Over this summer, I've learned a ton about how the zoo works. Working mostly with the aquariums, I've learned a lot about what an aquarist does and how to care for those animals. It's been a great experience, learning those skills and working on how to apply them to my classroom. I'm hoping to implement my "physics of animals" project in my 9th grade conceptual physics class, and when I return to teaching Earth science in the future, it would be very easy to relate what I've learned working with aquariums to the oceanography unit.
Advice to future Blank Park Zoo externs: people who are afraid of getting dirty need not apply. I think it was very beneficial to work with the aquariums, because for liability purposes, many of the jobs that aren't "sanitation" related can only be done by full-time zoo keepers. Working with the aquarist, I could do almost any job that he could do, with the exception of diving into the exhibits for cleaning/maintenance.
I think that this experience would have been great for a biology teacher, however I definitely feel that it has been beneficial for me as a physics teacher. I was looking for connections to physics on a daily basis, and it served as a constant reminder that different subjects are related, it isn't one set of rules for biology, one for physics, etc. I hope to convey that message to students in the future.
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