(upbeat music) - Hello scientists.

Welcome back to Room 9, our region's largest classroom.

My name is Mrs. Stobbs And I teach kindergarten in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights school district right here in St. Louis.

And today I'll be teaching another science lesson for kindergartners and for preschoolers, but of course as always, learners of all ages are welcome to join me.

So let's get started and have so much fun today.

Now, where am I, friends?

I'm back at the zoo this week!

I had so much fun last week that I had to come back because the zoo, like I said is one of my very favorite places in all of St. Louis.

And last week we learned all about all the different types of animals.

We learned about invertebrates.

We learned about birds and mammals and amphibians and reptiles and fish.

Oh my goodness.

So many different types of animals.

And today we're going to learn about how the zoo takes care of all of its different animals and how you might take care of your own animals at home because animals are big responsibility and we have to give them what they need.

Now, do you think the zoo does a really good job of taking care of the animals?

Oh my goodness, yes!

They research about the animals and what they need.

They learn everything they can about the animals and they make sure the animals are happy and healthy.

So we're going to go inside and see what sort of animals we can see and also look at their enclosures to see how the zookeepers give them what they need.

And then we'll go back to our classroom.

After that, we'll learn a little bit more about how zoos take care of their animals and also how he might take care of animals and also how animals get what they need from the wild.

Even if they don't have a person taking care of that.

So let's go on into the zoo and see all the awesome animals.

All right guys, we are here by the prairie dogs.

We're at the prairie dogs.

Do you see them?

Look how cute they are?

Oh my goodness.

And today we are going to be talking about all of the things that animals need to survive.

Now, we talked about what living things need to survive a few weeks ago.

Do you remember what they need?

They need food.

They need water.

They need air.

And then animals, they need shelter.

Do you see some of those things in that in the prairie dog enclosure?

I see some food for the prairie dogs.

I see grasses.

And some leaves.

Sometimes whenever you come to the zoo you might even see things like sweet potatoes or other vegetables that they might be eating.

I also see lots of shelter for them.

They have so many tunnels that they can climb into and they also have even some little caves that have been made out of logs and things like that.

So there's a place for them to be protected.

So if they get scared, they can run away and they can hide.

And they also have the water that they need to.

And of course there is so much air for them to breathe.

And they're very protected in this little space and it's so fun to come see them here at the zoo.

Now, does the penguin enclosure look like the prairie dog enclosure?

What do you think?

Have you ever been to the zoo to see the penguins?

It looks pretty different.

I think we might need to learn more about why different enclosures at the zoo look different from each other and why different animals need different things to survive.

So let's go back to our classroom and learn a little bit more.

Wow, that was so fun to see the prairie dogs at the zoo.

I have a few other videos from the zoo that I'll show you later.

But first of all I wanted to talk about something a little bit different.

Do you see who I have on my lap here?

This is my dog, Oliver.

Do you have a dog at home or do you have another pet like a cat or a guinea pig or a hamster or a bird?

Well, do you have to work hard to take care of your pet?

Do you think I have to work hard to take care of Oliver?

Are there things that he needs to stay healthy and happy?

Oh my goodness, yes!

Can you think about some things that I might need to do to make sure Oliver this cute little puppy here is happy and healthy?

Well, I have to give him food.

Here's his food dish and there's nothing in there right now.

He already ate his breakfast.

I have to give him water and there is a little bit water in there.

You want some water, Oliver?

He said yes, I'm a little thirsty.

I also give him treats sometimes.

Do you ever give your dog or your cat or your pet treats?

He really likes treats.

He says, ooh boy that's delicious.

So we give our pets treats.

We also give our pets toys for things to play with.

This is one of Oliver's favorite toys and you know what we call it?

Moo cow.

And so he loves his moo cow.

He plays with it.

He squeaks it, and he chases it around.

So pets need things to do too.

What about a bed to sleep in?

Now, Oliver has a doggy bed and he also has a kennel but he also sleeps all around our house.

He sleeps in the bed.

He sleeps on a couch.

