rufmita: Zoo Project - you never know what you're gonna see...

I've decided to do a zoo project with my 10th grade Biology class... Back in Denver I collaborated with the Denver Zoo and did a project where the students learned how to observe animal behavior and they used that information to research how animals behaved in the wild and then collected data on how that same animal behaved at the zoo. The goal was to build a zoo enclosure (no they don't call them cages anymore) that provides an environment that encourages the animal to behave more like it would in the wild. This really supports many goals in science, like, how do scientists collect and analyze data and real world applications of biology, as well as the content of what is behavior and the difference between observations and inferences.

So, this weekend I dragged my roommates to the lovely zoo here in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. When I asked my students to tell me about their zoo they complained that the enclosures were ugly and sad, what a perfect opportunity to collect data and design a new environment for the animals living at the zoo!

Now, when you want to study the behavior of animals at the zoo the animal that you don't want to choose is a jaguar... oh, look, it's sleeping, wait, he's still sleeping, oh now what is he doing, yup, still sleeping. Not very interesting data...

The tapir would be a little more interesting... at least he moves his nose every once and a while...

There are bunnies at the zoo, in a "cage" and all, I guess they do have "wild" behavior that the students could compare...

The dirty glass was a bit distracting, but you could still see the caiman, again, not very interesting to observe...

I know! The largest rodent in the WORLD, the capybara, now that would be a cool animal to observe...

Look, there he is swimming...

Is he trying to nibble on that stick, let's watch and see...

No, he's getting out and walking towards us...

Look at those cool webbed feet.

Oh, wait, he's just going to sit and pose for us?

Yup, look at the adorable face!

Huh, what else at the zoo could be interesting to observe?

PRIMATES!!! Yes, who doesn't love observing the behavior of monkeys???

We sat and watched this guy try and crack open this bottle for 10 minutes! He switched from banging it with his front legs to jumping on it with his hind legs. Interesting behavior... I wonder what it represents...

Wait, what is that - over there? Is that a speckled bear from the Amazon???

Cool! Look at that speckled face. Hey, wait, where is the big one going? Oh, it's heading toward the little one, what are they doing - oh NO the little one just swatted the big one with it's paw... what is this behavior?