Creatures Wet and Dry
Barbara Wysocki, Curriculum Connections -- School Library Journal, 4/7/2009
Related TeachingBooks.net resources for this Field Trip » » »
|
Field Trip Checklist Requisition buses ✔ Request parent chaperones ✔ Collect permission slips ✔ |
Field trips require attention to practical details amid the excitement of a day away from the classroom. Paperwork is important, but to ensure that students get the full benefit of these learning excursions, they need to know about the Monet, the meteor, or the mongoose they’re viewing. In addition to materials provided by each venue’s education department, teachers can use books and other media to offer context. Whether it’s a child’s first or fifteenth time at the farm or the firehouse, planning pre- and post-trip activities extends the fun and enhances the experience.
Splash, Screech, and Roar
Children are fascinated by animals, but how do you take kindergarten kids on a safari or squeeze the sixth grade class into a deep-sea submersible? Visits to zoos and aquariums are the best way to acquaint students with animals they won’t encounter in their neighborhood. In this article we’ll visit a variety of locations and catch some glimpses behind the scenes at attractions around the country. Many of these sites also present exhibits on ecosystems, such as rain forests and ocean trenches that are vastly different from the grassy fields or concrete slabs that border the school playground.
My Visit to the Zoo (Aliki) © 1997 by Aliki
Get Ready to Go
While nonfiction titles offer useful facts to complement the educational displays in zoos and aquariums, stories are an appealing way to introduce new places. Aliki’s My Visit to the Aquarium (HarperCollins, 1993) sets the standard with a combination of simple narrative, bright watercolor illustrations, and engaging information. The story, which follows three siblings as they discover the variety of life-forms found in aquariums, offers an opportunity to launch a discussion about an upcoming visit for kindergarten through grade two students, or can serve as a compare-and-contrast exercise upon their return. Aliki’s sequel, My Visit to the Zoo (HarperCollins, 1997), employs the same inviting approach.
For musical fun, introduce Tom Paxton’s Going to the Zoo (HarperCollins, 1996). Complete with notes and chords, the repetitive verses in this song rollick with the antics of animals from elephants to kangaroos. The names of other creatures can easily be substituted. Change the title to “Going to the Pool” prior to an aquarium visit. Either tune works as a sing-along on the bus ride.
Wordless and whimsically wonderful, Welcome to the Zoo by Alison Jay (Dial, 2008) has pachyderms, penguins, and people strolling through a surreal zoo without cages. Primary grade children will delight in the funky humor, while older students can write a fantasy based on the images. More fantasy awaits upper elementary grade readers in Katie Kazoo Switcheroo: Something’s Fishy (Penguin, 2007.) Nancy Krulik’s fourth grade shape shifter dives into her local aquarium’s tank as a clownfish to save a teacher’s engagement ring. The book is an amusing class read-aloud and potential story starter.
Drawn from the television series, “Kid Guides,” the DVDs Aquariums and Zoos, (2007, both Janson) take elementary age youngsters on 90-minute tours that include such notable American sites as Washington, DC’s National Zoo and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. Basic animal information is augmented with stops behind the scenes. Consider showing short segments to prepare for either field trip.
Creatures Large and Small
The first step in understanding animals is gathering information about their habitats, life cycles, and unique characteristics. Animals: A Visual Encyclopedia (DK, 2008) briefly looks at n species, aquatic and terrestrial. Generously illustrated with photographs, this volume is a good choice to browse for report topics, or to peruse prior to a trip. Karen McGhee and George McKay offer copious full-color drawings, conservation information, intriguing details, and scientific names for a horde of animals large and small in their comprehensive Encyclopedia of Animals (National Geographic, 2007).
To gauge the relative size of animal kingdom denizens, the “Life-Size” series presents Reptiles (2007) by Hannah Wilson and Daniel Gilpin’s Killer Creatures (2006) and Sharks and other Underwater Creatures (2005, all Sterling), among other titles. Getting up close with drawings of the actual size heads of a Kodiak bear, a great white shark, or a Komodo dragon are eye-opening experiences. Equally compelling to see are the tiny Hawksbill turtle hatchling and the world’s smallest snake, a Lesser-Antillean Thread Snake. With a piece of chalk and a tape measure, all these animals can be recreated and compared on school sidewalks.