So he has lots of comfy places to sleep.

And if you have a dog, you know that you also need to take them outside to go potty.

So sometimes we have to go on a walk or sometimes he just has to go out in the backyard.

Now, if you have a different type of pet you might not have to let them outside.

But that's the thing.

You have to know what your pets need and the way that you find that out.

You can read books, you can read things on the internet.

A lot of times I read articles online about taking care of dogs.

I also observe Oliver.

Remember observe means that we look very closely at something.

And so I observe Oliver to see what he likes and what he doesn't like.

And I also talk to experts.

Who's the expert about doggies?

A veterinarian.

So I talked to his vet a lot to make sure that I'm doing everything I can to keep Oliver healthy and happy.

So if you have a pet at home do you do some of the same things that I do for Oliver?

Does your pet have food and water?

Oh I hope so.

Do you ever give your pet treats?

Like Oliver got a treat?

Yeah, you probably do.

Does your pet have toys?

Oh, pets love toys.

Does your pet have a bed?

Now, the type of bed might look different.

Some animals don't really have a specific bed but just in their cage where they are.

Maybe they have a little comfy place where they can sleep.

So it's so important that we take care of animals, right?

And so today we're going to learn about how we can take care of animals.

We talked about it a little bit how we can take care of animals at the zoo.

We're going to talk about that a little bit more but we're also going to talk about how you can take care of pets and even what animals do outside.

The wild animals that don't really have any people that take care of them because they do fine without help from people.

Now I'm going to put Oliver down for a minute so he can go play while we keep on talking.

But then, we'll read a little bit more and we'll watch some more videos of animals at the zoo to see what they need.

All right.

Now that Oliver is off playing and having fun, I wanted to talk a little bit more about comparing kind of how we take care of our pets and how the zookeepers at the zoo take care of their animals.

Do you think it's kind of similar?

It is, just like I said, that whenever you have a pet you need to research what would be best for your pet.

You need to observe your pet to see what they like and don't like, and you need to talk to experts.

Zookeepers do that too.

Zookeepers do a lot of research to figure out what their animals need.

Some zookeepers even travel all over the world to figure out what the animals do out in the wild and what sorts of foods that they eat how they get their water and what they do to just be happy and healthy.

They look at how they are out in the wild and then they bring that information back to the zoo so they can keep the animals at the zoo super happy and healthy.

And there are lots of experts that can talk, that they can talk to to figure out how to keep their animals healthy.

Other zookeepers will talk to each other.

So zookeepers talk to zookeepers, but also there are people at the zoo like veterinarians that help out too.

So there are all sorts of people that work together to make the zoo a great place so that the animals can be safe and healthy.

Now we were at the zoo and we saw the prairie dog enclosure.

And we said that the prairie dogs had everything that they needed.

They had food, they had a place to hide, They had shelter, they had water, they had plenty of air to breathe.

Their enclosure was clean and you know what?

Zookeepers go in there all the time to make sure that they are happy and healthy.

But do you think all of the enclosures look the same at the zoo?

Do all of the enclosures look like the prairie dog enclosure?

Do you think all the animals need the exact same thing that the prairie dogs need?

Oh my goodness, no way.

All of the animals at the zoo have so many different needs because animals come from all over the world.

There are animals from really cold places in the world that need enclosures that are cold.

There are animals that come from the desert and maybe something that's very dry.

There are animals that come from the rain forest at the zoo and they need a forest.

They need a rain forest habitat to live in to be happy and healthy.

And of course, animals eat all sorts of different types of food.

There are some animals at the zoo that only eat meat.

And so the zookeepers have to figure out what type of meat to give them.

There are some animals that only eat vegetables or leaves.

And so the zookeepers have to figure out what sort of leaves to give them.

And there are some animals that eat both.

They eat both leaves and meat.

So the zookeepers, like I said, they have to research and figure out what is good for animals.

What's good for the animals to eat?

Because sometimes maybe even one type of leaf isn't good for a certain animal to eat.

So zookeepers have a really tough job.

