Healthful Habitats: New partnership helps second graders learn about animals at zoo
January 22, 2025
Local high school students are helping to create thriving academic environments for several thousand second graders at Lincoln Children’s Zoo this year.
Science Focus Program (SFP) students represent Lincoln Public Schools in a new partnership with Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (LPSNRD) and Lincoln Children’s Zoo. The agencies are sponsoring habitat field trips to the zoo for all 2,931 LPS second graders. Approximately half of the elementary schools took tours during the first semester, and the other half will learn about animals this spring.
Gabi, Ophelia, Colin, Cayleigh and Liam were five SFP students who assisted with the field trips. The seniors worked with Lincoln Children’s Zoo Education Coordinator Amy Heusinkvelt to craft memorable adventures with giraffes, bald eagles and bobcats. Heusinkvelt led the tours and high schoolers lent their zoology knowledge to each expedition.
“The kids were amazing, and I really liked how we were able to be involved in a project like this that involved animals,” Ophelia said. “It’s why I wanted to come to school here, because I’m interested in studying animals.”
“I liked hearing what they had to say,” Liam said. “It was fun to hear their answers to some of the questions. You could tell that they were really paying attention to what was going on.”
SFP teacher Mitch Bern said many students in his animal behavior course gave enthusiastic feedback about their experiences this fall. High schoolers learned more about animal behaviors and ecology while preparing for the field trips, and they were role models for younger students who were eager to see mammals, birds and reptiles.
“Some of my students have been thinking about going into education, and the field trips gave them an opportunity to see what it would be like to help teach younger children,” Bern said.
Gabi said volunteering for the tours will also serve her well in her future scientific career.
“There’s a lot of communication that takes place in science, so getting to help with these field trips was really good for us,” Gabi said. “A big part of research is communicating what you’ve found out about something to other people. We had to break down what we know about animals to the second graders, and as scientists, we’re going to have to break down our research in our papers or speeches. If we can do that with the elementary kids here, then we can learn to do that in our jobs too.”
Heusinkvelt and LPSNRD Environmental Educator Adam Sutton said there have been many benefits from the multi-agency partnership. Animal habitats are one of the main units in the second grade CKLA curriculum that LPS has implemented this year. The wildlife encounters reinforce those initial textbook lessons, and they are also planting seeds of conservation knowledge in every classroom. The alliance includes shared funding from LPSNRD to cover admission costs.
“With this field trip specifically, I think it is so cool that kids learn what a habitat is and then come to the zoo to see hundreds of mini-habitats up close,” Heusinkvelt said. “It makes it a lot easier to understand exactly what animals need to survive when they see it in action. Also, just spending time outside is always of benefit to kids.”
“Providing students positive experiential learning opportunities about our natural resources throughout their childhood will help lead them to make good resource management decisions as adults,” Sutton said. “Outdoor/nature-related field trips give students the opportunity to expand on many of the lessons they learn in the classroom and build meaningful connections to some of our natural resources, in this case, wildlife and their habitats!”
The zoo-based field trips teach students about the habitat needs – food, water, shelter and space – of Nebraska wildlife, non-native wildlife and endangered species. Children feed giraffes, watch bald eagles spread their wings and discover how bobcats roam in Nebraska grasslands.
Heusinkvelt and the high schoolers showed second graders this fall how each animal helps their specific ecosystem. They also explained why it is critical to protect habitats and how zoos help preserve animal species. Each class also received one hour to explore the zoo on its own.
Saratoga Elementary School second grade teacher Brea Kreikemeier said meeting animals face to face made a big impact on her students. They identified many Nebraska animals to help connect to their local surroundings, and they learned science-based lessons about creatures from across the world.
“Students enjoyed having the opportunity to feed the giraffes and learn about their unique traits,” Kreikemeier said. “We enjoyed having the zoo leaders share their knowledge about the animals with all of us.”
Heusinkvelt said guiding classes like Kreikemeier’s put a smile on her face every time.
“I love getting to celebrate and foster students’ innate curiosity,” Heusinkvelt said. “Many of these students have never been to the zoo before, so being the one to introduce them to the excitement of feeding a giraffe or seeing a penguin swim is so rewarding. I also really appreciate the chance to teach about native Nebraska animals and habitat and remind students that we have a lot of incredible animals in our own backyards.”
The SFP seniors said it was fulfilling to experience the joy of helping others. They said they will remember spending time with the second graders for many years.
“They had such big hearts,” Gabi said. “It was really fun to be part of something like this.”
Visit home.lps.org/science to learn more about the LPS science curriculum. Discover how LPS high school students are customizing their high school experience at the Science Focus Program at https://science.lps.org/.
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Published: January 22, 2025, Updated: January 22, 2025
A Saratoga Elementary School second grader smiles as she feeds a leaf to a giraffe at Lincoln Children’s Zoo. A new partnership between Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln Children’s Zoo and Lower Platte South Natural Resources District is fueling knowledge about animal habitats this year. Zoo education leaders and Science Focus Program students are teaching second graders about animals such as giraffes, bald eagles and bobcats on the field trips.