Biodiversity starts with Science & Technology

Elements of the child’s inquiry process	When children are engaged in the inquiry process, they:	When team members are modelling or supporting the inquiry process, they:
Initial Engagement (Before going to the zoo)  - Ask the children what animals they want to see at the zoo.	- Start stating an animal that they know the name of - The song above is what you can sing before telling the children the good and surprising news that they will be going to the zoo in the near future. - Sing more songs about different kinds of animals Some Examples: Five Little Monkeys Here is a list full of songs, poems and nursery rhymes! Find ones you think your children would be most interested in.	• The educators jot down a list of names that the children are familiar with and model collecting  data (See my Math Blog) - Reading a book about different species of animals (See my Language blog)
Exploration Exploring biodiversity through play.	- Introduce plastic figurines of a large variety of animals during free play. If you notice the children  - Allow the children on the computer to explore the Toronto Zoo website, and their educational online games -You can find a lot of zoo and animal sanctuary websites with live webcams.	•Ask the children questions about the figurines related to biodiversity, such as: What figurines do you like to play with? What kind of sounds do you think the animal makes? How would you sort these animals? Listen in on the dramatic play that is happening among the children, that's where you will find more information on other ideas the children may want to to explore before their trip to the zoo - Invite the children to take interest in a particular animal
Investigation planning, using observations, reflecting	- Leading up to the time when you go to the zoo you can provide the children with maps of the zoo, and they can plan out which animals they'd like to see. - Allow the children to make invitations to invite their parents to come to the zoo, since certain class sizes often require a certain amount of supervisors	- The teachers should invite the children to be apart of the planning of the field trip because time management can be just as difficult on a field trip as it is in a classroom. Also if the children are aware of the itinerary of their trip then you may be able to see more than planned.
Communication sharing findings, discussing ideaspor	- Make sure to engage with each child in your group at some point on the trip, children are likely to be ecstatic at the sight of lively animals, which makes them eager to share with you what they saw. - Ask the children to compare and contrast the different animals they saw - Don't be concerned with teaching children the correct animal classification families in Kindergarten, but they should be able to identify physical differences between certain species and similarities.	Try to get all teachers and parents in on documenting the children at the zoo and recording their words and questions. So that you can continue the learning back in the classroom. - Be aware of the animals that were the most entertaining to observe, they may be an animal you can focus on in the classroom

Curriculum Expectations
Science & Technology - Big Idea: Children are curious and connect prior knowledge to new contexts in order to understand the world around them.
1. demonstrate an awareness of the natural and built environment through hands-on investigations, observations, questions, and representations of their findings;
2. conduct simple investigations through free exploration, focused exploration, and guided activity, using inquiry skills (questioning, planning, predicting, observing, communicating);
3. demonstrate an understanding of the natural world and the need to care for and respect the environment
4. use technological problem-solving skills (questioning, planning, predicting, constructing, observing, communicating) in free exploration, focused exploration, and guided activity.

Reference: The full-day early learning kindergarten program: 2010-11. (Draft ver. ed.). (2010). Toronto, ON: Ministry of Education.

Where you can extend this Big Idea:
Art
- Provide different coloured paints at each easel, and put a range of colours that corresponds with the colours of certain animals
- For example if you set up an easel with peacock colours you would provide orange/red, green, blue and/or sky blue. Provide a colour-print picture next to each easel.

- don't imply whatsoever that you wish for them to recreate the picture whatsoever

- Just use this a way of experimenting with the colors of a particular animal.

You might also find that your children are fascinated by the animals that are most relatable to them; Monkeys. The monkeys are usually the most lively and expressive animals at the zoo, so be prepared to spend a lot of time with the monkeys and make sure to help the children see the similarities between humans and monkeys (obviously don't make any implication into evolution, let the children come up with their own ideas around that subject), since we are both in the primate family. You can even introduce them to Jane Goodall and she runs organization that encourage youth and young children to get involved in learning about the environment.

Reference: 
The full-day early learning kindergarten program: 2010-11. (Draft ver. ed.). (2010). Toronto, ON: Ministry of Education.

Chaillé, C. (2008). Constructivism across the curriculum in early childhood classrooms: big ideas as inspiration. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.