And all the people at the zoo have really tough jobs to make sure that the animals stay happy and healthy because that is their number one goal.

They really want to make sure that the animals are happy and healthy because we're taking care of them.

It's a big responsibility.

So let's think a little bit more about some enclosures at the zoo and compare them and think about if the animals have what they need.

So we already saw the prairie dog enclosure and we saw that it had lots of tunnels.

It had food and had places to hide, but it was pretty dry.

Let's think now though about the penguin exhibit at the zoo.

Have you ever been to the penguin exhibit at the zoo?

If you have, can you show me what it feels like in there?

It's so cold in there.

Especially if you go in there in the summertime whenever you're wearing shorts, because you're used to the hot weather and then you go in there and you go, it's so cold, but do the penguins like it?

They do.

So let's look at this video of the penguins at the zoo.

What do you notice?

What's in there?

I see some rocks.

I see lots of water and there's even more water in there than we can even see in this video.

And there are lots of penguins.

There are some animals that like to be all by themselves but some animals like to be with other animals.

So penguins like to live together so there's lots of penguins in here.

And the penguins are standing.

They're laying around and they're swimming.

Now, we might not see the food in there right now.

And that's because the zookeepers, whenever they feed the penguins, they actually go in with the penguins and they feed the penguins one by one and they give one penguin a fish.

Then they give another penguin a fish and they make sure that each penguin gets the right amount of fish that they need.

And that way, not just one penguin is hogging all the food.

So the zookeepers actually go in with these animals.

But do you think that the zookeepers can go in with the lions?

No way.

So they have to find a different way to feed those animals.

So even the way that they feed animals at the zoo is a little bit different.

All right.

Now you might be saying though, Mrs. Stobbs, I've been to the zoo and I love it.

And I know that inside it's cold, it's so, so, so, so cold but there are some penguins that are outside of the zoo.

And even in the summertime, they're outside of the zoo.

Why is that?

Is that good for the animals?

Let me tell you.

Again, the zookeepers did their research.

Do you know that not all penguins live where it's really, really, really cold?

There are some penguins that live in warmer climates.

And the penguins that are outside.

They're called Humboldt penguins.

Can you say Humboldt?

Humboldt.

And Humboldt penguins live in Peru where it's actually really warm.

So the Humboldt penguins are totally fine to be outside in the summer.

They're also okay to be outside in the winter time too.

Now there's a little secret though.

The water that you can see in this enclosure.

It's actually the same temperature as the water.

that's in the insight enclosure for the penguins.

So the penguins that live where it's really, really cold they have cold water, but also the penguins where the penguins that live in really warm weather.

They have very cold water too.

So if they get a little bit hot they can jump into the water and cool down.

So again, the zookeepers did their research to know what the animals need.

And again, they give them fish to eat because the penguins need a lot of fish.

Oh boy.

All right, well my friends let's keep on going.

Let's see another habitat.

All right, well, the next habitat we're going to see is one of my favorite animals at the zoo.

It's hard for me to pick a favorite because I love all the animals so much at the zoo, but one of my favorite animals at the zoo are the orangutans.

Have you ever seen an orangutan before?

If you've seen an orangutan, can you start to act like one?

Does an orangutan waddle like a penguin?

No.

Does an orangutan fly?

No.

Does an orangutan crawl?

Not really.

Does an orangutan climb through trees or swing through trees?

It does, an orangutan.

Let's take a look at the video and you can see what an orangutan is.

An orangutan is one of the great apes.

So it's a big primate.

It's not a monkey.

It doesn't have a tail, but it's kind of close to maybe like a chimpanzee or a gorilla.

Those are also apes.

They're not monkeys.

But orangutans, they're big apes that have red fur all over them.

And they're from Sumatra and they live in a rainforest.

So what do you notice about the orangutans' enclosure?

Does it look cold like the penguins?

Does it look dry like the prairie dogs?

Look at all of that grass.

Look at all of those trees.

Orangutans love to climb trees.

And they're also very secretive.

Secretive means that they don't really like to be seen very much.

