African Ecosystems
(April 29th- May 5th, 2013)
Station 1: Big Cat Fur
Station 2: Chimpanzee Termite Hunt
Station 3: African Giants
Station 4: Big Cat Scent Marking
Station 5: Horns vs. Antlers
Station 6: Big and Muddy Craft
Station 7: Primate Obstacle Course
Station 8: Big Cat Olympics
Station 9: What’s Wild Big Cat
Station 10: Crane Dance
Bio Facts:
Lion pelt and skull
West African crowned crane feathers
Cheetah skull
Big cat claw
Giraffe Skull, neck bone, and hair
Rhino horn
Elephant tusk, tooth, and hair
Puppet Show- Big Cat Friends
Song- I’m a Big Cat Hunting Baby
Station 1: Big Cat Fur
Materials:
-
Pictures of big cats
Pieces of big cat faux fur
Procedure:
1. Explain to participants that big cats come in many different colors and patterns. These
colors and patterns help them to camouflage in their different habitats. No two big cats
have the same patterns on their coats.
2. Have participants match the faux fur to its correct big cat picture
a. Tiger- widely spaced black stripes over orange on top and white underneath
b. Lion- yellow to brown coloration and adult males have large mains
c. Cheetah- facial stripe from corners of their eyes down to their mouths and have
solid black spots cover their body
d. Leopard- closely spaced rosettes over tawny coat that becomes lighter
underneath
Station 2: Chimpanzee Termite Hunt
Materials:
-
Paper clips with paper termite attached
6’’ bottles
Popsicle sticks felt
Pipe cleaners
Magnets
Procedure:
1. Explain to participants that chimpanzees are very intelligent animals and have very
creative ways of getting food and water using ordinary objects that they find their
habitats. Tell participants that termites are a favorite snack of chimpanzees, and they
can be very creative in order to get those insects out of the little holes they live in. In the
wild chimpanzees stick and stick into the ground and the termites instinctively bite it
thinking it is an intruder. The chimpanzees then lick them off the stick. The chimpanzees
here at the zoo are given puzzle feeders with food inside that they need to use stick to
get the food out.
2. Show participants the “termite mound” made of small plastic bottles and with brown or
yellow felt over it.
3. Tell participants that they are not allowed to touch the bottle. However, they an have
someone else hold the bottle while they try to extract the termites using the popsicle
stick with a magnets
Station 3: African Giants
Materials:
-
Cheerios
Cooties catchers
Corn cob pieces
Bowls
Dust pans
Grabbers
Procedure:
1. Explain to participants that African giants, such as elephants, rhinos, and giraffes eat a
lot of plant material including tree bark and leaves. They have special adaptations that
help them to be able to survive in their habitats. Since they are all herbivores (only eat
plants) they all have larger grinding teeth that help brake up the food that they eat
before it is swallowed.
2. Elephants have figure like projections on the end of their trunks that allow them to pick
up something as small as a dime off the ground.
a. Have participants use the cootie catchers to pick up some cheerios from the
table or ground and move them to a bowl
b. Then have them use the corn cob pieces to crush and grind up the cheerios
3. Rhinos have very wide lips that help them to scoop food into their mouths. Since rhinos
do not have front teeth in their mouths they use their lips to help brake off the plant
materials that they eat.
a. Have participants use the hand dust bins to scoop or pick up some of the
cheerios and move them to a bowl
b. Then have them use the corn cob pieces to crush and grind up the cheerios
4. Giraffes have long necks so that they are able to reach leaves high up in trees. This
allows them to not have to compete with the other herbivores in Africa.
a. Have participants use the grabbers to grab leaves from the top of the tent or pick
up cheerios from the ground and move them to a bowl
b. The have them use the corn cob pieces to crush or grind up the cheerios
Station 4: Big Cats Scent Marking
Materials:
-
Scent key card and answer sheet
Banana, mint, and cinnamon scents in film canisters
-
Cones
Procedure:
1. Explain to participants that big cats leave behind scent markings in order to mark their
hunting areas and/ or territories. This scent is a message to other big cats telling them
who lives there, how long ago they last visited that spot, and whether they were male or
female.
2. Different scents = different hyenas. Banana = Lion, Mint =Cheetah, and Cinnamon =
Leopard
3. Place the cones so that they are arranged in different territories.
Station 5: Horns vs. Antlers
Materials:
-
Felt board
Category headings
Pictures of horns and antlers
Written facts about horns and antlers
Procedure:
1. Explain to participants that horns and antlers are two different things. Horns have
covering of keratin, which is the same material that our hair and fingers nails are made
form, and other materials surrounding a core of living bone called os cornu. While
antlers are temporary branched projections of bone grown and shed each year.
2. Have participants place the pictures and facts under the correct category headings
3. Make sure that there is an area between the tow categories where facts that are related
to both can be placed
Station 6: Big and Muddy Craft
Materials:
-
Silhouettes of rhino and warthog
Container of wet dirt
Popsicle stick or paint brush
Procedure:
1. Explain to participants that elephants, rhinos, hippos, and warthogs are all fairly
sparsely-haired large mammals that live in the tropics. They all wallow in the mud to
protect themselves from the adverse effects of the sun, ward off biting insects, and cool
off. As a result these animals often take on the color of their local soli type.
