Year

3 Zoo Enclosure Project – Design Brief

Introduction Living and non living things make up our world. Key living things on our
planet are animals. There are so many different animals all over the
world. Each and every one are very important to their surrounding
environment as they contribute to the way of life. Unfortunately, many
animals are coming under threat and need human help to survive such
as some animals in the Zoo. Your help is needed designing a new
enclosure that is going to help your chosen animal survive and thrive.

Time There will be 7 lessons allocated for this project. Each lesson will be
about 60 minutes.

Lesson 1 – Creating a presentation of what the difference and

features of a living vs a non-living thing. Key question: What do living
things needs to survive?

Lesson 2 – Excursion to the zoo – Photos taken of each enclosure

(students ask parent helpers to take the photos) gives students visual
of what these living things need and that they are different. Record 3
key facts that you find interesting that you have learnt from a tour guide
or anywhere on the excursion.

Lesson 3 – Students to get into pairs and choose an animal and

research this animal. Including: What do they eat? How do they live?
Where do they live (with heat? shade? underground? near water?)
Who they live with or near? What is threatening them (if anything)?
Research on be conducted using National geographic animal
information link and reading eggs non-fiction texts on students iPads.

Lesson 4 – Design and label a front on or birds eye view model of a

zoo enclosure that would best accommodate your animal so that it is
able to survive and thrive in its environment.

Lesson 5 – 7 – Use your design to create a hands on model of your

animal’s ideal zoo enclosure using recyclables.

Brief Your job is to research about your animal that you want to make a
better home for at the Zoo. Then design and create the ideal enclosure
for it to live and thrive in using a shoebox sized model.

Generating You have to research your chosen animal and design an environment
that would best house your animal so it may live to its fullest potential
ideas and peak health in a Zoo enclosure. All elements of living things and
specifically in relation to your chosen animal must be included and
labelled.
 Project To do this you will need to bring in materials to construct your very own
Zoo enclosure that your animal can survive and thrive in.
specifications The only materials you can use to build this home are the recycled
materials you bring in from home or that can be found in the recycling
boxes at school. The size of your animals Zoo enclosure should be
roughly the size of a shoebox.
Each enclosure will need a water source, a food source and a
sheltered area/heat area - at least, as well as accommodating if the
animal is a solitary animal or not.

Project 1. Gather as many practical and appropriate recyclable materials

as possible from home and bring them into class for the
management creation of a model Zoo enclosure. (Including
2. Exploring the factors that make something living.
3. Identifying the factors that make something living
4. Identifying features that help a living thing, specifically an
animal, survive and thrive. (Trip to the Zoo will reinforce this)
5. Researching particular features and elements that are
essential and desirable for an animal of your own choosing (in
pairs).
6. Designing a model Zoo enclosure as a diagram – with all the
features included in the enclosure labelled and the recycled
materials that will be used identified.
7. Begin making model from shoe box and setting out the space
of the elements on the model.
8. Add the features included in the design into the model using
the recycled materials gathered and found in the School
recycling boxes – trying to make it seem as realistic as
possible, also using sand and leaves etc. for materials.

Evaluation Consider these aspects when generating your research notes, design
and model:
- What are key elements needed for a living thing? Have I
included at least food, water, shelter and movement spaces?
- How are these features going to make a thriving environment
for my animal to live in?
- Have I considered my waste? Am I only using recyclable
materials and natural resources?

Presentation Each student will present to the class in their pair, the features of the
ideal enclosure for the animal they have chosen either in a face to face
verbal presentation or through a media formatting of your choice i.e.
PowerPoint (and speech) and iMovie. You must explain why each
element has been included in their model and describe the benefit of
including it in your animals Zoo enclosure.