Book Review : The Complete Zoo Adventure

Oh my!  I was tickled when this book arrived in the mail, just days after requesting it!!

 

I had no idea what this book was, but I suspected it would be a book I could enjoy with the kids.

Immediately I had to fight my boys off so that I could examine it before they dug their claws into it!  And I was immediately thrilled with our new treasure!

 

We love the zoo.  We have had zoo memberships for years in DFW and spent many, many days playing and learning at the zoo.  Since moving out to the country our zoo trips have slowed dramatically.  This book had revived our love of the zoo!!

This is not just a book.  It is a complete plan to use the zoo as a school, in a sense.  Included with the book is the following:

1) 27 Field Fact cards – (a bit bigger than a playing card) I plan to laminate these and put them on a ring to have handy when we are at the zoo, or at home and want to brush up on some animal knowledge. 

The cards contain 12 different facts

(incl. size, diet, location, special features, etc)

2) 7 Biome Cards – these are 5x7 cards that tell you lots of information about regions (rainforest, tundra, evergreen, etc)

3) 3 Field Journals – these are reproducible and you would give each child one on the zoo day to record the animals they learn about -

4) 12 Name Badges – also reproducible, and these are just fun tags you can give to your explores to make it more “official” (my kids immediately were deciding who gets which ones because they each have a different animal on them)

I have to say, this book is perfect to accompany Apologia  Zoology I for a homeschool science curriculum.

There are tabs in each section, and the book is set up to lead you through the different stages : a) before the zoo trip  b)at the zoo and finally c)after the zoo.  There is a devotion included for the 7 days leading up to your trip.  The after the zoo section has great discussion questions you can go through with your young scientists!

We have not made it to the zoo, but the kids have poured over it.  It is a great book with amazing pictures, lots of great facts and the best part is it all points to and supports CREATION!!  I love resources that support what we are teaching in our home!!

 

Disclaimer: I provided a copy of this book from New Leaf Publishing Group/Master Books for free so that I could review this book.  The review above is my own opinion.