San Diego, CA– On Tuesday, September 19th, Colton High School’s AP Biology, Marine Biology, and Zoology students took a field trip together to San Diego Zoo’s Safari Park.
The trip was a big hard to plan, but it was all made possible through the funding from the Sydney Stern Memorial Trust. Their charitable donation made the trip expense-free for both students and teacher chaperones.
With a full day at the Zoo ahead of the students and chaperones, they first got started with an educational lesson/lab about the Zoo’s conservation efforts with the mountain yellow-legged frog and reintroducing them into their natural habitats.
Afterwards, when it was time to explore the zoo the chaperones set up a friendly competition between the 3 classes; a Goose Chase. Through the use of a phone app, students were to complete scavenger hunt like quests that required them to go all over the park.
A short lesson in the classroom/lab taught the students some of the challenges scientists are faced when trying to keep track of smaller animals like the mountain yellow-legged frogs. They’re so small, but some radio transmitters and receivers used in a method called radio telemetry makes it that much easier. Students play a game of hot-and-cold as they listen for their receivers to give a loud beep in the right direction.
James Speak and Samantha Jimenez show off their frogs they found using their frog radio frequency receivers. They, along with most of the other students, were expecting to be looking for actual frogs. Apparently, Zoos actually prefer to keep their animals inside the enclosures, and not out.
After the frog search, students head back to the classroom to document where they found their plush frogs attached to radio transmitters. Scientists need to do a lot of research when it comes to learning about a species. Students learned that all the little things are important when trying to engage in conservation science.
One of the first missions on the student’s Goose Chase was to take a video next to their favorite type of big cat explaining why that particular species was their favorite. While students were taking their videos and pictures, this lioness was sleeping in on the cool grass next to her two sisters. Oh, to be a lioness sleeping in the soft grass…
Students weren’t the only ones having fun with their friends during the field trip. Teacher chaperones Ms. Pellitier, Ms. Ramirez, Ms. Fernandez, and Ms. Griffith take a selfie after boarding the Safari tram together.
A group of rhinos is called a crash. The next Goose Chase mission required students to take a selfie with one. Charlie Izaguirre, Luis Diaz, Steven Terrones, and Dominic Rodriguez take a selfie with a crash of rhinos in the far distance during their safari, earning Team Zoology 400 an easy points and also a cool photo to show off later.
Baby animals of any species are absolutely adorable. Here, a baby lesser kudu is accompanied by two mothers. They spend their time grazing together as they watch people visiting the zoo board the trams to embark on their safari. Taking a picture of a baby animal for this Goose Chase quest was easily the most lovable one.
While students were on the lookout for specific animals to complete missions, they were still enjoying seeing all animals. This mountain zebra made it hard for students to not admire her as she walks up and over a hill like a striped runway model.
Another mission for the competitive Goose Chase was to eat a giant burger. While students sat eating their food at a nearby burger restaurant, this cute little binturong (also known as a bearcat) climbs around his enclosure searching for fruits his zookeepers set out for him and watches students as they eat.
This burrower owl takes advantage of the rather quiet and slow day at the Zoo and takes a stand directly on top of its burrow, looking back at very silent students. They are on the smaller side of the owl species and are a bit harder to spot because of that. No mission for this one, but still a marvel to look at!
Tigers are definitely no house cats. This Sumatran tiger lays around lazily, nearly drifting off to sleep in his enclosure as he enjoys the little attention he’s getting on the slow day. Going to see this big guy gave students an opportunity to also complete that Big Cats mission for the Goose Chase.
Many students were able to see every animal in the park enclosure. But once the clock hit four o’clock, just an hour before the zoo closes for the day, our students and chaperones were back on the road for a traffic-plagued ride back home.
And as for the friendly competition: there was no winner. The Marine Bio and Zoology classes unfortunately… tied!
