U-day: First University Fair at School

By Bruna Cronfli

As part of the Unit of Inquiry “Habitats and Their Living Things”, 2nd-grade (Y2) students visited the São Paulo Zoo, where they were able to investigate the characteristics of habitats and their living things.

Prior to the field research, the classes studied the animals and their characteristics during Portuguese classes and the different habitats during English classes. Then, the students and teachers discussed and hypothesized what they might find in a zoo. From the conversation, they created a handout containing three divisions: “before the zoo”, “at the zoo”, and “after the zoo”. 

Upon arriving at the zoo, the students could observe whether the spaces were adequate and offered the animals basic conditions for survival, such as food, water, and shelter. One example that caught the students’ attention was the informative sign about the ocelot, which said that the animal can jump to a height of over 2 meters, but the enclosure where it was housed had a much lower ceiling. Each student was recording, in their own way, their reflections and impressions regarding the animals and their care. 

After the visit, the habitats were revisited in class and compared to the ones in which the animals lived in the zoo. In doing so, they were able to compare and reflect on whether the animals had everything necessary to live there, whether the space was appropriate, and whether the plants and natural or artificial light were adequate. 

Finally, they put together an infographic with their research, including the information they learned in their Social Studies classes about the impacts of humans on today’s habitats.