They like to hide.

And so the zookeepers give them lots of places to hide.

So if they ever feel a little bit too nervous about all the people coming to visit them they can hide in the trees or hide in the bushes so that no one can see them.

So a lot of times, where you go to the orangutan exhibit you might say, they're not up today, but they might be, they might just be hiding.

Now you'll also notice that the orangutan has some cloth on its head.

And orangutans are very, very smart creatures.

They use lots of different tools.

And one thing that they use out in the wild they'll find really big leaves and use them almost as umbrellas or blankets.

And they like to hide under them.

So the zookeepers, they like to give orangutans little pieces of fabric that they can hide under and they can put on their head and they'll walk around and kind of hold it almost like a baby blanket.

So orangutans get a little baby blanket.

That might be something that they need.

So something else that we haven't talked about yet that people give to their animals will be kind of what we talked about with Oliver.

Do you remember Moo Cow?

Moo Cow was a toy and zoo animals also get kind of toys sometimes.

They get something called enrichment and enrichment is just anything that helps the animals be happy and use their brains, or use their body in a way that they would use their brain and body out in the wild.

So sometimes you'll see the primates.

They might have little puzzles that they have to solve to get the food out and they have to use their fingers or maybe even sticks to get the food out because out in the wild, they would have to do that.

They would have to figure out how to get the food and it keeps them busy.

Or sometimes you might see animals that have pieces of food frozen in ice and they have to figure out how to get to it.

And that's another way, sometimes out in the big, big cat area, you might see some of our big cats just have big balls that they play with.

Just like you might give your cat or dog a big ball to play with but theirs have to be a lot stronger because big cats are super strong.

And sometimes the enrichment is actually other animals.

Let's look back at the video from last week about the giraffe and the ostrich and the lesser kudu.

These are all animals that would live in the same area and they get along fine.

But because they're different animals they sometimes make each other act a little bit differently.

They have to kind of move around and figure out how to get along with each other.

And just like you might have more fun whenever you're with friends.

A lot of times animals have more fun whenever they're with friends too.

But again, zookeepers have to do their research because not all animals like to be with other animals.

The polar bear at the zoo, he likes to be by himself.

And so he's by himself and there are other animals that like to be by themselves.

So they're by themselves because out in the wild they would be by themselves.

They wouldn't be with other animals.

So again, zookeepers have to do a lot of research to make sure that animals are as happy and healthy as they can be.

Oh boy, that's a lot to think about.

So zookeepers do a lot of great things for animals and you might do a lot of great things for animals at your house but what about animals that are in your backyard?

Animals like squirrels and rabbits and birds.

Do they have anybody really looking out for them?

Do they have someone giving them food?

Do they have someone taking them to the vet if they get sick?

Do they have someone giving them toys?

No.

So there are so many animals out in the world that just know how to take care of themselves but do they still need the same things that the animals that have people taking care of that need?

They do.

They still need food.

They need water, they need shelter and they need air to breathe.

And it's also good for them sometimes to have something to kind of play or something to do too.

And I bet you've seen squirrels maybe in your backyard being really playful.

They're pretty playful animals.

So we're going to read a little book called When Rain Falls and in this book, it's all about how different wild animals react to the rain.

Because again, animals and most just have to take care of themselves.

They don't have people taking care of them.

And they're happy with that.

They're happy to just watch out for themselves.

So let's read When Rain Falls, before we do, can we start a little rainstorm?

All right.

So let's start.

Can you snap your fingers?

You might not be able to, but if you can, snap your fingers with me or maybe have a grownup snap their fingers this is like the rain drops just starting.

Just drip drop.

Drip drop.

Now it's getting a little faster.

The rain starting to fall, can now rub your hands together.

The rain's coming down harder and harder.

It's coming down faster.

All right, now start patting your knees.

The rain is coming down faster and harder.

Faster and harder.

Now stomp your feet.

The rain has been coming down harder and faster.

Oh my goodness.

So much rain.

But it's getting lighter now.

It's getting lighter.

