SEM Takes a Trip to the Zoo!

This past Thursday SEM's Scientist for Life class had the opportunity to learn about endangered species and how zoos help protect these animals. The class was fortunate enough to have a private session with a zoo official to tell us all about the problems the animals face. Our group leader, Jackie Levinson, was excited to tell the girls all about how we can help and what is important to look for when doing daily activities.

To begin our session the girls were asked what makes an animal endangered? The girl's responses included: habitat loss, illegal hunting and trade and climate change. Everyone was excited to answer the questions as they have been studying different aspects of the ongoing problem of disappearing species. The girls were then introduced to an insect that you would expect to be so important to our environment. A cockroach was brought out and some of the girls became antsy as it was a creepy crawler. The instructor began to tell the girls although the cockroach can be towards the ugly side he is still very important to the food chain. Yes he may be on the bottom but the chain is a cycle. As you may know cockroaches are decomposers. This means when something dies the roach takes in the nutrients from the animal or plant and fertilizes the soil making way for more species to prosper. She then went on to explain that it is not always most important to save the cute and cuddly animals first. The first on priority to save from extinction are animals that are important to the environment. Yes we all want to save pandas because they are so cute but we need to also look at the bigger picture of animals that are most endangered. One insect in particular is the bees, who are the pollinators of the earth. If they were to go extinct the world would be left with little to plants.

Next the girls were given the scat test. This test was too see if the girls would be able to determine what animal the scat belonged to. Each group used previous knowledge to make their decisions. Overall the girl were able to match up each sample to the correct animal. The next activity that Jackie handed out a description of an environment in the world as a clue to what animals might live there. Next they were giving pieces or bones, fur or hide and had to determine what animals they belong to. The African animals included a tooth and hide from an elephant and neck bone and skull of a giraffe. The girls had to identify each species with the clue and prior knowledge of the environment.

To end the discussion and program Jackie thought it would be fun to treat us to an endangered animal that is cute and cuddly. It was almost an apology for sticking a cockroach into the girls faces. This animal was a chinchilla who is mainly found in high altitudes that have thick fur to protect them from harsh weather. The girls were excited to see the bug eyed animal and every girl's day was made when they were able to pet the little guy.

Overall the trip to the zoo helped the girls have a better understanding to help save animals of all types. Every day we lose species that are important to the world. We need to start taking bigger and better steps to saving these animals.

Wiencowski, J.(Photographer). (2017 February 23). Chinchilla [photograph]

Wiencowski, J.(Photographer). (2017 February 23). Identify the Animal [photograph]