Spring 2010
3-5
Survival Spies
Welcome to the Zoo! Your mission is to answer the question:
How do plants and animals interact with
each other to survive?
To complete the mission your group must:
1. Choose your adventure by selecting an activity from each box.
Some activities will require you to work with an Adventure Advisor.
2. Chaperone records your data after you say the chosen code word.
S
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3. Be Flexible. If a certain event does not happen or you can’t see a certain animal, just move on to the next adventure.
4. Turn your completed Adventure Pass in to your teacher at the end of the trip.
5. Have Fun!
Animal + Plant Interactions = Survival
Observing Animals
Goto ONE of these exhibits for a Meet-A-Zookeeper or
Special Encounter:
Meet-A-Zoo Keeper:
Special Encounter:
Manatee Springs* - 10:30am
Gorilla World - 11:00am
Elephant Reserve - 11:00am
Reptile House* - 12:45pm
Giraffe Ridge - 1:00pm
• Alligator Feeding (Reptile House*)
11:30am (Mondays & Fridays only)
• Cat Feeding (Cat House*)
2:30pm
Animal observed:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Describe how that animal depends on plants for survival. Feel free to ask the Zookeeper for help.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
* Indoor exhibits that are open during all weather conditions.
Discovering Plant & Animal Interactions
As you explore the Zoo, , find a plant that interacts with animals in the following ways
and write its name on the line.
_____________________________
Bright colored flowers to attract pollinators
_____________________________
Provides shelter for other living organisms
_____________________________
Fleshy fruit to attract animals that will eat it and carry the seeds to a new place
_____________________________
Spines or thorns to discourage animals from eating it
_____________________________
Thick bark to protect against fire, disease, and animals
Investigating Animal & Plant Interactions
PUNCH
HERE
Go to Giraffe Ridge or Discovery Forest* and find
the Adventure Advisor. (10:00 – 12:30)
With the help of the Adventure Advisor, do the investigation at this exhibit.
Write down the investigation question:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
What do you think will happen and why?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
What happened?
Record the results and copy the bar graph here.
You may need it later in the classroom.
Why do you think it turned out that way?
__
_____________________________________________________________________________
Describe one way this animal or plant interacts with another animal or plant to help it survive.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
* Indoor exhibits that are open during all weather conditions.
Investigating Animal & Plant Interactions
Go to World of the Insect* or Gorilla World and find the
Adventure Advisor. (10:00 – 12:30)
PUNCH
HERE
With the help of the Adventure Advisor, do the investigation at this exhibit.
Write down the investigation question:
_____________________________________________________________________________
What do you think will happen and why?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
What happened?
Record the results and copy the bar graph here.
You may need it later in the classroom.
Why do you think it turned out that way?
_________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Describe one way this animal interacts with another animal or plant to help
it survive.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Investigating Herbivore Adaptations
Herbivores (animals that eat plants) have special adaptations for breaking down and digesting plants,
such as flat, grinding teeth called molars. Some animals even regurgitate and re-chew their food, called
chewing cud, to break it down even more. They are called ruminants (ROO-muh-nuhnts).
Do you think smaller or larger ruminants will chew their cud more, and why?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Observe as many of these ruminants as you can for 60 seconds each and record how much time each
animal spent chewing its cud. You will know it is chewing cud if you see it chewing without putting food
in its mouth.
Large Animals
Time Spent Chewing Cud
Small Animals
Giraffe (Giraffe Ridge)
Gazelle (Wildlife Canyon)
Takin (Wildlife Canyon)
Goats (Children’s Zoo)
Camel (Wildlife Canyon)
Sheep (Children’s Zoo)
Time Spent Chewing Cud
Did small or large animals spend more time chewing cud? _____________________________________________
Why do you think this turned out that way? ___________________________________________________________
Investigating Pollination
Find two different colored flowers in one of the Zoo’s gardens or greenhouses
(Discovery Forest*, World of the Insect*).
Flowering plants attract insects. When insects land on flowers to feed on nectar, they pick up pollen at the
same time. The pollen hitches a ride to the next flower to help it reproduce, or create new plants.
Which color flower do you think is more attractive to insects, and why?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Write down the color of each flower in the chart below. Observe each flower for five minutes. Count and
record how many insects visited each flower during that time.
Color
Number of insect visits
Which color flower had the most visits from insects? ___________________________________________
Why do you think it turned out that way?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
BONUS ADVENTURES! Try one or more of these fun activities while you explore the Zoo:
Animal Meet-and-Greets
People Need Things, Too
Nature’s Silverware
Keep an eye out for Zoo staff
walking around the Zoo with
live animals. If you meet an
animal, find out what it eats.
All living things have five basic
needs: food, water, shelter, air,
and space. Go to the main
entrance or Safari Camp
and write down how the
Zoo provides these needs for
visitors.
Birds have different beaks designed
for obtaining different kinds of food.
Go to Wings of the World*and locate
the Nature’s Silverware display.
Observe how beaks compare to
different tools. Write down the names
of three birds in the Wings of the
World building, what tool their beaks
work like, and what food they are
gathering with it.
Animal: ______________________
What it eats:
______________________________
Complete a food chain for this
animal starting with the sun.
Food: ________________________
Water: _______________________
Shelter: ______________________
Bird
Tool
Food
Air: __________________________
Space: ______________________
Congratulations on completing your AdventurePass!
Chaperone name: _____________________________________________________
Student names: ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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