Unit 4 Biology Zoo Excursion

On Tuesday 4 August, we were lucky enough to travel to the Werribee Zoo as a Unit 3/4 Biology cohort. The day – although absolutely freezing cold – offered amazing opportunities for us to consolidate our recent Key Knowledge point on ‘Acquiring Immunity’, and see how the processes we learnt about in class are applied in real-world situations.

The day began with a visit to the new lion cubs, (a female cub is called Sukari, meaning ‘sugar’ and her brother Kwame [pronounced: Kwah-may], which means ‘born on a Saturday’). We then made our way to the safari bus for a ride through the sanctuary, where we became well acquainted with many different animals, learning fun facts about their physical and behavioural traits, along with “which animals make the biggest poos”. Next was the main attraction – a behind the scenes tour of the zoo’s Vet Hospital, with the Senior Laboratory Supervisor (Peter Munster) who explained how they keep the Asian Elephants safe from Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus (EEHV - a virus effecting young elephants), and an opportunity to explore the different ways that elephants at Zoo’s around Australia acquire their natural and artificial immunity. Education leaders Fiona and Sian told us the story of Man Jai, a young elephant that passed away from EEHV at Melbourne Zoo in 2023, and used his story to illustrate the devastating and fast acting effects of the virus, emphasising the importance of building each elephant’s immunity under careful care. Our learning today will extend to a case study for our upcoming Unit 4 SAC, along with other observation we completed transferring into our future ‘Human change over time’ Key Knowledge point.

Overall, despite the dreary weather, our excursion to the Werribee zoo was such a valuable consolidation opportunity, and (quietly) a nice break from the intensity of term three. 

Some student additions, recorded while stuck in unfortunate traffic on the way home:

A short poem by Year 12 students Ollie and Jonah: “Today we went to the zoo, and found out which animal did the biggest poo. It was rhino and the elephant too!” Some words to describe the day: “Informative”, “educational”, “cold”, “exhilarating” and “a truly enriching experience!”

Cate Mahony and the Unit 4 Biology Classes