Creator: Tubehead, Inc. | visit site
Grade Range: - 8
Use this free realistic virtual zoo to create hybrid and unique organisms, play sliding and jigsaw puzzles, or watch and listen to critters. Click on "Make and Play" to find engaging activities, games, and puzzles including building your own unique animal. In this section it is encouraged to "Please DO feed the animals," care for and learn what various animals eat. Build an online habitat by adding animals and taking clues from a compatibility meter and thermometer to determine whether they are a fit with the environment. (The animals will also complain if they do not fit.) Watch for clever animations when the environment is 100% compatible. "Watch and Listen" offers songs and sounds of nature and more. Visit the "Teach and Learn" section to find the profiles of different animals, lessons plans, and other resources.
In the Classroom
Use this site to teach habitats and animals. Create a short story or poem about a fictitious animal that you create using SwitchZoo. Use the characteristics and the environment of the animal to effectively communicate the information through writing. What would the environment for this organism look like? What would you call this animal? Compare adaptations and requirements of various animal creations and defend the reasoning for these adaptations. Find similarities and differences in animals through engagement in the many activities on the site. Have groups of students build online habitats and collaborate to make it completely compatible for all animals. Have the students share their new animals and stories on an interactive whiteboard. Or enhance learning by creating a class book exhibiting all of the animals at "Mr. Smith’s Zoo." Remember that PowerPoint, <a href="/single.cfm?id=18895">reviewed here</a>, slides make an easy way to write and incorporate clip art, then combine and print into a big book.
At Home
Any student will love this site. The engaging games and activities provide many learning opportunities about animals, ecology, and conservation.
Tags
environment, animals, conservation, habitats,