Read the newsletter from The Belize Zoo. After the hurricane, what were the zoo’s biggest concerns for the animals? What immediate restoration took place? What future plans did the zoo make to ensure the safety of the animals during a natural disaster?

Some zoologists are habitat specialists who are responsible for designing animal exhibits and overseeing their construction. Some zoos, such as the Nashville Zoo, have natural disaster relief teams in place to work with these habitat designers to rebuild habitats destroyed in a storm. Challenge: You are a zoologist at the Nashville Zoo. A natural disaster has occurred destroying an organism’s habitat. Your challenge is to create a natural habitat in a controlled environment for a specific organism. You and your team will need to use your knowledge about animals—structures, adaptations, competition, size, food, niche, etc.—to plan how their habitat should look. Your team will design an enclosure and write a proposal for the zoo director or the director of a habitat design company to present to the class. You must design a scale drawing with the dimensions (perimeter and area) of your plan. The winning team’s plan will be sent to Nashville Zoo’s Natural Disaster Relief Team or to a habitat design company.

Restate your problem State what you already know List any limitations or controls

How can an organism’s structure, behavior or physiological adaptations be used to predict if the organism can survive in a specific environment?

SPI Analyze structural, behavioral, and physiological adaptations to predict which populations are likely to survive in a particular environment

What kinds of things should you consider when designing a habitat for a specific animal?

Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Salt Lake City, Utah Toledo Zoological Gardens, Toledo, Ohio What do you notice about the habitats of these animals? What do you think the zoologist or habitat specialist considered before designing the habitat?

Mammals Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Clouded Leopard Red Panda Red Ruffed Lemur

Reptiles Group 4 Group 5 Galapagos Tortoise Komodo Dragon

Birds Group 6 Group 7 Lorikeet Rhinoceros Hornbill

Brainstorm with your group what information will be useful when designing and constructing a new habitat for your animal. Begin researching information about your animal using my portaportal. At the end of class, you will get together with your team for accountable talk…

Use a Post-It Note to “tweet” about the following question:Use a Post-It Note to “tweet” about the following question: How can your team work together to engineer a new and better habitat for your animal? Tweet a response…

Read the article “Zoo Design Envisions Habitats without Human Interference”. How is the Givskud Zoo in Denmark different from traditional zoos? What is the reasoning behind this type of design? Give one, specific example of their new design aspect.

Some zoologists are habitat specialists who are responsible for designing animal exhibits and overseeing their construction. Some zoos, such as the Nashville Zoo, have natural disaster relief teams in place to work with these habitat designers to rebuild habitats destroyed in a storm. Challenge: You are a zoologist at the Nashville Zoo. A natural disaster has occurred destroying an organism’s habitat. Your challenge is to create a natural habitat in a controlled environment for a specific organism. You and your team will need to use your knowledge about animals—structures, adaptations, competition, size, food, niche, etc.—to plan how their habitat should look. Your team will design an enclosure and write a proposal for the zoo director or the director of a habitat design company to present to the class. You must design a scale drawing with the dimensions (perimeter and area) of your plan. The winning team’s plan will be sent to Nashville Zoo’s Natural Disaster Relief Team or to a habitat design company.

Restate your problem State what you already know List any limitations or controls

How can an organism’s structure, behavior or physiological adaptations be used to predict if the organism can survive in a specific environment?

SPI Analyze structural, behavioral, and physiological adaptations to predict which populations are likely to survive in a particular environment

Brainstorm with your group what information will be useful when designing and constructing a new habitat for your animal. Begin researching information about your animal using my portaportal. At the end of class, you will get together with your team for accountable talk…

Begin making sketches of your zoo habitat. You will end up with several prototypes.

Use a Post-It Note to “tweet” about the following question:Use a Post-It Note to “tweet” about the following question: What are some different adaptations that your animal has to enable them to survive in their environment? Tweet a response…