There are tons of fantastic online resources that can bring animals from around the world into your classroom. Many zoos and organizations have web cams that let kids watch animals in action. Others have websites full of information on the different animals under a zoologist’s care. If finding time to Skype or chat with someone who works at a zoo is challenging, you might decide to enlist one of these great resources. Here are some great website resources that give teachers and students access to zoos and other online animal spaces.
Animal and Zoo Websites
The San Diego Zoo’s website includes pages on different animals and video clips. Students can read about Giant Pandas and Koalas or watch video clips on leopards and lemurs. There are also live cams that take students into the daily lives of tigers and penguins. You might asked students to watch and record they’re noticing this as a spend time with a video.
The website for the National Aquarium in Baltimore has lots of information on underwater animals. This site lets users explore different animals from the American Bullfrog to the Zebra Shark. It’s search feature gives students and teachers the opportunity to look for animals native to a certain part of the world. You might use this website as a way to spark student curiosity before a deep dive into research on an animal.
When visiting the Houston Zoo’s website you’ll see that there is a whole section devoted to animal webcams. Students can watch elephants, rhinos, and giraffes in action throughout the school day. It’s a great way to explore the space before your visit or to take a virtual field trip. If you know that your students are excited about one particular type of animal you might use that as a focus for an activity as a whole group.
The Animal Planet’s website has lots of resources for teachers and their students. The live section of their site links to webcams that show animals in action all over the world. It includes live feeds of sharks swimming and sloths hanging around. Setting a purpose for this type of activity might include prompting questions to guide students as they watch for a set period of time.