Internet Investigations
Web-based exploration starts with your destination’s site, but check www.aza.org for a complete list of the members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Kelly Matis, Vice President of Education at Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration in Mystic, CT also recommends the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) site, www.noaa.gov, and the Encyclopedia of Life project (EOL) at www.immersionpresents.org, which delve into the ocean adventures and discoveries of Dr. Robert Ballard of the Institute for Exploration, and the University of Rhode Island and the NOAA. These sites have multimedia resources for both teachers and students. The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) at www.eol.org goes from miniature to mammoth in its mission to document all forms of life. Searching for information is easy and there’s access to text in other languages including Spanish, French, and Russian.
Make a Splash
Ready to jump into the world of water? There’s plenty to see. Jack Schneider at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT notes, “Marine life has the largest and broadest species diversity.”
This variety is clear in Celeste Davidson Mannis’s Snapshots: The Wonders of Monterey Bay (Viking, 2006), which pairs a lilting poem with sidebar photos and facts to explain the myriad life-forms in this California bay. Avis Harley’s Sea Stars: Saltwater Poems (Boyds Mills, 2006), also inspired by sea life and illustrated with Margaret Futschler’s photographs, concludes with facts on the subjects of its more than 20 short verses. In Gone Fishing: Ocean Life by the Numbers (Walker, 2008), David McLimans goes from 1 South African penguin, to 10 Atlantic Needlefish, then counts back to 1 Giant Tube Worm. Along the way, a range of aquatic animals appears with brief explanations and the book ends with more specifics on each species— including threats and survival status—plus information on ocean habitats. These three titles are well suited for primary-grade audiences, but can kick-start poetry and math lessons for older students.
Fiction also offers seaworthy concepts. The boastful giant squid in Kevin Sherry’s lighthearted I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean (Dial, 2007) compares himself with sharks, shrimp, and more, until he finds himself in the belly of a whale. His adventures present an opportunity to discuss relative scale and the food chain. The Arctic's land and water creatures populate Jane Yolen’s poetic Welcome to the Ice House (Putnam, 1998), illustrated by Laura Regan.
Look on Land
Zoos often highlight ecosystems and the animals that inhabit them. Take a look at Africa’s vast plains in Joan Gannij’s Hidden Hippo (Barefoot, 2008) illustrated with Clare Beaton’s fabric appliqué collages, or African Critters (National Geographic, 2008) by Robert B. Haas. Both include images of lions, elephants, leopards, cheetahs, hippos, rhinos, and other species. Haas’s detailed text and stunning photographs can assist upper-grade report writers, while Gannij’s inviting rhymes will pique the interest of primary grade students. Similar animals are the focus of Animals in the Jungle (Gareth Stevens, 2008) by Elisabeth de Lambilly-Bresson. Along with other titles in the “Animal Show and Tell” series that focus on deserts and polar regions, this beginning reader combines easy text with clear pictures.
Knowledgeable Guides
Sisters and Brothers: Sibling Relationships in the Animal World (Houghton, 2008) is a recent addition to Steve Jenkins’s and Robin Page’s list of award-winning animal books. Their torn-paper collages paired with fascinating facts will have youngsters soaring with peregrine falcons, swarming with termites, and swimming with beavers. Another collaboration by this duo is How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly? (Houghton, 2008). Jenkins’s partner with Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails: Patterns & Shapes–Naturally was Betsy Franco (S & S, 2008) and Vulture View was created with April Pulley Sayre (Holt, 2007). A collection of Jenkins’s books would make a worthwhile author/illustrator study at any grade level.
Caroline Arnold is another prolific animal-oriented author/illustrator worthy of student study. A Platypus’ World and A Wombat’s World came out in 2008, A Zebra’s World and A Killer Whale’s World in 2006 with many more “Worlds,” all published by Picture Window Books. Valuable information on each creature’s habitat, size, food, and more is well integrated into bright, cut-paper pictures and a text that will entice young readers and work well as a read-aloud.
Behind the Scenes
Introduce your students to some of the people who work at these venues and the scientists whose field studies inform us about the habits and lives of these creatures. Children can get the inside story from Who Works at the Zoo? (Children’s Press, 2006), an easy 
reader by Alyse Sweeney, and the more detailed Sea Life Scientist: Have You Got What It Takes to Be a Marine Biologist? (Compass Point, 2007) by Lisa Thompson. Kenneth Mallory’s Swimming with the Hammerhead Sharks ( 2001), Sy Montgomery’s The Snake Scientist (1999), and Mary Kay Carson’s Emi and the Rhino Scientist (2007, all Houghton) describe the work of a marine biologist and two zoologists for older elementary students. These and other titles from the “Scientists in the Field” series offer crisp color photos and you-are-there perspectives. In A Life in the Wild: George Schaller’s Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts (Farrar, 2008), Pamela S. Turner thoroughly engages accomplished readers with the biography of a seminal figure in 20th-century animal conservation. These books also have the potential to inspire some career paths.
