Prowling for Predators- Africa Overnight: SCHEDULE: 6:45- 7:00 Arrive 7:00- 8:20 Introductions Zoo Rules Itinerary Introduction to Predator/Prey dynamics- presented with live animal encounters Food Pyramid Talk 8:20- 8:45 Snack 8:45-11:00 Building Tours 11:00-11:30 HOPE Jeopardy PREPARATION: x Paint QUESTing spots with blacklight Paint x Hide clue tubes NEEDS: x Zoo Maps x Charged Blacklight Flashlights (Triple As) x Animal Food Chain Cards x Ball of String x Hula Hoops, Tablecloths ANIMAL OPTIONS: x Ball Python x Hedgehog x Tarantula x Flamingos x Hornbill x White-Faced Scops Owl x Barn Owl x Radiated Tortoise x Spiny-Tailed Lizard DEPENDING ON YOUR ORDER YOU WILL: Tour Buildings: x Commissary- QUESTing o Front: Kitchen o Back: Dry Foods x AFRICA o Front: African QUESTing- Lion o Back: African QUESTing- Cheetah x Reptile House- QUESTing o King Cobra (Right of building) Animal Demos: x In the Education Building Games: x Africa Outpost I **manageable group sizes in auditorium or classrooms x Oh Antelope x Quick Frozen Critters x HOPE Jeopardy x Africa Outpost II o HOPE Jeopardy o *Overflow game: Musk Ox Maneuvers INTRODUCTION & HIKE INFORMATION (AGE GROUP SPECIFIC) x See appendix I Prowling for Predators: Africa Outpost I Time Requirement: 4hrs. Group Size & Grades: Up to 100 people- 2nd-4t h grades Materials: QUESTing handouts Goals: -Create a sense of WONDER to all participants -We can capitalize on wonder- During up-close animal demos & in front of exhibit animals/behind the scenes opportunities. -Convey KNOWLEDGE to all participants -This should be done by using participatory teaching methods (e.g. asking questions/seeking answers- Giving the group time to think and respond- this may create small moments of discomfort but will in the end grow learners- That is what we want!! -Empower/Enable our participants to ACT or become ACTIVE in conservation -This overnight will highlight coexistence between people and wildlife. Furthermore, the overnight’s flavor should be to show our audience that they can positively affect global conservation through their actions on a daily basis (e.g. Eco-cell program/Zero Waste Intiative/Innvoation) This overnight is designed for children ages 7-11. When students think of predators, they naturally think of lions, tigers, wolves, and bears! This program is designed to introduce them to the world of predators—both large and small that live on the continent of Africa. Students will discover the amazing roles of these animals, and will explore how people and animals are living together. Throughout the evening, students will be taking a look at what an animal’s role is in the food web and how it helps to sustain the balance of nature in a shared landscape with humans. Curriculum Flavor: One of the most influential environmental writers in our lifetime has been David Sobel, who focuses on changing the counterproductive trap of teaching children about ecological problems and environmental abuse. He theorizes that children may be overwhelmed by these problems and may develop an ecophobia based on the negativity that is surrounded by environmental conservation. He suggests appropriate topics and activities based on student ages, primarily to get children to bond with and love the earth before asking them to save it. So today we live in a terrible age of loss all around us, rather than sadness for what we’ve done, it is essential that we express hope for what can be done. In order to do that we need to be the guiding lights (as instructors) to be role models to our students and show that we as people create hope for wildlife through our actions and coexistence between people and wildlife. We are part of the solution! We have an opportunity to engage and empower our visitors, students and educators with hope for species survival in the future- and they can positively affect global conservation! The only way to counteract despair is to do something to make a difference even in the smallest way, everyday. Jane Goodall, says it best with her four reasons for hope- “our human intellect, resilience of nature, the energy and commitment of informed young people who are empowered to act and the indomitable human spirit.” Objectives: x Students will discover that predators come in many shapes and sizes and play varying roles in their ecosystem x Students will become familiar with basic food webs and how communities of animals, plants and non-living things exist. x Students will understand how humans are sharing their land with wildlife including predators State Standards Addressed: o State Standard: Grade 2 (LS)- Topic: “Interactions with habitats” o State Standard: Grade 3 (LS)- Topic: “Behavior, growth & changes” o State Standard: Grade 4 (LS)- Topic: “Earth’s living history” Prowling for Predators: Africa Outpost II This overnight is designed for children ages 11+. We will examine the many niches held by animals in a healthy ecosystem, and determine why predators are a vital link. Students will also explore historic human interaction with predators. Many of these interactions have resulted in tragedy