Subject Code : BIOL2345
Country : Australia
Assignment Task:

EXCURSION: Diversity of Tetrapods at the Melbourne Zoo 

Through this excursion and the associated report, you will review the classification of tetrapods, explore the diversity of tetrapod species and their adaptations at the Melbourne Zoo, and examine some important aspects of maintaining a good quality of life for animals in zoos. You must attend the excursion in order to receive marks for the excursion report. 

PREPARATION BEFORE THE EXCURSION (BIOL2345)

1. Use your textbook to review the orders of tetrapods listed on page 3 of this handout, and write some notes on them to take with you. You will need to know the common members of each order so that you can look for them at the zoo. If you go to the zoo without preparation, and for example you don't know what an artiodactyl is, you will be unable to complete the assignment. 

2. Read all the directions for what to do at the zoo, so you are prepared and know what to look for.

3. Read the assignment for the excursion report.

4. Bring a printed copy of this handout, a notebook and pen, your student ID, and money to purchase your ticket. Bring your textbook if you want to be able to look up classifications while at the zoo.

5. BEWARE: The report for this assignment is based on YOUR OBSERVATIONS made at the zoo, 

NOT on the information, your research from other sources. This is an exercise in observation! UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE YOU TO INCLUDE ANY INFORMATION OTHER THAN WHAT YOU OBSERVED AND LEARNED AT THE ZOO AND WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED IN OUR COURSE! 

ARRIVING AT THE ZOO

1. You must get to the zoo on your own. Your options are: 

• Take a train on the Upfield line to the Royal Park zoo station. 

• Take the 55 tram to the zoo. You can catch the 55 in front of the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Flemington Rd., or on William St. or Peel St. If you're coming from RMIT, an easy way to get to the Royal Melbourne Hospital is to take the 59 tram from Elizabeth St. 

• Drive to the zoo (Melways 43 E1).

2. We suggest you arrive at 9:00 because many animals are fed or their exhibits are serviced between 9:00 and 10:00. This will help you to observe interesting behaviors and see enrichment practices that the zookeepers employ, which will help you with your assignment.

3. When you enter: - (BIOL2345)

• Find the demonstrator at the Main Entrance (not the north entrance at the train station) to record your attendance. The demonstrator will be inside the entrance at 9:00, 10:00, and 11:00 to meet students. 

• Take a map of the zoo at the ticket booth. 

• See the notice board by the information kiosk for special events happening that day. 

• See the schedule of "Meet the Keepers" sessions printed in the map, and choose one to attend. 

• Start your work immediately, because there is usually a lot of interesting activity at the zoo early in the morning. 

YOUR ASSIGNMENT AT THE ZOO NOTE: You may work with other students while at the zoo, but you must write your excursion report individually. In other words, your excursion report can list the same species and observations as other students, but the descriptions must be written in your own words. 

1. You must find species from each of the Orders and Superorders listed in the checklist on the next page. Note that in some cases you must find more than one representative species. For each species you find, you must note the following: A. Its genus, species, and common name. B. One observation about this species from the following possible choices: 

i. A morphological or behavioral characteristic of this species that is different from the other species of this Order or Superorder in the zoo. For example, there are a lot of primates in the zoo, so you could state one trait that is unique to one particular species of primate.

ii. An interesting adaptation (that you didn't know about before today) that this species has for its ecological niche, e.g. adaptations for feeding, locomotion, protection from predators or the environment, survival behaviors, social behaviors, other behaviors, etc. Your answer could be based on something you observed while looking at the animal, or on the information presented at the exhibit.

iii. Something interesting that the animal was doing when you observed it. This could be an action or, if it was sitting still, something interesting about where it was sitting or looking, etc. This must be an interesting observation, i.e. not something trivial ("it was asleep") but something that reveals a characteristic relevant to its life in nature or to live in a zoo. Provide some speculation about why it was doing this interesting thing. 

2. You must find examples of enrichment practices at the zoo for three different Orders of mammals. (BIOL2345)

Enrichment refers to the practice of providing sensory or environmental stimulation to animals in exhibits so they don't get bored or mentally ill in captivity, displaying pathological behaviors. The goal is to keep animals curious about their environment and to stimulate them mentally with new and ever-changing sights, sounds, images, and challenges. Examples of practices you are unlikely to observe include spraying exotic scents on objects in an exhibit; placing some bedding material or feces from a different species into an exhibit; hiding food in an exhibit, often with a scent trail; providing live prey that the animal can chase; and changing the objects in an exhibit periodically. There are other more obvious practices that you can see by looking carefully at the exhibits, noticing objects that are provided for the animals, or ways that the exhibit is structured. You must describe enrichment practices for three different mammal orders, and state the order and species exhibit where you observed each one. If you have trouble seeing evidence of enrichment practices, ask a zookeeper what they do for enrichment. 

3. You must attend at least one "Meet the Keeper" presentation, as listed in the zoo map and take notes on what you learned. You will have to write a brief paragraph (just a few sentences) about something interesting you learned, which you didn't know about the species before today. 

This BIOL2345: Report Writing Assignment has been solved by our Report Writing Experts at onlineassignmentbank. Our Assignment Writing Experts are efficient to provide a fresh solution to this question. We are serving more than 10000+ Students in Australia, UK & US by helping them to score HD in their academics. Our experts are well trained to follow all marking rubrics & referencing style.

Be it a used or new solution, the quality of the work submitted by our assignment experts remains unhampered. You may continue to expect the same or even better quality with the used and new assignment solution files respectively. There’s one thing to be noticed that you could choose one between the two and acquire an HD either way. You could choose a new assignment solution file to get yourself an exclusive, plagiarism (with free Turnitin file), expert quality assignment or order an old solution file that was considered worthy of the highest distinction.

  • Uploaded By : admin
  • Posted on : February 17th, 2019
  • Downloads : 0

Whatsapp Tap to ChatGet instant assistance