Zoo Celebration!

We had a wonderful time at the zoo today. The weather was perfect! We started at the Education Center and learned about life cycles, which was the perfect opening for our next Science unit. We learned that a corn snake is named for its markings like Indian corn. We learned that most snakes are helpful as they kill rats and mice. We even got to feel the snake and learned that it is smooth and not slimy. We saw a small owl that had been rescued after its wing was hurt and part of the wing had to be amputated. We learned that the owl was nocturnal but since living at the zoo he had adapted and mostly sleeps at night now. Both the snake and owl, along with butterflies and frogs all lay eggs. Then we got to feel the soft fur of a chinchilla and learned that it is a mammal and its babies are born live. We heard about animals that look like their parents and animals that don't. This is just the beginning of our new Science unit.

Before we knew it, it was time for a quick lunch and then a stroll through the zoo. We saw elephants and rhinos and even watched as the giraffes were fed. We saw baby giraffes and a zebra that was only a few weeks old, born on February 26. We caught one of the zoo helpers at the gorilla exhibit and were able to ask questions about the silver backs. We learned that gorillas cannot swim and that one had drowned at the zoo about eight years ago. We watched the monkeys and saw birds of all sorts. We didn't make it to the end of the zoo and Parker was very disappointed that we missed the kimono dragon at the far end, but that's just more to see on another day!