1. Our Day at
The San Diego
Zoo
Teacher: Brenda Arauz

2. Number of Leaders: one teacher and parent/chaperones
Grade: 4th
Length of session: one school day
Materials:
Pencil
Clipboard (provided by teacher)
Notebook
Markers
Maps (provided at Zoo entrance)
Walking shoes
Snacks (provided by teacher)
Water/lunch/or money
…energy and willingness to have fun!!
Objective: students will have the opportunity to look at different species of
plants and animals throughout our day at the Zoo, and determine how each
species depends on others. They will use their own map (provided at the Zoo
entrance) to determine locations

3. Objective: students will have the opportunity to look at different
species of plants and animals throughout our day at the Zoo, and
determine how each species depends on others. They will use their
own map (provided at the Zoo entrance) to determine locations
How is Geography used in our fieldtrip?
- Geography will be a big part in this fieldtrip, not only
because we will be using our paper map all throughout
our stay at the Zoo, but we will use our mental map to
remember simple things like where we last saw the
restrooms, etc.

4. CA Content Standards:
Life Sciences:
3. Living organisms depend on one another and their environment for
survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by their living and
nonliving components.
b. Students know that in any particular environment, some kinds of
plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some
cannot survive at all.
c. Students know many plants depend on animals for pollination and
seed dispersal, and animals depend on plants for food and shelter.
National Geographic Standards:
The World In Spatial Terms:
1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools and
technologies to acquire, process and report information.

5. In-class preparation for our fieldtrip:
- in previous classes, I will have talk to the students about our
National Geography Standards; what a map is, what it consists of
and how it helps us to find places, find other information and many
times know where we are in comparison to other places in the
world.
- one day before the fieldtrip, I will talk to students about the San
Diego Zoo and its -purpose. I will explain that there are many
animals there from all over world. They are kept in cages to protect
us and the animals, and a little about the rules Zoo rules.
On-our-way to the Zoo preparation:
- talk about the Zoo rules again.
- ask students questions about what they expect to see and have
them make predictions about where they think some animals (I will
be naming a few) are originally from.
- discuss a little about our continents, what they are and what
makes them a continent.

6. At the Zoo:
- we will find a spot to sit with the students and briefly discuss what
we see on our Zoo maps; where we are at that moment, what each
section is called and where we want to go.
- then, we will start our trip.
- as we walk around, we will stop to discuss a little about the
animals and how they are different.
For example, in the reptile house we will find snakes (and other
reptiles), we will discuss how a snake is not just a snake and they are
not all the same. They look different and that difference sometimes
determines the area (desert, jungle, water, etc) that is most
appropriate for the snake to live. How most of them camouflage in
order to keep their prey and also their predators from seeing them.