Upper-grade teachers can introduce the controversy over animals in confinement with Christine Van Tuyl’s Zoos and Animal Welfare (Gale, 2008). This title has a dozen articles divided into opposing views. Charts, cartoons, and photographs illustrate the short pieces and are helpful for reports. Prior to a zoo visit, these articles offer a nice jumping-off point for student debates. Zoo reform is the topic in Rob Laidlaw’s Wild Animals in Captivity (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2008). While Laidlaw cites useful examples of healthy practice, his message is clear–animal welfare is essential and the consequences of neglect are serious.
Learning about animal behavior is one way to understand our world and ourselves. Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship (2006), told by Isabella and Craig Hatkoff and Paula Kahumbu, recounts the relationship of a 130-year-old giant tortoise and an orphaned hippo. This title opens the door to conversations about animal adaptation and friendship and the sequel, Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship (Scholastic, 2007), has much to say about animal communication. Whether through books, movies, Web sites, or a visit to a zoo or aquarium, the lessons from our furred, feathered, and four-legged companions are profound.
This article highlights only a sprinkling of the recent, worthwhile titles about zoo and aquarium animals. The list that follows offers additional suggestions with brief descriptions. Check your school or local library for other titles.
Dolphins on the Sand by Jim Arnosky (Putnam, 2008). K-Gr 3–The prolific naturalist author luminously illustrates efforts to save beached dolphins. Consider an author/illustrator study.
Face to Face with Lions by Beverly and Dereck Joubert (National Geographic, 2008). Gr. 4-7–A first-person account by two experts who’ve spent a quarter century learning about lions.
Giraffes Up Close by Carmen Bredeson (Enslow, 2009). Gr. K-3–Easy text logically explains giraffe anatomy; photo details complete the picture.
The Heart of the Beast: Great Gorilla Stories by Nancy Roe Pimms (Darby Creek, 2007). Gr. 4-8–Stories about gorillas in captivity are expanded upon with facts in extensive sidebars.
Our Three Bears by Ron Hirschi (Boyds Mills, 2008). Gr. 3-6–Covers black, grizzly and polar bears—a perfect title to use to compare and contrast animals. Photos by Thimar Mangelsen.
Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea by Chris Butterworth (Candlewick, 2006). K-Gr 3–Soft pastel art by John Lawrence is the backdrop for intriguing data on the sea horse life cycle.
Sharkpedia ed. by Nancy Ellwood and Margaret Parrish (DK, 2008). Gr 4-8–Charts, photos and newspaper articles cover sharks of all sizes and in all situations.
Tigers by Rachael Hanel (Creative Education, 2009). Gr. 4-8–Six tiger species are covered in narrative sections that conclude with a folktale. Illustrated by Yu Rong.
Tracks of a Panda by Nick Dowson (Candlewick, 2007). Gr. 1-3–Lyrical, informative text follows a mother panda and her cub. A good read-aloud selection.
What Did One Elephant Say to the Other? by Becky Baines (National Geographic, 2008). K-Gr. 2–A simple text explains elephant communication, and photographs and sidebars fill in the details.
The World of Penguins by Evelyne Daigle (Tundra, 2007). Gr. 3-7–Scale drawings of all 17 species plus information on their habitats, habits, history and Antarctic exploration.
This article is the first in a series on Fabulous Field Trips, highlighting ways to use books, movies, CDs, and Web sites to enhance visits to common extracurricular destinations. Future articles will focus on museums (art, natural history, planetariums); the great outdoors (farm, beach, forest); concerts and the theater, community helpers (firehouse, police station, post office, etc.); and transportation hubs such as airports and train, bus, and trolley stations. While these student trips will focus on elementary school grades, when appropriate, aids for middle school visits will also be described. This is a work in progress, so if you have ideas that have succeeded in your classroom, or there’s a field trip venue we’ve missed, please email us your suggestions.
Related TeachingBooks.net resources for this Field Trip » » »
