Life’s a Zoo!

A WebQuest for 4th Grade (Science)

Introduction

Athens, Georgia, is getting a new zoo! They are looking for a group to come up with a design for it. They will be accepting plans for the next two weeks and they will use the design that they feel is the best! If your group wins, you will also have the opportunity to have the zoo named after you!

Learners

This is a fourth grade science lesson, specifically involving ecology. Students must have an awareness of the food chain and the fact that different animals have different needs. This lesson addresses Georgia QCC Life Science 23: Describes relationships in living communities, changes that occur, and the impact of these changes. Constructs a model or diagram of a food chain/food web. Describes the impact of an interruption in the chain.

Task

At the end of this project, you will have designed a zoo, with descriptions of the different habitats for each animal, as well as how the animals will be organized throughout the zoo. After researching the different animals’ habitats and eating habits, you will use PowerPoint to make a blueprint of your designed zoo. Include pictures of your animals!!

Process

1. You will be assigned to a group of 5 students. Each member will be in charge of 2 groups of animals. The animals that should be included in your zoo are gorillas, chimpanzees, lions, flamingoes, elephants, snakes, pandas, bears, alligators, and giraffes.

2. Once you have decided what two animals that you want to research, you will break up to look up information on these animals. You should find the following sites useful:

Ø National Wildlife Federation: The link to “online field guides” is especially useful on this website, listing information on habitats and diets for virtually all animals

Ø Kids’ Planet: The “Get the Facts” link has fact sheets on over 50 species of animals.

Ø Zoo Atlanta: Animal Explorers: This site has several resources as well as videos that you can watch gathered from real zoos.

Ø Jungle Walk: This site has links to pictures and videos of hundreds of animals, with an easily searchable database.

Ø BBC-Science and Nature: The link to “Wildfacts” is useful, which you can search by habitat and diet.

Ø National Geographic Online: The “Animals and Nature” link has U.S. Wildlife guides for over 6,000 animals that you can search by species.

Ø Animal Diversity Web: This site is searchable by Class and then by Order. (For the animals required, you should look at reptiles, mammals, and birds.)

3. When you are looking up information on the different animals, pay special attention to what kind of habitat is best for each animal and what each animal’s diet includes. Keep all of your information on this worksheet. Be sure to use information from at least two of the above sites. Also find some pictures to save to a disk because you will use them later, when you’re developing your blueprint.

4. After each member finishes their individual research, you will come together as a group to decide, using the information that you have found, how to organize your zoo so that the animals are not next to one that would eat it! Think about placing animals near each other that require similar habitats or have similar diets.

5. After you decide as a group how you want to organize your zoo, you will make a PowerPoint “blueprint” of your zoo- showing where each animal goes, what their habitat will be like, and what kind of food is necessary for each animal.

6. Once you have completed this project, you will present your designs to the class, making sure to explain why you have designed it in the way that you have. A group of “zoo experts” will look at the zoo designs and decide which group’s design is the best.

7. The winning group’s design will be displayed on a bulletin board in the hall, with the zoo name that they came up with. Everyone else’s designs will also be displayed.

Evaluation

Your group will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

	Nice Try 1	Good 3	Great Job! 5	Score
Content (required information: description of habitat, diet, pictures)	Includes some of the required information	Includes the majority of the required information but is missing some	Includes all of the required information
Organization (Zoo blueprint makes sense based on gathered information—keeping in mind similar habitats and diets)	Organization of final blueprint does not make sense based on the given guidelines.	Organization of zoo makes sense, but does not incorporate all of the gathered information.	Great organization of zoo, incorporates all of the gathered information.
Demonstrates understanding of the food chain and differences among animals’ needs	Group does not demonstrate having learned about the food chain or the various needs of individual animals	Group demonstrates a good understanding of the food chain and the components necessary in an environment for different animals.	Group demonstrates an excellent understanding of the food chain and the habitats necessary for various animals.
Group Cooperation	Group did not work well together, had conflicts that the teacher had to resolve, minimal cooperation occurred.	Group worked together, minimal conflicts; some trouble delegating responsibility or sharing the workload.	Group worked well together: delegating jobs, sharing the workload properly, and respecting each others’ ideas.
Total				/20

Conclusion

By the end of this lesson, students should have an understanding of the food chain and the varying needs of the zoo animals that they have researched. They should be able to describe relationships in living communities, changes that occur, and the impact of these changes. Students may want to extend their knowledge of these ideas beyond the ten animals that they have researched, which they could do at the links listed in the Process section.

Credits & References

The picture at the top of this WebQuest was taken from Primates.com.

For more information about WebQuests, including the latest version of this template and other training materials, visit The WebQuest Page. For criteria of instructionally solid lessons, visit Design Patterns.

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