Welcome! We are excited to have you visit. Minnesota Zoo Field - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Welcome! We are excited to have you visit. Minnesota Zoo Field Trip Our mission: To connect people, animals, and the natural world to save wildlife. Your team has decided a Minnesota Zoo field trip fits into your school year and have
Our mission: To connect people, animals, and the natural world to save wildlife.
http://mnzoo.org/education/schools-teachers/ to view the Teacher Field Guide, fees, and consider adding a program.
confirming paperwork.
Zoo Classes: These are 45-60 min in length. We
Guided Tours: Minnesota Heritage Tour, Tropics, Aquariums, or Russia’s Grizzly Coast. Recommended for 4th grade or older. Animals After Dark : Experience the ZzzZoo after hours in this awesome overnight experience. School Event Days: Spanish, French, Math and or a Zoo Career. Using the Zoo in a real world context.
Visit our animal exhibits. Home to more than 4,700 animals in award-winning exhibits, you’ll tour along the Tropics Trail, Minnesota Trail, Northern Trail including the Russia’s Grizzly Coast, Discovery Bay (oceans) and the Family Farm (open seasonally). See the animal shows and encounters. Bird Show, Dive Show, Monk Seal Demonstrations and daily animal encounter talks. Add some at-the-Zoo activities. We have at-the- Zoo activities available; self-guided STEM Treks and math activities. Visit our Teacher Resources area on the education web page.
curriculum and in-class activities.
Animal Information with facts on what they eat, where they live and how they are doing.
and science studies.
when at the Zoo.
Send home field trip forms. Collect payment, copies of membership cards and list of attendees.
Plan to invite at least one adult with each ten students.
Check the Zoo’s web site for any updates www.mnzoo.org Reread paperwork received from the
Zoo.
Prepare any student and chaperone materials. Some suggestions are; create a timeline schedule
for the chaperone, have a students list for each leader, share cell phone numbers for emergencies and note your departure meeting location. Some schools use the MN Trek or STEM Trek packets found on the Teacher Resource page mnzoo.org/teachandlearn/teacherresources or create their
Prepare boxes or brown paper grocery bags to hold lunches to be transported in. Remember to
label them with your school name.
Check the weather and send a reminder home for students to dress for being outside and to bring
their bag lunch.
Gather paperwork for final head count, payment, and emergency contact information. Remind yourself to bring your water bottle and comfortable walking shoes.
Greet students and parents. Pair chaperones with student group and hand out
student/chaperones information.
Pack lunches in bags or boxes to transport them. Give last minute instructions, plan where to meet at the
end of the field trip.
Take attendance count of students from your classroom
and all attending classrooms. Divide this number by 5 to
final count of all adults, including teachers. Any number
will need these numbers to check-in at the Zoo.
Load buses, give any last minute instructions to your bus
check in. Watch for signs for school main entry from Sept-April and upper level entry April-June. There will always be a Zoo staff to help answer your questions.
Students and chaperones group and enter the Zoo when ready.
daily schedules.
Second teacher can lead group to lunch storage area. Jackets can be left during the winter months. Two eating areas are available at the Upper Tropics and in Discovery Bay, here you will find shelves, bins, and see the lunch tables. Remember you can eat anytime you need to, the Zoo has no scheduled lunch times required for bag lunches.
To make your visit more enjoyable remind students to-
time to see everything, enjoy the trails they choose.
be surprised by what they see. Remember animals will be moving, eating or could be sleeping, we all make small movement even sleeping.
will give students a lot of information about the animals they are seeing.
questions! Visit the volunteer stations along each trail with artifacts and more details on the animals.
Along the Trail you will experience a variety
views into a beaver pond, a walk alongside a northern forest glade and a bird-watching perch in the treetops. This Trails features animals from Minnesota including raccoons, gray wolves along with smaller favorites, like turtles, frogs, all starting at a warm stone fireplace in a welcoming lodge. Here’s a glimpse of some animals you will see….
Venture into the world of the rain forest where lush, green foliage and beautiful
attract you, but the Tropics Trail also showcases several of the world’s biodiversity “hotspots”—areas especially rich in species found nowhere else that are also at extreme risk of destruction.
Minnesota is renowned for its long, cold winters–perfect for the residents of our Northern Trail. Majestic Amur tigers frolic in the snow or in their moat, depending on the
moose display their ingenious adaptations for survival. A walk along the 3/4-mile trail provides the opportunity to enjoy the animals during all seasons. Also visit the Penguins and Snow Monkeys in the South Entry.
Journey to one of the last true wilderness areas of the world; a vast place where the silence is broken only by the playful call of sea otters, where massive bears roam among steaming geysers and bubbling mud- pots, a land of stunning scenery including a rocky coastline, erupting volcanoes, and dense forests.
Witness the spectacular beauty of the deep in Discovery Bay: United Healthcare Marine Education Center. Over 1.1 million gallons of water provide a home for sharks, rays and
Hawaiian Monk Seals now reside in Discovery Bay, come and say ‘aloha’. Guests can also touch sharks, sea stars, and sea anemones in an interactive estuary and tide pool.
The Wells Fargo Family Farm engages visitors with animals and nature by encouraging and educating visitors to become part of a community of people, plants and animals striving to maintain balance with nature. Come to learn about how food gets from farms to tables and see some interesting animals along the way. Farm is open end of March – November.
Wings Financial World of Bird Show
(check web site for dates and times)
Tropical Reef Fish Feeding - Tropics Trail. Talk with the Zoo volunteer at their booths and at bench talks around the Zoo. Watch for special animal encounters through out the day. Daily Penguin Feeding. Hawaiian Monk Seal conservation talk.
Here’s our favorite step-by- step guide as designed by a 5th grade student.
Meet at your preselected meeting location at
the end of the day.
Load buses where you were dropped off. Why not snap a great classroom photo before
you leave!
Have a safe trip back to school.
Talk about your field trip. Use animal facts you learned in your curriculum. Write thank you notes to your funders, parents and chaperones . Post student Zoo artwork around your school.
and at home.
see it and put it in a garbage can.
animals and plants.
at your school or in your community.
bike or walk instead of drive.
Thank you for your support and help in supporting the Minnesota Zoo’s mission to connect people, animals and the natural world to save wildlife.