"The Junior Girl Scout went to the Topeka Zoo and did the Twilight tour on Oct. 21st. It started at the Rain forest. After looking around, we went to a room at the back of the Rain forest and saw how they prepare food for the animals. We saw lots of other animals through out the zoo like giraffes, bears, tigers and lions. The Twilight tour at the zoo was a blast!" - Rosalia, 4th grade JuniorThe 4th grade Junior Girl Scouts worked on the Animal Habitat badge. Some of the steps to earning this badges are; 1. Find out about wild animals, 2. Investigate an animal habitat, 3. Create an animal house, 4. Explore endangered habitats, and 5. Help protect animal habitats.
When we toured the zoo at night, we saw how many of the animals do different things within their habitats than they do during the day. The owls were more "talkative" at night and were closer to the fronts of their enclosures. The bats swooped all over the place, many of us had to dunk otherwise we would have had bats in our hair! We also didn't realize how much space is behind the scene at the Rain forest.
After visiting the zoo, Emily did a short presentation on Fairy Penguins. They are one of the smallest penguins and live off the coast of New Zealand. We found out during the research that many penguins had gotten hurt from oil that has been spilled into the ocean. To help the penguins recover after being cleaned, they are outfitted in a little knit sweater! This is to help keep them from picking at their feathers and ingesting the oil. Who knew that penguins were fashionistas!
After cookie season this winter, we voted on going to a rescue horse ranch south of Topeka. There they take in horses that are sick or needing new homes. We hope to raise a lot of donation money so we can give to the horse ranch to help take care of all of the horses.
This badge was a lot of fun for the girls to do. They all have a special place in their hearts for animals!