for a multitude of species. However, traditional approaches to conservation (e.g. national parks, nature preserves) have focused on separating people and wildlife. Yet, today, many of these species have been recognized as vital components to ecosystems and to human development (Coexistence). The idea of conservation combining humans and wildlife in the same places has shown promise in integrated landscapes throughout Africa. Students will also recognize that for an act of predation to be successful, animals must employ strategies that work in a multitude of circumstances. Becoming a successful predator is hard work, and the techniques used are as diverse as the species themselves. Goals: -Create a sense of WONDER to all participants -We can capitalize on wonder- During up-close animal demos & in front of exhibit animals/behind the scenes opportunities. -Convey KNOWLEDGE to all participants -This should be done by using participatory teaching methods (e.g. asking questions/seeking answers- Giving the group time to think and respond- this may create small moments of discomfort but will in the end grow learners- That is what we want!! -Empower/Enable our participants to ACT or become ACTIVE in conservation -This overnight will highlight coexistence between people and wildlife. Furthermore, the overnight’s flavor should be to show our audience that they can positively affect global conservation through their actions on a daily basis (e.g. Eco-cell program/Zero Waste Intiative/Rebuilding the Pride/Innvoation) Objectives: x Students will learn what an ecosystem is, and how humans and wildlife are coexisting together (HOPE Jeopardy). x Students will take a look at how vulnerable ecosystems become balanced, and how human management plays a part. x Students will determine a predator’s role, and how predators in Africa have been impacted by changes in their environment. x Students will discover the legacies of predators in Africa and how these animals have fared over generations. x Students will explore various management strategies, modern challenges of wildlife management, and species success stories from coexistence of predators and people. State Standards Addressed: o State Standard Grade 5 (LS)- Topic: “Interconnectedness within an Ecosystem” o State Standard Grade 7 (LS)- Topic: “Cycles of matter and flow of energy Background Information: Evolution has adapted predators to seek prey which provide them with the highest returns (in terms of calories and nutrients) for the least expenditure of time and energy. Some predator species employ unique hunting strategies, designed to capture specific prey. Others are opportunistic, taking any prey encountered during the course of daily activities. Predator Types & Prey: What is a predator? A predator is an animal that relies on capturing and eating other animals for food. When people think of predators, they often visualize a lions, African wild dogs and cheetahs killing an antelope. In reality, literally millions of acts of predation occur every day, such as a white faced owl nabbing an insect. Although the very term predator brings to mind images of lions on the savannahs of Africa or the great shark stalking the coastal waters, predation is defined more generally as the consumption of all or part of one living organism by another. Although all heterotrophic organisms derive their energy from the consumption of organic matter, predators are distinguished from scavengers and decomposers in that they feed on living organisms. This is good to point out when discussing the food web. The predators featured in our Africa exhibit are mammalian and from the Order Carnivora. This is an order of flesh eating mammals that arose about 40 milllion years ago. The Carnivora divided early into 2 separate lines: Felids and their allies & Canids and their allies. Carnivores evolved as predators of odd and even-toed ungulates and rodents. Interactions of these predators and their prey helped shape the animals we see today. By predators always taking the individuals easiest to catch, predators promote survival of the fittest; as their prey becomes harder to catch, predators that improve performance are “winners;” their offspring pressure prey species to improve, and so on, coevolution. If you want to nerd out- this is often referred to as the “Red Queen Hypothesis” as life must continually evolve to avoid extinction, especially in terms of predator/prey. Technically, this is an evolutionary hypothesis which proposes that organisms must constantly adapt, evolve, and proliferate not merely to gain reproductive advantage, but also to survive while pitted against ever-evolving opposing organisms in an ever-changing environment. The term “Red Queen” comes from a statement that the Red Queen made to Alice in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass in her explanation of the nature of Wonderland: “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.” The kids may have seen the movie, “Alice in Wonderland.” Weather and climate can also affect the physical condition and vulnerability of prey.