Quick List Index

The Toledo Zoo, located in Toledo, Ohio, offers a number of exciting exhibits and adventures. The zoo features an Arctic Encounter Wolf Exhibit, Bald Eagle, Tiger Terrace, Children's Zoo, Hippoquarium, Aviary, Snow Leopards, African Savanna, Primate Forest, Cheetah Valley, Reptile Exhibit, Kingdom of Apes, Frogtown, Zoo Babies, Horticulture Center, Koalas, and an aquarium.

The Toledo Zoo offers interactive videoconference learning. Through videoconference programs, students explore exhibits, participate in learning activities with zoo personnel, talk with keepers, and can interact with their peers at other locations.

The Toledo Zoo uses cutting-edge technology to bring interactive videoconference learning to classrooms with compatible equipment. Single or multipoint connections offer the benefits and convenience of a "virtual field trip" to a variety of exhibit sites. Students expand their knowledge by meeting live animals, exploring exhibits, participating in learning activities with the Zoo's education personnel, talking with Zoo keepers, and interacting with their peers at other locations. Curricula have been designed for Animal Classification, Food Chains/Webs, The Rainforest and African Grasslands or, with advance notice, we will design programs to fit your classroom needs.

The cost is $85.00 per 1 hour of content per class, plus a long distance (if applicable) and bridging charges for multi-point hookups. For more information please call (419) 385-5721 ext. 2044 Distance Learning: http://www.toledozoo.org/edzoocation/ed_distancelearning.html

Animal Coverings (K-12)
Explore the differences and similarities among animal coverings through puppets, animal biofacts and live animals. Children will also observe "inside/outside" skeletons and play simple sorting games using beanie animals, foodstuffs, etc. Puppets will introduce the different groups, and then live animals from different classes will visit to show off their covers. The concepts of "camouflage" and "mimicry" will be introduced.

Animal Groups (1-3)
Children will discuss the variety of living organisms and why we name and group them. Concepts of living/non-living and plant/animal will be introduced. Classes will learn that science categorizes animals based on differences and similarities. The terms vertebrate/invertebrate will be introduced. Live animals and animal biofacts will be on hand to "test" whether students have learned the basic differences among five classes of vertebrates (i.e. fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.) Students will participate in sorting games that illustrate how groups are formed using similarities and differences.

Animal Classification (4-10)
Students will discuss the variety of living organisms and why we name and group them. They will also learn who created binomial nomenclature, why the world of science needed it, and why we have to learn all that Latin! A few basic Latin root words used in classification will be introduced. Younger students will see carnivore and herbivore skulls (and learn about omnivores) and then discuss how animals can be grouped according to the foods they eat. Older students will learn the word "taxonomy" and the divisions of kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Working in groups, students will create pneumonic devices to remember these divisions. Games and sorting strategies will be employed to see how science uses differences and similarities to form groups. Students will classify live animals to test what they've learned.

Arctic Animals (K-12)
Live from the Zoo's Arctic Encounter® exhibit, students will learn the basic geography and physical characteristics of the Arctic. Students will also have the opportunity to learn more about our polar bears and seals. Special adaptations that help animals and peoples to survive the harsh climate and circumstances in the Arctic will be emphasized to illustrate how life persists there.

Arctic Peoples & Culture (2-8)
After a brief introduction to the arctic, students will learn about arctic peoples. Focusing on Inuit culture, students will learn what "culture" encompasses. They'll also complete a Venn diagram to illustrate the differences and similarities between their culture and Inuit culture, highlighting dress, transportation, art, games, food, housing, and how animals affect culture. Of course, a look at polar bears and seals is included! Students will finish their session with a power point review and an Arctic Challenge. Beware! Not many survive!!

Endangered Species (K-12)
Students of all ages will learn about the plight of endangered animals with a basic overview of what (who) has caused this dilemma and what we can do about it. Using live animals and biofacts, children will see some of the products and ornaments that animals are used for and see how zoos are working to promote awareness, appreciation and conservation of animals.

K-2 will learn the meanings of "endangered," "extinct," and "habitat." Children will discover how we are all part of the problem but can also work to be part of the solutions, e.g., recycling, reducing, re-using, protecting and creating habitats, and being smart consumers.

3-8 will look at some specific problems causing endangerment, i.e., poaching, over-harvesting, pet trade, habitat destruction, and pollution.

9-12 will look in-depth at some of the complex issues surrounding conservation, i.e., jobs, politics, money needed, space needed, preparing the wild for re-introduction, and considerations for genetic diversity. Students will play a game of "In Jeopardy" with Alexa Treesback and determine if they have the knowledge to help win the most important game of all!

Food Chains and Webs (3-8)
Games that create food chains using your students will help them develop a better awareness of how ecosystems work. Using the premise that "everybody is somebody's lunch," students will appreciate how each aspect of life represents a certain amount of energy and convert that to ecosystems. Of course, since it all starts with the sun, a good review of photosynthesis is included. Children will work together to create food chains in the Arctic, the desert and a prairie. To top it off, a living food chain of animals will visit to help students "digest" this material!

Animal Adaptations (K-12)
What is an adaptation, how do adaptations happen, and what do they mean to animals and the natural world? Students will review all this and much more as they begin to explore how an adaptation aids survival. Simulations and experiments will help students become better skilled at observing and recognizing adaptations and how they help animals to succeed in their niches. Older students can gain knowledge about natural selection and explore both physical and behavioral adaptations on a more complex level.

Desert Animals (2-8)
Students will learn what a desert is, where they are, what they look like and explore some of the fascinating animals that live there. A look at the "unusual" (to the Midwest anyway) plants that grow in deserts is featured, too. The primary focus is how living things adapt to the arid conditions that exist in most deserts.