask your teacher if you're not sure of the category of your animal.)
FONZ Animal Facts has a library of animal facts, brought to you by the Friends of the National Zoo. (Again, ask your teacher, if you're not sure of the category of your animal.)
Animal Resources from Sea World.
Local Zoos

California Living Museum, Bakersfield
Los Angeles Zoo, Los Angeles
Orange County Zoological Society , Orange
Santa Ana Zoo, Santa Ana
San Diego Zoo, San Diego
Sea World, San Diego

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Learning Advice
Working as a group
It is very important that your group uses time carefully. Make sure that you know who will be completing each task. Make sure you are using a project journal to record information.

Gathering Information
Start by titling a different page in your journal for each category of information. You could use a question-answer column - on each page, draw a line down the middle and write questions on the left, answers on the right. If you are working as a group, you might consider assigning each person a different category to work on. When you find a piece of information, write a note in your journal on the category page that fact belongs to. For example if you find out the animal only comes out at night, write the note on the behaviors page.

Be sure to use a variety of resources to find information about your animal. This might be books, encyclopedias, CD's, or even experts you can contact by phone, mail, or e-mail.

Creating the Educational Display
The educational display is the primary way visitors learn about animals. Modern technology has helped zoos create wonderful displays using video, computer slideshows, or audio tapes. Consider using any of these available to you. Regardless of what tools you use, be sure to include important information and use diagrams or pictures to make it more interesting.

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Evaluation
Use these questions to make sure you have a complete, well done project:

Do you have all parts of the project completed: habitat model, tour guide script and fact list, educational sign?
Is your presentation convincing as to why your habitat should be the one to build?
Did you explain why you designed your animal habitat the way that you did?
Did you work cooperatively with the other members of your team? Did all members of the team contribute equally?
Is your animal display attractive as well as informative? Does the animal appear to be in a natural setting?

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Reflection
What was the one thing during this activity that you think that you will remember six months from now?
If you could change one thing about how you participated in this assignment, what would it be?
What are you most proud of in this project?
How did you organize information as you researched? Was this effective? What could you do differently next time to make it more effective?

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Written by Pat Bower, East Heritage Elementary School, Etiwanda School District

Edited by Noelle Kreider and Cynthia Robinson, Teachers on Assignment, Instructional Technology Development Consortium

Modified by Sharon Camp, Lake Park Elementary, Collier County Schools