2. Pass out silhouettes and Popsicle sticks.
3. Have participants paint their silhouettes with the mud!
Station 7: Primate Obstacle Course
Materials:
-
Obstacle course signs
Cones
Procedure:
1. Explain to participants that primate Primates move in many different ways. The obstacle
course is designed to show case some of these movements.
2. Colobus Monkey Leap – The first leg of the course pits the participants against the
ability of male colobus monkeys to leap an astounding 40 feet from tree to tree. Male
colobus monkeys often do this to show off to potential mates. They have an advantage
over our participants because they use tree branches as catapults to help them clear
these distances. Participants will do standing broad jumps to see how many leaps it
takes them to clear this distance.
3. Chimpanzee Knuckle Walk – Over the next section of the course, the participants will
knuckle walk like apes. One of the distinguishing characteristics of apes is that they have
longer arms than legs. They also have very long fingers. These features allow them to
use their arms in a characteristic motion called the knuckle walk. Participants move
along a short section of course while knuckle walking.
4. Sifaka Bound – Sifaka lemurs spend most of their time in trees and are excellent
climbers and leapers. However, when they take to the ground, they display a very
distinctive sideways leaping motion (hence the phrase leaping lemurs?). Participants
cover the next section by leaping sideways while holding their arms straight out to the
side.
5. Gibbon Brachiating – Another characteristic of apes (and one facilitated by long arms
and fingers) is their ability to move hand over hand through the trees like children on a
monkey (should be ape) bar. Very few monkeys (spider monkeys can do this and
colobus can semi-brachiates – use their arms while leaping but usually with support of
legs) have the ability to rotate their shoulders enough to complete this motion.
Participants mimic the monkey bar movement while moving through next section.
6. Pata’s Sprint – Pata’s Monkeys, which are close relatives to our red-tailed guenons, are
terrestrial monkeys that are capable of sprinting speeds of around 34 miles per hour!
Although Pata’s Monkeys spring quadripedally, our participants just need to sprint the
final 40 foot segment of the course.
Station 8: Big Cat Olympics
Activity 1: Cheetah Sprint
Materials:
- Start and Finish lines
- Instruction signs
- Colored Cones
- Stopwatch
- Rope and box with antelope picture taped on it (chase lure)
Procedure:
1. Set up course 100 feet long
2. Explain that at 70 miles per hour a cheetah can do this distance in one second.
3. Discuss adaptations that allow him to do this.
4. Have the participants run the course.
5. Time them and compare!
6. Have each participant try and catch antelope box chase lure
Activity 2: Snow Leopard Jump
Materials:
- Instruction signs
- Colored Cones
- Long Jump Mat
Procedure:
1. Set up Mat Set one cone forty feet (approximately 15 paces) away from starting line on
mat
2. Set another colored cone 23 feet (7.5 paces) away
3. Explain that at Snow leopards live in rocky places and are capable at jumping 40 feet in
one bound. Discuss.
4. Explain that one cheetah stride (defined above) equals 23 feet. Discuss.
5. Have students jump from starting point on map to see if they can out-jump either cat.
6. If not, have them try again and see how many times they have to leap before getting to
both cones.
Activity 3: Leopard leap
Materials:
- Instruction signs
- High Jump Board
Procedure:
1. Set up Board so it is 3 feet off ground
2. Discuss Leopard high jump ability
3. Have students see how high they can jump!
Activity 4: Caracal Swat
Materials:
- Instruction signs
- Angry bird balls
Procedure:
1. Discuss ability and show caracal picture
2. Discuss retractable claws
3. Have one participant at a time come forward.
4. Throw all the angry birds in air.
5. Participant tries to touch as many of them as possible
6. Since caracals have sharp claws, just one touch is considered a successful kill!
Station 9: What’s Wild Big Cat
Materials:
-
Felt board
Felt cutouts of leopard and leopard needs
Felt cutouts of house cat and cat needs
Procedure:
1. Explain to participants that all animals need food water and shelter. A house cat gets
most of its needs from materials provided by its owner. A wild leopard must utilize
resources within its environment to meet these basic needs. A leopard in a zoo has
needs very similar to that of a house cat.
2. Using the felt board, have participants show whish animal is wild and which is
domesticated
3. Be sure to say that the cat is an indoor house cat and the leopard is a leopard that lives
in the wild
4. Show them the felt needs cutouts and have them put them under the animal that they
best apply to
5. After you are done, make the leopard a zoo leopard and see how the needs change
Station 10: Crane Dance
Materials:
-
Energetic participants
Procedure:
1. Explain to participants that West African crowned cranes are monogamous birds that
form pairs for life. Pairs can be seen together even in the middle of a large flock, which
suggests an exceptionally strong pair bond. Adult cranes reinforce their pair bond by
dancing for and with each other. They perform ritualistic dance displays that include
bows, leaps, runs, wing flapping, short flights, jerky bouncing, running, and stick tossing.
Cranes of all ages dance. Among younger birds, dancing may serve to reduce aggression
with other cranes, provide physical exercise, and possibly relieve anxiety.
2. Have participants hold their arms out to the sides of their bodies
3. Participants should also bob their heads after you do and whoop after you whoop