Get ready to start your Expedition!

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Rosamund Powers
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2 Get ready to start your Expedition! What is an Expedition? An Expedition is a guided, themed interactive tour of a specific area of the Zoo. Please note: You will not see the entire Zoo on your Expedition. You are free to stay as long as you like after the Expedition is complete. Where do I go when I get to the Zoo? Your buses will be instructed to pull up and unload at the front gate. Check in with an admissions associate and they will contact your Expedition guide. After payment is settled with the admissions gate, your guide will walk with you to the start of your Expedition or provide a map with the marked location and time of your Expedition. Pre-visit materials provided: 1. Please review the background information in this booklet. It gives you a brief overview of the animals you will be seeing during your program. 2. Please review the Teachers Guide PowerPoint for the Expedition. It is included with the pre-visit packet and provides a visual walk through of the program and the standards and curriculum connections. 3. Please show the Expedition Invitation Video for the Expedition you have chosen to get your group excited about coming to the Zoo. It gives a sneak peak at what students will be doing and gets them thinking about questions we ll be discussing. 4. Please use our Pre- and Post-Visit Lessons provided when you registered. They integrate inquiry science lessons, the Expedition and the relevant CC Domain or Module texts this Expedition supports.

Watery Habitats Around The World Ocean Habitats: The oceans contain the greatest diversity of life on Earth.

Many animals at the Seneca Park Zoo such as the California sea lions and African penguins rely on ocean habitats for food.

Wetland Habitats: Wetland habitats are varied and found all over the world, including Rochester, NY! A wetland is a location where the land is covered by water.

3 Watery Habitats Around The World Ocean Habitats: The oceans contain the greatest diversity of life on Earth. They span a wide range of temperatures from freezing in the polar regions to warm in the tropics. Many animals at the Seneca Park Zoo such as the California sea lions and African penguins rely on ocean habitats for food. Humans also rely on oceans for food and fishing provides a livelihood for over 200 million people worldwide. Wetland Habitats: Wetland habitats are varied and found all over the world, including Rochester, NY! A wetland is a location where the land is covered by water. It maybe be salt water, fresh water or a combination of salt and fresh water known as brackish water. Wetlands include bogs, swamps, marshes and more! Polar Habitats: Ice and snow provide an important role in the life of polar animals. Polar bears rely on sea ice to seasonally hunt for seals. They use snow to create dens used to raise cubs. Polar regions can be difficult with bitterly cold winds and temperatures deep into the negatives.

Front flippers support their body and they can rotate their rear flippers under their bodies, which allows them to walk on land.

4 California Sea Lion Range and Habitat: Sea lions life in waters along Pacific coastline from British Columbia to northern Mexico. Lifespan: They can live up to 17 years in nature and up to 22 years in Zoos. Physical Appearance: Sea lions (vs true seals ) have external ear flaps. Front flippers support their body and they can rotate their rear flippers under their bodies, which allows them to walk on land. Their bodies are long and streamlined for swimming and they have good vision underwater. A 3-4 layer of blubber provides warmth, buoyancy and energy when food is scarce. Diet: In nature, they are opportunistic feeders chowing down any available fish, squid or octopus. At the Zoo, they are feed three times a day and gobble up mackerel, capelin, squid for a treat, salt tabs and vitamins. Social Structure and Communication: Sea lions are gregarious. They breed in dense colonies on shore and males set up territories and defend them. They bark and may use some form of echolocation. Conservation: Sea lions are not endangered but are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Their enemies are orcas (killer whales), sharks, and humans who once exploited sea lions for their skin and oil.

African Penguin Range and Habitat: African penguins live on small islands off the southern and southwestern coast of South Africa. Lifespan: They live 10-11 years in nature and up to 18 in zoos.

5 African Penguin Range and Habitat: African penguins live on small islands off the southern and southwestern coast of South Africa. Lifespan: They live years in nature and up to 18 in zoos. Physical Appearance: Grown young are as big as their parents with a broad gray band across the chest. Adult s have a sharply defined narrow black band. They will get their adult plumage at about 2 years of age. Their feathers are stiff and overlap in layers with up to 70 feathers per square inch! The feather trap air next to the skin for insulation and are very resistant to wind and water. Penguins water proof themselves by spreading oil from a gland at the base of their tail and they have a layer of blubber under the skin to help keep them warm. Diet: African penguins are carnivores and eat crustaceans, squid and fish, especially pilchard and anchovy. At the zoo, they are fed twice a day and get capelin, squid, mackerel, trout, herring and smelt. Social Structure and Communication: When there are chicks, the evening zoo keeper goes to feed the parent penguins an extra feeding in the night so they can regurgitate enough to keep feeding the chicks. Conservation: We are one of the top three zoos in the USA for breeding penguins. Our young penguins have been shipped to many different zoos, including: the Minnesota Zoo, New York Aquarium, Toledo Zoo and Saginaw, Michigan Zoo. Globally, the African penguin population has crashed by more than 80% in just over 50 years and the species is now listed as Endangered with the population decreasing. They are in danger due to their large concentrations in small areas; they could be wiped out by a catastrophic oil spill. In the past, egg collecting for food and guano harvesting caused population decreases, but these have generally stopped. Predation by sea birds and feral cats is a problem, as is competition for food with sea lions and commercial fishing.

Coral Reef Range and Habitat: multiple Diet: They are feed five times a week with a diet of seaweed and marine fish flakes, brine and mysis shrimp Residents of the Coral Reef Tank: Flame or Red Hawk

In the wild, if the local male dies, the largest female becomes male. Percula Clown fish: They live in the left end of tank, in Nephtea coral, and the larger one is a female.

6 Coral Reef Range and Habitat: multiple Diet: They are feed five times a week with a diet of seaweed and marine fish flakes, brine and mysis shrimp Residents of the Coral Reef Tank: Flame or Red Hawk fish: They don t have a swim bladder, so it swims from perch to perch. Almost all fish have a swim bladder which contains air and gives the fish neutral buoyancy. In the wild, if the local male dies, the largest female becomes male. Percula Clown fish: They live in the left end of tank, in Nephtea coral, and the larger one is a female. The female is over 20 years old! Fire Clown fish: They live in Rose anemones at the right end of the tank. They lay bright blue/green tiny eggs on stalks. Diamond Sleeper Goby: This fish digs burrows in the sand. It eats tiny animals it filters out of the sand with its gills. Short armed Brittle star: They are 7 diameter with slender arms. They are nocturnal and use their tube feet on their arms to collect food and carry it to the mouth underneath the central disk. They are extremely common and live about 5 years. Coral: Coral are colonies of polyps. Stony corals build reefs while soft corals do not. They are critically dependent on algae that live within the polyp s bodies and algae require sunlight. Rising sea surface temperatures, fishing, and human pollution of coastal waters are causing reef damage. Some of ours are individual animals, others are colonies. Can you spot individual mouths?

7 Other Resources: Seneca Park Zoo: Information on the animals you will see on your Expedition World Wildlife Fund: Photos, video and information on many habitats H2O Hero: Information about watersheds and actions kids can take National Geographic: freshwater/ Information about freshwater resources 50 Simple Things: Ideas for actions students can take to care for Earth s resources

Get ready to start your Expedition!

Get ready to start your Expedition! What is an Expedition? An Expedition is a guided, themed interactive tour of a specific area of the Zoo. Please note: You will not see the entire Zoo on your Expedition.