Intensive Field Trips
Program Description
If you’re interested in a more in-depth and interactive school program for your middle or high school specialty class, look no further! These 3.5 hour programs are designed to allow your students to use the Buffalo Zoo as a living laboratory at a much deeper level than our traditional 45-minute presentation.
For $750, you’ll receive zoo admission, live animal demonstrations, hands-on activities, and exhibit visits, along with a guest speaker or behind the scenes experience. Class size is limited to 26 students and reservations must be made 8 weeks in advance. Availability is limited.
Program Details
Ecosystem Architects (Grades 5-8)
Students discover the amazing array of biodiversity existing in the world’s biomes by learning how to design zoo exhibits. After meeting one of our amazing animals up close, the students will split off into groups to become “experts” in different fields of exhibit design. They will be sent into the zoo to collect real-time data on exhibit animals. Students will strengthen observation and information-gathering skills through multiple forms of media, biofacts, real-life zoo experts and collaborate with peers to create an exhibit for their chosen animal.
Bone Bonanza (Grades 5-8)
Get your classes hand out of the classroom and into the crypt. First, students will learn about osteological formation and comparative anatomy and how this knowledge is applicable to multiple career fields including law enforcement, paleontology and more. Then, they will work with peers to determine the identity of skulls based on a variety of factors such as teeth, foramen placement and eye orbitals. Finally, each group of student “scientists” will need to present their evidence and defend their answers. Once students have confidently demonstrated their knowledge in the classroom, they will go out into the zoo to discover the living owners of some additional specimens through a scavenger hunt.
Blunt Blood and Heroic Hemolymph (Grades 7-12)
What keeps the life flowing throughout the body of every animal? Blood, of course. Students will follow the journey of blood and learn firsthand its importance in human and other-than-human animals. The day starts with an interactive lesson in which students will meet several ambassador animals with amazing bloody adaptations. Students will also learn about blood’s uses in taxonomic identification, DNA analysis, and criminology. Next, students will participate in a hands-on lab to discover how to accurately utilize a blood test. Finally, students will go into zoo to complete tasks that showcase different ways blood benefits our zoo residents.
Evolution, Natural Selection, and Extinction (Grades 7-12)
What came first the chicken, the egg, or an extinct dinosaur? Discover the answers to these questions and more in this exciting intensive workshop. Students will start with a lesson on the history of evolution and extinction, and how our understanding has changed over thousands of years. With special appearances from our ambassador animal collection, they will observe firsthand evidence of natural selection. Next, students will observe different ways extinction and evolution have shaped our world through the lenses of both human civilization and the animal kingdom. After that, students will connect form and function using biofacts such as skulls, paws, and pelts. Finally, students will have opportunities to observe exhibit animals using adaptations in real time as they explore the zoo.
Chemical Warfare in the Animal Kingdom (Grades 9-12)
This program is not for the squeamish or faint of heart! Students will discover fascinating and sometimes terrifying examples of how chemistry benefits members of the animal kingdom. First, students will learn about the intercellular chemical reactions behind these bombastic organic compounds from a series of biofacts and animal ambassadors showing off their defenses and adaptations. Then, students will spend time visiting exhibit animals to answer questions such as: How does a rhino smell its lover from miles away? And how can a frog no bigger than a phone take down 20 men? Finally, student groups will compete to apply their knowledge in case studies showcasing venomous bites. Can the “chemists” collaborate to save their patient’s life?
