8 Week Program with optional Family Night:
Week 1 – Introduction to the Animal Kingdom
Week 2 – Animals of the World: South and Central America
Week 3 – Animals of the World: Australia
Week 4 – Animals of the World: North America
Week 5 – Animals of the World: Africa and Madagascar
Week 6 - Animals of the World: Asia
Week 7 – Animals in Captivity: Zoos, Circuses, and Pet Ownership
Week 8 – Student Favorites and Review
*For a full 8 week program we can also talk about the possibility of offering:
Family Night – Parents join us for a Masters Program and recap
**Also, We can shorten or lengthen to as little or as many weeks as you would like. See the list
of other topics we can speak about to add or exchange any weeks topics.
Course Overview
This course will focus on introducing kids to the abundant variety of creatures in the
animal kingdom and teach the importance of each animal fulfilling its specific role in its unique
environment. Children will learn the many ways in which animals work together to form
complex ecosystems across the world. The class will touch on food chains and predator/prey
relationships, adaptation, and the geographical and ecological layout of the globe. Students
will learn about some of the positive and negative impacts humans have on the natural world
as well as vice-versa. The children will learn proper vocabulary to discuss each study topic.
Interaction and hands on experience will be emphasized in each segment and material will be
delivered in an age appropriate manner for each age-group.
Week One: Introduction to the Animal Kingdom
Students will learn to distinguish between the major animal groups (e.g. reptiles,
amphibians, mammals, birds, arachnids, insects)
Students will also be introduced to the various roles these animals can play in their
ecosystems (e.g. producer, consumer, predator, prey)
©Animal Adventures (2012) 336 Sugar Road Bolton, MA 01740
Vocabulary: animal, warm blooded, cold blooded, ectothermic, endothermic, insect, bug,
arachnid, mammal, reptile, amphibian, predator, prey, producer, consumer, ecosystem,
habitat, climate, rainforest, desert (vocabulary will be age specific for each group)
Week Two: Animals of the World: South and Central America
Students will be introduced to the characteristics of a rainforest ecosystem.
They will be taken on a story by story tour of a tropical wet forest and meet many of the
forest’s inhabitants.
Question Session: Is there a desert in South America? Why do mammals have thick fur in
the hot forest?
Vocabulary: emergent, canopy, understory, forest floor, arboreal, terrestrial, nocturnal,
diurnal, seed dispersal, cloud forest (vocabulary will be age specific for each group)
Week Three: Animals of the World: Australia
Students will learn about drier habitats this week and be introduced to competition for
resources in a sparse ecosystem.
Australia’s rainforest will be used to demonstrate the world’s rapid rate of deforestation in
recent years.
The severe ecological damage caused by Australia’s numerous introduced species will be
discussed in detail and students will meet a few of the culprits in person.
Questions Session: Can mammals lay eggs? Are there any venomous mammals? Are there
more types of animals on land or in the water in Australia?
Vocabulary: marsupial, aquatic, herbivore, omnivore, carnivore, (vocabulary will be age
specific for each group)
Week Four: Animals of the World: North America
Students will learn about temperate and arctic ecosystems and how animals have adapted
to these habitats (e.g. hibernation).
Predator/Prey relationships will be discussed in detail with live animals from both sides of
the relationship present.
Animal defenses and the wildlife/human relationship will be discussed and the “rural”
habitat defined.
Question Sessions: What is hibernation? Which animals truly hibernate? Is there a
rainforest in North America?
Vocabulary: arctic, tundra, hibernation, predatory, prey, musk, rural (vocabulary will be age
specific for each group)
Week Five: Africa and Madagascar
©Animal Adventures (2012) 336 Sugar Road Bolton, MA 01740
Students will discuss the unique characteristics of Madagascar and how it relates to
mainland Africa.
Students will meet several endangered species from both Africa and Madagascar and will
learn about what population studies and conservation efforts.
Islands’ biology and the special conditions they present for adaptation
Question Session: Can any animals cross the 250 mile gap from Africa to Madagascar?
What makes and island an island? What is the world’s largest desert?
Vocabulary: primate, crocodilian, deforestation, regurgitation, immune, venom,
constriction, Jacobson’s Organ, (vocabulary will be age specific for each group)
Week Six: Animals of the World: Asia
Students will be exposed to a wide variety of animals including the world’s longest species
of snake, the largest prehensile tailed animal, and the world’s second heaviest lizard.
Students will learn how snakes have become vital to maintaining many economies in
Southeast Asia as well as meet the Binturong, possibly the most important reptile in the
Southeast Asian rainforest.
Chinese Alligators will be used as an example of a critically endangered species.
Question Session: Are the Chinese farmer’s at fault for the environmental damage along
the Yangste River?
Vocabulary: seed disperser, endangered, prehensile, feces, enzyme, saliva, (vocabulary will
be age specific for each group)
Week 7: Animals in Captivity: Zoos, Circuses, and Pet Ownership
Students will discuss the important roles each sector of animal ownership plays in captive
management and conservation efforts as well as public outreach and education.
Students will learn about the many problems that arise from irresponsible pet ownership as
well as what is required to make mature and responsible decisions about captive animal
ownership.
Question Session: What steps should you take before you purchase any pet animal? Do
animals have fun at the circus?
Vocabulary: conservation, captive, wild caught, captive born, captive bred
Week 8: Student Favorites and Review
Students will see the return of their favorite animals from the previous classes.
Key concepts and vocabulary will be reviewed.
Plenty of time for questions and answers will be given.
Family Night (Optional with full 8 week program)
©Animal Adventures (2012) 336 Sugar Road Bolton, MA 01740
Students will get to bring along their families to see a special masters presentation featuring
some of our most impressive teaching animals.
A general overview of the past 8 weeks will be provided for the parents.
©Animal Adventures (2012) 336 Sugar Road Bolton, MA 01740