Level 3 Biology class trip to Orana Park, Friday 19 August.

When we arrived we were met by Sarah, a teacher at the Zoo school, who took us to the Zoo school where we met Elizabeth (another Zoo school teacher) and started our first lesson. The first lesson was about primate skulls (pictured below) which would make it easier for us to understand Hominid skulls which is a large part of our Human Evolution biology exam at the end of the year. We then went to visit the primates in the flesh! We were able to see lemurs, gorillas, and gibbons and learn more about them firsthand.

At the end of this section we were able to identify and compare the skulls from most to least human like. After this we moved onto Hominid skulls and identified characteristics of these skulls like the diastema, facial prognathism, sagittal crest, foramen magnum, and many more features. Our job for this was to use the skulls provided at the zoo school and write down whether these characteristics were present in the skull. The skulls were plastic replicas that can cost up to $900 each, so we were lucky to be able to use them. After this, our final task for this section was to organise the skulls from oldest to newest of which we were about 50% correct.

After lunch, we were taken on a tour of the Zoo by Sarah and talked about animal behaviours and their various relationships in the wild. These relationships are important for us to know for our second biology exam which is about plant and animal behaviours. Here we were able to see tigers, bison, lemurs, giraffes, cheetahs, and more. 

A big thank you Mrs Newberry & Mrs Rothery for a great day.