Kansas City Zoo Home School Day

This past Thursday we attended the Home School Day at the Kansas City Zoo.  The theme for the program was the food chain.  The kids picked associated topics (such as carnivores, herbivores, omnivores, decomposers, etc.) to learn about, and then chose a related activity.  The activities varied from tours of particular areas of the zoo to more hands-on activities.  We started our day looking at the droppings (poop) of several of the zoo animals.  They discovered the differences between the droppings of herbivores and carnivores.  We then headed to a session on the features of the cats.  The girls looked at paw prints of several different cats, we able to touch fur of different cats, learn about hunting styles of these carnivores, and learn about the endangered status of several of the cats.  Our third session was with the Zoo's new polar bear, Nikita.  The polar bear was definitely the highlight of the trip.  The girls were excited to see him, and he has quite a personality!  After watching him for a while, we learned about polar bear fur and skin.  They even had the opportunity to feel polar bear fur and see a model skull.  They then played a game  to help them learn about the life and survival of a polar bear, and how they gain or lose weight throughout the year.  Our final activity was about predators and prey.  The girls has the opportunity to look at several different animals, some predators and some prey, and learn about the adaptations each have to help them survive.

After the scheduled activities, we took a little walk to see some of the animals the girls could not bear to leave without seeing.  The tiger was number one on the list, and they were even more interested in them after what they learned during the day.  We also had to make a stop to feed and pet the sheep.  It was definitely worth the trip to KC for the day!

Polar bear saying hi!

Learning about polar bears.

Playing the polar bear game.

Feeding the sheep.

There is no fence between you and the kangaroos at the KC Zoo!

There are very few of these Sumatra Tigers left in the wild.  They are so beautiful, and critically endangered! 

Madeline showing her love for the tiger.

Giving some hay to the llamas.

Madeline comparing her hand to the polar bear paw print.

Isabella's favorite animal was the polar bear!

Kansas City Zoo Fall Home School Day

The Kansas City Zoo is holding a Fall Home School Day on November 18.  The event will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.  The cost is $2.25 per person for Friends of the Zoo Members, and $7.25 for those who are not members.  To pre-register, which is required, contact  Kelly Martin, School & Outreach Coordinator, at kellymartin@fotzkc.org or 816-513-5726 by November 16.   

Field Trip to Kansas City

We intended to head to Kansas City last Friday, but as I was on my way home from the "not-back-to-school" picnic, warning lights came on in my van. This was not the first time we had had this problem, we have been dealing with this problem for more than a year now, but it was the third time in 2 days the lights came on, indicating that my brakes were not working correctly. So, we took the van in Friday morning, postponing our trip to KC by a day.

So, Saturday we headed to Kansas City to the zoo and for the girls' first Major League Baseball game. We started the day at the Kansas City Zoo. We had been there once before, but it was several years ago. The trip tied in well with our study of life science this year.

This was our first big trip without a stroller. It was so nice to not have to worry about getting through doors and exhibits! Hailey did get a few rides for both Bill and I though.

Madeline took great pleasure in reading the map during our trip!

Isabella really got into the animals.

Many of the birds we saw in the exhibits were really quite aggressive. Three little girls did not scare them.

The kangaroos are in an open area, where they could just hop across the path in front of you.

Hailey found a caterpillar to watch as well.

The sheep were a big hit, too. They were kind of aggressive as well, especially to those with food, but the girls were really not intimidated by them.

The zoo staff brought out a spotted python. The girls could not get enough of Spotty.

We were really excited to see the baby zebra.

And the gorillas were great fun to watch!

After the zoo, we headed off to Kauffman Stadium. Being Cubs fans, we were hoping their first game would be at Wrigley, but it was not. The girls did get cool certificates declaring them "Official Royals Fans," which was nice, and it was hat day, so we all received free hats when we entered the stadium.

Here we are wearing our caps. Notice that Madeline felt the need to wear her crown as well as her Royals cap.

We did not anticipate that there would be very many people at the game, so we waited to buy tickets until we arrived at the stadium. We sat waaaaay up high!

It was quite the trip!