Zoos

Zoos is a PowerPoint template from the Association for Science Education (ASE) for students to produce their own presentation on the habitat, adaptations and feeding relationships of a particular animal.

The activity improves students' ability to select relevant information for a presentation, develops their ICT skills and increases their knowledge of the relevant science concepts.

Aimed at students aged 11-13, Zoos is an interesting alternative to producing posters or leaflets. The high quality appearance of the work appeals to students with poor literacy or presentation skills. Students are encouraged to think carefully about their audience, the relevance of the information they select and where further information can be found.

Chester Zoo collaborated with ASE to produce this resource, providing information about, and images of, ten animals in their care. These animals were selected to demonstrate a range of adaptations, and in some cases, because they are an endangered species, to show the depth of conservation work with which the zoo is involved. In particular, the ASE thanks Sara Ruks for all her time and effort in making this information available.

A PowerPoint presentation consists of a series of slides that can include images and/or text. More advanced presentations may also include sounds and movie clips.

The PowerPoint template should be saved to the individual workstation before students begin. Students are provided with a background resource document from which to select information. They insert this selected text into their presentation, and choose relevant images, which are provided on the template, to illustrate the information. Students may also insert information that they have researched from other sources.