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We met the elephant keepers at elephant island, where they showed us how the elephants are taught to do specific
behaviors (such as raise their trunks) by using positive reinforcement. These behaviors help the keepers check their health in a safe way. We also visited the elephants' night quarters and watched the elephants cool off in the water. We also threw them some bagel treats. Later, we made an elephant craft to take home.
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We met a bird keeper at the stork exhibit who led us in a fun game. We broke into 2 teams; the first team had the bird puppet and the second had plastic worms. Each person threw the worms one at a time for the person with the bird puppet to catch the worm; and then we reversed roles. The team with the most points were able to throw fish to the storks. We candled eggs and held the baby chicks, and we also saw the baby flamingoes. We made a special stork craft, too.
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One of the education staff brought out the Florida kingsnake or a ball python and told us all about these fascinating reptiles. We also examined a snake skeleton and felt a snake shed, and some of us held the snake for our photo. We made a snake craft to take home, too.
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This week, we learned some of what goes on behind the scenes to put on a show at the Animal Theatre. We worked with the education staff to develop a routine to
present to the public at one of the shows. At craft time, we made a craft to take home to remember our time up on stage (next to the new totem poles).
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After driving through the preserve and identifying all of the animal species that are found in Africa in the wild, we stopped at the giraffe feeding exhibit and fed the giraffe. Some of us even had our photo taken here. We also made an African craft to take home.
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Rory made a special appearance on Tuesday!
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Group 8 learned dolphin training signals at pool time!