May 31st Zoo Crew Plans

I had several comments at the end of our last Zoo Crew that families enjoyed being out on the zoo grounds more. It reminded some of the first Zoo Crew meetings I led, before we could use the classrooms. Now that the weather is warmer, many animals are more active, and there are babies to be seen! So I will not be preparing a lesson or craft for the next meeting.

Zoo Crew on Friday, May 31st will be a "Walk-About the Zoo." We will gather at the amphitheater at 2pm. Please do your best to arrive no later than 2:15. I will be planning our Walk-About route that day depending upon what babies or especially entertaining sights are available that day. I marked the map below with my tentative route, in case you arrive late and need to catch up with the group.

If the aviary is not yet open (due to cold overnight temperatures) we will skip it and go straight to the back side of the Australia exhibit from the back of the barn. If the aviary is open, it is free to walk through. Feed sticks cost an additional $2. (I think)

If you did not get a chance to feed the stingrays last time, I recommend that you arrive early to do so before the group leaves from the amphitheater. The cost is $2 for two pieces of fish.

I am by no means an expert on all of the animals at Turtle Back Zoo, but I will do my best to answer your questions and be happy to share my knowledge and interesting facts.

Please be sure to RSVP via the Evite invitation at:
http://www.evite.com/event/0355NC2ZTL7RSYATAEPCYD35DQAYYI

See you at the Zoo!
Docent Jennifer

Hello Everyone,

I'm excited about the beautiful weather expected tomorrow. We should have a great day! I wanted to let you all know that we have a VERY FULL class. Since the plan is to be outside, I set a higher limit. We may have as many as 30 children participating if everyone who RSVPed makes it tomorrow.

From 2-2:30pm:
Since we will have so many people, I plan to have the shark jaw craft set up in the classroom, then as families finish, you will need to head out into the zoo to make room for others. We will be using scissors to cut "teeth" into a paper plate to make our shark jaws. The zoo has a limited number of child scissors. Feel free to bring along your own to make the job easier, if you like.

If you arrive late and need to join us at the Touch tank, you can find the directions for the craft here:
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2011/08/make-paper-plate-shark-jaws/
(Materials are just a plain white paper plate and scissors :-)

At 2:30, we will meet up around the Touch Tank. An FYI for parents, touching the sharks and rays is free, but if you want to FEED the rays, there is a charge for the food. The scheduled time for feeding the rays begins at 2pm and continues until all of the food trays are gone. The cost is $2 for two pieces. Feeding is completely optional. I just wanted you all to be aware that it will be going on while we are there so you could have cash along if you would like to try it.

By 3:30, we will head to the Amphitheater to play Dinner At the Reef- an interactive game to explore food chains in a marine environment, predator-prey relationships and the fine balance of an ecosystem.

I'm also doing my volunteer hours starting at 11am tomorrow, so if you decide to enjoy the beautiful weather at the zoo tomorrow, you may see me wandering around.

See you all tomorrow!
Ms. Jennifer

Save Our Species! Bulletin Board

Thanks to everyone who participated in creating the Endangered Species bulletin boards outside the classroom at the zoo! You all did a great job researching your endangered animal species fact sheets.