As part of our Geography topic, Prep V visited Chester Zoo on Thursday to learn about the rainforest and the many animals and plants which make it their home. We had a smooth journey, excitement levels rising as we spotted the brown signs with the iconic elephant as we neared the zoo. (Quashing the suspicions of those on the blue bus who thought that we were near Tyldesley!)
Our first stop was the education building; on the way we spotted elephants, camels and rhinos (no Christian, they don’t usually wear clothes!) We quickly formed teams and investigated the plants, animals, insects and trees which are found in the different layers of the rainforest, solving clues and quizzes and examining skulls, skins and minibeasts as well as sampling some of the forest smells which ranged from vanilla and coffee – Mrs Sweeney’s favourite – to the rather less lovely rotten meat smell of the corpse flower.
Afterwards, we learnt about the alarming speed at which deforestation is destroying our rainforests, and found out about the main causes. Most importantly, we learnt that we can all save the rainforests by buying products in supermarkets that use palm oil grown responsibly by farmers who safeguard animals and their habitats. We were relieved to learn that Gregg’s sausage rolls, Maltesers and Nutella all use sustainably farmed palm oil – phew!
We certainly had plenty of food for thought after our morning workshop, and talking of food, everyone was more than ready for a spot of lunch. We picnicked on the grass in the sunshine, before setting out on our exploration of the zoo, focusing on rainforest creatures and a few extras who were too cute to miss! We spent a long time in the watching the antics of the orangutans and gibbons in the monkey house (amazingly we managed not to lose any of our children…) A highlight was watching the gibbons loping along in their outside area, accompanied by an excellent imitation from Reuben! The colourful and highly poisonous frogs in the Tropical Realm also proved popular – Isabelle’s animal of the day was the tiny but highly deadly strawberry poison dart frog, and we enjoyed spotting the chameleon and the tiny scarlet birds which flew over our heads. At the Spirit of the Jaguar enclosure, some of us were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the prowling jaguars, as well as Mr Grant’s favourites, the sloths, whose once a week descent to the ground for a toilet visit proved a source of great fascination!
All too soon it was time to make our way back to the minibus, via the penguins, elegant giraffes and squawking flamingos, while Mafalda told us all the animals’ names in Portuguese. Who knew that penguin translates as pinguim?! No school trip would be complete without a visit to the gift shop, where many cuddly creatures were liberated as mementos of our day out.
Our thanks to Mr Suter and Miss Gregory for their excellent driving, Mr Grant for his zoological expertise, Mr Green for our lunches and our parents for their continued support.
I loved going to Chester Zoo, my favourite animal was the gibbons🐵since I loved seeing them
using there extremely long arms to walk. Another one of my favourite animals was the penguins🐧because I loved how they were swimming in the water for a long time and they were really cute and small.
Aqsa Iqbal Prep 5
I really like Chester zoo And my favourite creature was the Orangutang. It was so interesting to see it climb with it family.
From Luca
I liked Chester Zoo and my favorite part was the elephants and the leopards
Findlay Rafferty-Hemmings
I love Chester zoo, my favourite was the elephants.
I bought 2 very cool badges for my blazer from the shop at the end.
Thank you to our teachers for taking us.
Thank you Mrs Sweeney, Mr Grant and Mr Suter for the amazing and wonderful school trip to Chester Zoo I really enjoyed watching the gibbons and orangutans 🦧 climb the ropes in there exercise facility I also enjoyed looking at the poisonous frogs 🐸 I also enjoyed the quiz before lunch 🥪 I also loved watching the penguins 🐧 because they were not hard to spot as they was in water.
Reuben Shepherd Prep V
I loved going to Chester Zoo , my favourite animal was the chimpanzee’s because I like the way they walk and swing.If I went again I would like to see the lions and butterflies
Isla Mameja
Prep V
I really enjoyed our trip to Chester Zoo. My favourite animal was probably the sloths. If I went again, i would go and see the lions and the capybaras which someone told me were there. If I am wrong, please excuse me.
Thank you to all the staff a specially Mrs Sweeney for organising this my favourite animal had to be the Orangutans.
I enjoyed this trip! Thank you for taking us Mrs Sweeney, Mr Grant, Miss Gregory and Mr Suter! My favourite animal was the strawberry poison frog.
Isabelle Harrison
Prep 5
Also my favourite animals were the sloths, giraffes, penguins, gibbons and the chimpanzees.
Alex Prep 5
My favourite animal was the penguin but I know that it does not live in the rainforest but they was so cute
I loved going to Chester Zoo and seeing all the different animals. Thank you to everyone who organised it and helped out. My favourite animals were the penguins because they sometimes swam out of no where in front of you and I loved watching them zooming around in the water! This is definately one of my favourite trips in the school year. Thank you for taking us!
Beatrice Prep 5
I loved Chester Zoo and my favourite part was when we saw the sloths and the Jaguars which are very hard to spot. If I went again I would like to see the lions and the snow leopards.
Jack Hignett Prep 5
I really enjoyed this trip. My favourite part was watching the penguins swim and I also enjoyed learning about the rainforests.
Annie Prep V
I loved chester zoo , we had a quiz about the rainforest and it was very fun. My favourite part was the sloths anbd the Jaguars wich were quiet hard to spot.If we went again I would love to see the lions and the snow leopords
At Chester Zoo, my favourite animals were there Penguins because they looked at us as we admired them and they swam fast.
Albie
This trip was really fun and I enjoyed looking at some of the animals after lunch.
Alex Prep 5
I loved Chester Zoo, and my favourite part was the sloths and the Jaguars which were very hard to spot .If I went again I would like to see the lions and the snow leopords
Jack Hignett