New Years Resolutions – Get Fit! Homeschool Web Activity March 2013 Houston Zoo

Resolutions People often use the start of a new year to make resolutions These resolutions are typically goals that involve improving themselves in some way

Resolutions There are many ways in which a person can improve themselves; from learning a new language to volunteering at a community center However, one of the most popular resolutions deals with improving ones self physically

Get Fit! There are many ways people can improve their health and well being Some of the ways to improve your health can include: Eating a well-balanced diet Exercising regularly Sleeping the proper amount Relaxing throughout the day

Get Fit – On The Wild Side! Do animals make resolutions to get healthy? No! But just like us, animals do need to work at maintaining their physical well being. Lets take a look at some examples of animals getting and staying fit!

Training for the Race When you think of cheetahs, I am sure you imagine the fastest land animal in the world, reaching speeds of up to 70 miles per hour! Believe it or not, cheetahs must train to reach those speeds in the same way we would have to train to run a race.

Training for the Race For example, the cheetahs that live at the Houston Zoo have opportunities to test their running skills However, they top out at speeds of approximately 45 miles per hour. Since they dont run every day, they do not have the conditioning needed to hit 70 miles per hour. With practice, the cheetahs will improve their top speeds.

Training for the Race Check out this video of our cheetahs running!

Practice Makes Perfect! When we take up a new sport or hobby to become physically fit, we must practice to become efficient at it. Whether it be tennis or martial arts or dancing, we arent born knowing those skills.

Practice Makes Perfect! Some animals are not born knowing all the skills they need to survive, so they must practice as well. Through practice, they not only learn the skills necessary for survival, but they give their muscles a work out at the same time!

Practice Makes Perfect! Otters must learn and practice is the skill of swimming. Being an aquatic animal, you can imagine how important it is that otters be master swimmers! The young otter will learn from its mother how to swim and then spend many hours playing in the water with other otters. This play helps them strengthen their swimming muscles.

Work for it! Imagine that you had everything that you needed brought to you as you laid on the couch. As nice as that sounds, it would not be long before you started to gain fat and lose muscle. This would not be very healthy!

Work for it! The same thing would happen to our animals if we provided everything they needed without making them work for it in some way. We have to ensure that our animals are getting plenty of opportunities to maintain their muscle mass.

Work for it! For example, many of our parrots get their daily diets in creative ways that force the parrot to use different muscles. At times we may put the fruit on skewers hanging from the ceiling and other times we may place the food in puzzle feeders they must manipulate to get the food out. All of these different methods of feeding give the parrots muscles a work out!

Your turn! Now that you have learned some of the ways animals must maintain their physical fitness, it is your turn! Humans, just like animals, must exercise their bodies to keep them in shape.

Your turn! Print out the activity sheet. You will find different motions you can do that are similar to the way animals move. See if you can do all the motions. Record your progress on the table provided. Did you improve over time? Did the motions become easier?