Now can you rub your hands together?

The rainstorm is passing.

And now the sun has come up.

Let's read to find out When Rain Falls.

This book is written by Melissa Stewart and illustrated by Constance R. Bergum.

And this book is published by Peach Tree publishing company.

And they gave me permission to read this book inside clouds, water droplets, budge and bump, crash, and clump.

The drops grow larger and larger heavier and heavier until they fall to earth.

And look, you can see they're running away from the rainstorm.

So whenever it rains, you might run inside.

When rain falls in your neighborhood, you run inside and wait for the storm to end.

Do animals run inside?

Let's see, when rainfall is in a forest, scurrying squirrels suddenly stop.

They pull they're long bushy tails over their heads like umbrellas.

A huck puffs out its feathers to keep water out and warm thin, chickadees stay warm and dry inside their tree whole homes.

So see, most have special little homes that they go into that they just make themselves.

A doe and fawn take cover under a leafy tree canopy.

A red fox family nestles inside a cozy warm den.

When rainfall is on a field, plump little caterpillars crawl under leaves and cling to stems.

Adult butterflies dangle from brightly colored flower heads.

So they know what to do too.

They know how to protect themselves.

A raindrop knocks a lady bug off of a slippery stem.

The insect bounces into the air and then tumbles to the ground.

But it's okay.

A spider watches and waits as the rain beats down on its carefully built web.

A mouse crouches under a fallen leaf.

Again, they just know how to take shelter.

Bees hide in hives and ants stay safe in their underground nests.

Even little insects know what to do.

When rain falls in the wetland, turtles tuck in their tiny heads rain splatters against their hard strong shells.

A dragonfly swoops down to perch below a fluffy cattail seed head and whirligig beetles swim in circles and struggle to stay afloat.

But they're doing okay.

Sparrows, which are a type of birds huddle deep inside a dense cluster of leafy bushes but ducks continue to cruise through the water raindrops slide right off of their oily feathers.

So some animals aren't even bothered at all by the rain.

When rain falls in the desert, a rattlesnakes squeezes into a rocky crevice, it curls up tight and falls asleep.

A tarantula, a big spider scurries under into its underground tunnel.

And bats hang silently in a hillside cave.

They all do something a little different, don't they?

An elf owl takes cover in a cactus nest.

Spadefoot toads dig to the surface, they mate, lay eggs and then brew back into the sand.

So it sounds like they liked the rain.

And then when the rain stops, animals living in fields and forests, wetlands, and deserts return to their daily routines.

So now they've moved on.

And so do you.

You might go back outside too.

I like this book because it shows that those animals know how to take care of themselves.

And I bet that today you can look around you to see what sorts of animals or what animals are doing to take care of themselves.

You can look at your pets to see how you take care of your pets, but also go outside and look at squirrels, can be a little squirrel.

Eat a nut and crawl.

Maybe you can look at the birds or the butterflies and you can watch to see how they take care of themselves.

Now, should you try to go out and catch one of these animals?

No way, they're happier just by themselves but it's so fun to maybe take a notebook outside and to record what you see and see how maybe they're getting food.

You can look to see maybe what they're eating.

I bet you'll see some squirrels eating acorns or seeds.

Squirrels might even be getting into your garden and eating some of the things in your garden and birds too but they know what to do to take care of themselves.

And some of them have learned from their parents what to do but some of them just know, and it's called instinct.

So animals of all kinds need different things.

They need food, water, air, shelter but some animals just know how to do it on their own.

And some animals need a little bit of help from people to take care of themselves.

So my friends, no matter what, all of these animals are amazing.

And I hope that you spend some time this week learning about different animals.

Maybe you can even ask your grownup to take you to the zoo to see some of the amazing animals that we have there, okay?

So my friends, I hope you have a great week and I hope that you think about all the amazing animals around you and that you continue to think like a scientist.

I'll see you later.

Bye.

(upbeat music) - Teaching in Room 9 is made possible with support of Bank of America, Dana Brown Charitable Trust, Emerson, and viewers like you.