Posts Tagged ‘Toad Trackers’

Jul
14

Amy Chapman’s Collegiate Conservation Program Memories

Posted by in Collegiate Conservation Program

The Collegiate Conservation Program at the Houston Zoo is an 8 week long conservation-education internship generously sponsored by ExxonMobil. We first introduced  some of our interns on the Zoo’s Conservation blog.

Amy Chapman is a freshman at Boston University in Boston, MA. A Houston native and graduate of the Kinkaid School, Amy is currently studying biology with a specialization in conservation and ecology.

Toad Trackers

 

Being a Houston Zoo Conservation Education intern has been the best and most inspirational experience so far! Before I even talk about how incredible our day-to-day work load, I have to make the point about how well our team has bonded. The 10 of us have spent a crazy amount of time together, but despite the hard work and proposal pressure, we all want to see the movie Zookeeper together after our program is finished!

This program has helped me decide that conservation is the route for me; however it has also shown me how many doors and possibilities this career can hold. I am specializing in conservation and ecological biology, yet I didn’t understand what that entailed until now. I see the depth and levels of the field now, from the planters of the prairie to the  government agencies that have to coordinate sea turtle rescues.

I can’t believe how much fun these 8 weeks have been and until week 3 I had no idea we received a stipend! Everyday I have such a interesting and thrilling story that i come home and tell anyone that will listen to me ramble about things like, exceptionally rare camera trap photos from Borneo. I would recommend this internship to anyone and everyone because if I could I would do it again!

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Jun
22

Tracking Toads

Posted by in Camp,Classes/Programs,Featured

Toad Trackers measuring a Gulf Coast toad!

Have you ever wondered what the Zoo would be like at night? Do you have an interest in conservation and amphibians? Maybe you’ve always wanted to become an expert field researcher during the summer? Well this summer you can! During Toad Trackers, a week-long summer camp offered July 19th and July 26th children ages 10-12 can become field researchers while spending the night at the Zoo.

In this brand new conservation education program, students become familiar with local amphibians and field research tools such as kestrels, GPS units, calipers, microchips and scales.  Students practice using this equipment in order to perform tests and measurements when they search for Gulf Coast toads on Zoo grounds during their overnight.

In May of this year we had a home school group join us to pilot the program. We had two very successful evenings of tracking toads on grounds, where we found about four gulf coast toads each night. Each student that participated had a specific job during the field research portion of the evening ranging from catching the toad and placing it in the bucket to sexing and weighing the toad. After the students performed their tests they handed the toad to an employee of the Conservation Department that specializes in amphibians, who placed a microchip in the toad. The microchip allows the conservation department to track the toads for several years. Both the home school group and our summer camp groups play an important role in gathering information for this research project. Not only do these students have the opportunity to become a field researcher for the week, they also contribute to one of the Zoo’s conservation projects.

 So, if your kids are like me and spend lots of time outside getting dirty and collecting snakes, frogs, toads, salamanders or any other wildlife to bring back home-this camp could be for them! Spaces are filling fast, so visit our website to register now: http://www.houstonzoo.org/camp/.

Written by Martha, Education Programs Specialist

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May
19

Toad Trackers!

Posted by in Classes/Programs,Fun on grounds

Do you want to be a wildlife biologist for a day? The Houston Zoo Toad Trackers class is for you!

The Houston Zoo would like to offer a special opportunity for Houston Home School families to take part in a one of a kind wildlife conservation education program called Toad Trackers. This exciting program was made possible by a grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife, Community Outdoor Outreach Program. This program aims to teach students real world field research methods used by conservation biologists and wildlife professionals. Through the course of the class, students will be introduced to the equipment a field biologist would use in their research and some of the methods used in the scientific study of wild animal populations. Students will also learn about global amphibian extinctions and why monitoring local amphibian populations are important to detecting declines in our own region.

In the second part of the class, students will be able to apply their newly acquired skills by actively searching for real toads on Zoo grounds and weighing and measuring them under the supervision of Houston Zoo biologists!

This important information collected by students will help Houston Zoo amphibian biologists to track the toad’s movement and health on Zoo grounds!

This is a two part class, the first class is on Monday, May 24th from 1-3 pm and Wednesday, May 26, from 8-10 pm.  Space is limited.

Check out the website for more information and to register!

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Apr
03

It’s That Time Again!

Posted by in Camp,Featured

It's almost time for Summer Camp Zoofari!

It may not be summer yet, but it is definitely on the horizon.  And you know what summer means for the Education Department – Summer Camp Zoofari!  Registration is open, and preparations are well under way.

For those of you who have read some of my earlier posts, you know two things about me when it comes to camp: I am the camp supplies guru, and I spent some time on grounds last fall thinking about new camp topics.  First, to the topics.

We kept some of our topics from last summer – why write new stuff when the existing stuff is still perfectly good?  A few of last year’s new camps sold out really fast (Bringing Up Baby, Island Hoppers, and Keeper Camp come to mind) so keeping those for this year means more people can have a chance to experience them!

We have some new, exciting topics debuting this year, too!  Toad Trackers, for our 10-12 year old age group, includes real field research on Zoo grounds.  8-9 year olds can take an Asian Expedition with us to visit elephants, red panda, Komodo dragon, and other awesome Asian animals.   The 6 and 7 year olds have a chance to explore some of the most remote habitats of the world in Natural Mysteries.  And Colossal Creatures for our youngest group should be tons of fun. 

Some of the camp supplies that arrived at my desk last year.

Now that we have our topics, the fun part for me begins: supplies!  I spent most of my day yesterday “shopping” with school supply catalogs covering my desk and at least 5 browser windows open to craft supply sites.  I know a lot of people like bargain hunting, but this is a little different.  When is the last time you did price comparisons for owl pellets or rubber fish replicas for fish printing?  But I got it done!  The list to order is finished, we’ll start placing those orders next week, and then it’ll start to feel like my birthday.  Boxes will arrive, I’ll get to open all of them and see what’s inside, and then I’ll have the task of finding someplace to put everything.

Camp Zoofari is 10 weeks long, and it takes a lot of supplies for a camp this big.  This year we had requests for more than 6,000 sheets of construction paper (in a variety of colors), nearly 4,000 googly eyes, and 2,000 feet of yarn!  And we have to get some odd things, too: pantyhose, plastic insects, golf balls, and a blubber mitt were also on the list, just to name a few.  But we find it, we make it, we order it, or we borrow it – there is very little that we end up needing to substitute.

So now that I’ve told you all about my part of camp planning, it’s your turn!  What are you looking forward to about Camp Zoofari? 

Summer Camp Zoofari is filling fast, so register your kids today!

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