Head's Newsletter 16 December 2022

YEAR 9 STOP THE CLOCK DAY TO WHIPSNADE ZOO

by Marco Forlin, Ethan Stewart, and Seth Calder Travelling by coach on the way to the zoo, many of us were expecting just a day stuck looking at animals in cages. We all, however, turned out to be proved wrong; the day was amazing. The enclosures were surprisingly big and some animals were allowed to roam around the park without limits! It was very cool to see some of the animals in the flesh that we had only previously seen on David Attenborough TV documentaries. These included the forest animals and safari animals like giraffes, where we saw a baby which had been born only months ago! Marco ’ s favourite animal was the red panda because of its colour and fluffy tail! It was also cool to see the rhinos, which were as big as cargo containers!

It was also quite funny to see the ostriches slipping around in their muddy enclosure, many of them nearly falling over! Perhaps they were trying to get away from the lion enclosure only a few metres away …

Meanwhile, in the workshop, we were learning about the Linnaean Classification system. We were

able to look at animal skulls (some real, some made with a 3D printer), and classify them ourselves and play a fun game of roulette as we tried to name the different animals from their skull shape! We also learnt that with modern technology, the way in which animals are classified has become far more

advanced, going beyond the looks of an animal and instead comparing DNA and genetics.

Another interesting game we played in the workshop was trying to guess which animals were closely related. It turns out that hippos and dolphins are actually cousins! Overall, we all had a great time at the zoo and not only did the experience further our knowledge of evolution, it also gave us a wonderful day filled with fun, activities and animals!