Cases for Conservation
Cases for Conservation are boxes filled with curriculum, biofacts and other unique Zoo-related materials that can be checked out from the Zoo for a two-week period and utilized in your classroom setting, similarly to how one would check out a book from a library.
Each Case is correlated with the Georgia Standards of Excellence, as well as the pre-kindergarten Bright from the Start GELDS. The elementary-level Cases were also designed specifically with the Library System in mind as well, with relevant children’s literature and corresponding activities included. Through this free outreach program, Zoo Atlanta hopes to provide educational resources to school districts, public libraries and other instructive bodies throughout the state of Georgia to provide educational experiences for children about wildlife and wild places.
Each wheeled, lockable Case weighs approximately 25 pounds, is 3 feet long, 2 feet tall, and 2 feet wide. Keep this in mind when planning your transport of the Cases.
How to reserve a Case:
- Cases are available on a first-requested, first-served basis.
- Cases may be checked out in two-week increments. Up to two Cases may be checked out at one time.
- A refundable $50 deposit for each case is required at time of reservation. Deposits must be made via credit card.
- Reservations for Cases must be made in advance. Check-out and check-in appointments can be made for Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. only. Appointments must be made with a Zoo staff member for a Case check-out by calling our Education Reservations Team at 404.624.5822.
- The check-out and check-in process takes approximately one half hour.
- We encourage you to share your Case contents with others at your institution so your Case can impact as many people as possible. However, please keep in mind that the person checking the Case out from the Zoo is responsible for the Case and all its contents. If all items are checked back into the Zoo in the same condition they were rented, then the $50 deposit will be refunded. The person who signs the inventory sheet at the time of check-out is responsible for all items in the Case.
Pre-K Topic: Animal Coverings
Pre-K students will:
- Sort animal images by observable characteristics (color, pattern, number of appendages)
- Examine animal biofacts in the case and match them to animal images
- Describe how each animal covering feels to touch – soft, hard, smooth, bumpy
- Sort and classify the animal biofacts that feel similar (skin, scales, shell, feathers, hair/fur)
- Identify coverings that students have: hats, shoes, sweaters, etc., and what these coverings do for us
- Explore why different animals have different coverings and how that helps them where they live
Kindergarten Topic: Animal Comparisons
Kindergarten students will:
- Match images of animal babies to their parents and discover similarities and differences between adults and young
- Examine animal biofacts in the Case for Conservation (labeled with animal images) and describe how animals are alike and how they are different
- Discover how colors and patterns help animals where they live
- Group animals that look similar — small and big animals; animals with similar coverings of scales, feathers or fur; animals that are the same color; and those with spots or stripes
- Compare similarities and differences among animals based on how they move: which animals walk on four legs, move slowly, run fast, hop, climb, fly, swing, or swim. An optional activity enables students to use animal footprint stamps to make tracks
- Use a map and a globe to find where they live and where a variety of animals live
First Grade Topic: Animal Basic Needs
First grade students will:
- Learn that animals have basic needs just as people do.
- Examine animal biofacts and other props in the Case for Conservation to compare how different animals are adapted to eat; where they find shelter from the environment and from predators; and how they find or construct homes to raise their young
- Use a map to locate where animals live on all seven continents
- Discuss how people care for animal needs: at home, on farms, and at the Zoo
Second Grade Topic: Animals around Me: Life Cycles of Georgia Animals
Second grade students will:
- Examine animal biofacts and other props in the Case for Conservation to learn about life cycles of a Georgia butterfly, frog, tortoise, bird and mammal
- Identify some of the animals that live in each of Georgia’s five major geographic regions (the Appalachian Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont and Coastal Plain)
- Discover animals that live around them in their backyard, schoolyard or neighborhood park
Third Grade Topic: Georgia Habitats and the Pollution Solution
Third grade students will:
- Examine animal biofacts and other props in the Case for Conservation to explore Georgia’s major habitats and the types of plants and animals that live in each
- Explore how animals are adapted to live in their habitats
- Discuss how changes to habitats affect the animals that live there
- Discover how human actions pollute wild habitats and the effects this has on animals
- Recognize that there are positive solutions to environmental problems, through examples of actions that people are taking to protect animals and the environment
- Identify the daily actions that they can take, and why these actions help protect wildlife and their habitats
Fourth Grade Topic: Animals and the Environment
Fourth grade students will:
- Be introduced to the terms habitat, environment and ecosystem
- Examine the flow of energy through an ecosystem by exploring how green plants produce food from the sun’s energy; how animals consume plants and/or other animals; and how decomposers break down decaying matter
- Discover how all life is connected through food chains and intricate food webs
- Explore animal biofacts and other props in the Case for Conservation to learn how animals are adapted to live and survive in their habitats
- Discuss how natural and human-caused changes to the environment affect animals’ ability to survive there
- Recognize that there are positive solutions to environmental problems, through examples of actions that people are taking to protect animals and their environments
Fifth Grade Topic: Classification
Fifth grade students will:
- Sort and classify objects based on shared characteristics
- Discover how and why scientists classify animals into groups
- Examine the classification of animals into invertebrates and vertebrates
- Explore animal biofacts and other props in the Case for Conservation to learn the physical characteristics that define vertebrates as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds or mammals
Sixth Grade Topic: Water, Climate and Ecosystems
Sixth grade students will:
- Construct stages of the water cycle to understand how these affect Earth’s atmospheric conditions
- Use a globe to visualize how much of the planet’s surface is covered with water as they learn how oceans affect climate and weather
- Discover how the water cycle, weather and climate affect the availability of water in ecosystems
- Determine how plants, animals and people have adapted to the abundance, scarcity or seasonal patterns of water in their environment
- Use world and geopolitical maps to locate regions of Latin America
- Examine animal biofacts and other props in the Case for Conservation that illustrate how species are adapted to survive in distinct ecosystems in Latin America, and see examples of Zoo Atlanta’s conservation projects
- Discuss how environmental issues affect ecosystems, wildlife and people in Latin America
Seventh Grade Topic: Exploring Biomes
Seventh grade students will:
- Determine that climate, weather, water availability, altitude and soil type determine the types of plants and animals that can inhabit ecosystems
- Explore the Earth’s major biomes and their major plant and animal communities; use a world biome map to locate the Earth’s biomes; use a world map to locate Africa and Asia; and use geopolitical maps to locate West and Central African countries, Indonesia (Sumatra), Malaysia (Borneo) and China
- Examine animal biofacts and other props in the Case for Conservation to explore how scientists are studying lowland gorillas of Central Africa, orangutans of Indonesia and Sumatra, and giant pandas of China, and the quest to save these species
- Discuss how environmental issues affect ecosystems and endangered species in Central Africa and parts of Asia, and learn how students can help
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