Answer Key Laboratory Research Methods
1. Name three activities that are included in a “Species Survival Plan.”
Answer: Activities included in an SSP are managing breeding for a healthy population, research, public education, reintroduction, and field projects.
2. Do you think that other species of animals could be helped by an SSP for “flagship species”? Explain why or why not.
Answer: Yes, a Species Survival Plan for a flagship species can help other species, because part of the plan can include preserving the wild habitat, or reintroducing the animal to the wild. No living thing is completely independent of other living things. The flagship species might be an important food source for another animal, or may eat other kinds of animals so that those populations stay balanced. A flagship species may also have relationships with plants, such as pollinating them or protecting them from other animals. When people learn about the habitat of a flagship species, they may also learn about other kinds of animals that they would be interested in helping.
3. Describe how zoos have changed the way they keep the animals.
Answer: Long ago, zoos kept animals in concrete cages with bars on them. Today, zoos have spaces that look more like what the animal would see in the wild.
4. Name three natural behaviors that enrichment can produce in zoo animals.
Answer: Three natural behaviors that can happen because of enrichment are play, aggressive posturing, and scent marking behavior.
5. You need to use the Olympus CH30 microscope. The objective is currently set at 10X. The teacher’s instructions are to view your specimen at 40X. Explain how to adjust the microscope.
Answer: Adjust the view using the course focus knob, then the fine focus knob. Turn the eyepiece to 40x objective, and then adjust again using the fine focus knob. Never use the coarse adjustment knob at magnifications higher than 10x (low).
6. Why is it important to wrap the cord around the base of the microscope before putting it away?
Answer: It is important to wrap the cord around the base before putting it away because a dangling/hanging cord could cause you to trip, fall, and break the microscope while you are walking.
7. Write one to three sentences that explain how to use a graduated cylinder. Include the word meniscus.
Answer: Use a graduated cylinder to measure the volume of a small amount of liquid. When you read the volume that is in the cylinder, you must read at the bottom of the curve, or meniscus. You should lower your head until the liquid is the same level as your eye, because if you are looking at it from a higher or lower position, there are different things behind it, which will make the height of the liquid look as if it is in a different place.
8. List the place value for each bar on the scale, from top to bottom.
Answer: The top bar measures tens, the middle bar measures to the hundreds, and the bottom bar measures ones and smaller, or ones and tenths.
9. Which four safety categories do you think would be most important in the zoo? Explain your answers.
Answer: The four most important safety categories for a zoo are: 1. animal safety, because people that work at the zoo or visit the zoo should know how to handle, or how to act, around the animals, 2. sharp object safety, because some of the animals might need medicine or to be tranquilized with a needle, and some of the holding pens or tools might have sharp edges, 3. biological hazard, because some zookeepers might have to handle bodily fluids or wastes of the animals, 4. chemical safety, or poisons, because there are many different kinds of substances that are involved with keeping a zoo clean, and substances that are alright around some animals may be harmful to others.
10. After viewing the picture of the laboratory, name three pieces of laboratory equipment and the safety symbol or symbols that would match each one.
Answer: When you use a graduated cylinder, or Erlenmeyer flask or test tube rack, you should consider chemical safety, clothing protection safety, poison and sharp object safety. You might be using the cylinder or flask to measure chemicals, and the test tubes to hold chemicals, that are harmful if you get them on your skin or swallow them, and if you drop the glass cylinders tubes, or flasks, they could break. When using a Bunsen burner, you need to remember Thermal Safety and Fire Safety so that you do not bring any chemicals that could catch fire too close to the flame. You should also use Eye Safety, because you need to wear goggles whenever you heat a substance in the lab. When using the analytical balance, you should remember chemical safety, and know how to clean up what you are measuring if you spill it. When using a laboratory oven, remember Eye Safety, Thermal Safety, and Chemical Safety to make sure that it is okay to put the substance you are using in the oven.
11. Write a short phrase that would help you remember what kind of hook to use if you were a reptile keeper.
Answer: The bigger the snake, the longer the hook. The smaller the snake, the smaller the hook.
12. Name three different parts of the world where Dallas Zoo projects are taking place.
Answer: Three locations where the Dallas Zoo is currently working on projects are Asia (the Phillipines), Mexico, South America, southeast and northwest Dallas County,
13. Name five different animals that are part of the Dallas Zoo’s Collection Based Research Programs.
Answer: Five different animals from which the Dallas Zoo collects data are Ocelots, Okapis, Black Rhinocerous, Gorilla, Mandrill, Chimpanzee, Flamingos, Kori Bustards, Monitor Lizards, Tree Snakes, Chuckwallas, and Salamanders.
14. Describe the function of the Okapi’s stripes.
Answer: The stripes give the animal good camouflage in the rain forest and may help babies recognize their moms.
15. If the stress hormones are produced inside an animal’s body, how do scientists measure them if they are not sticking needles into the animals?
Answer: The scientists collect urine, feces, and saliva to measure the hormone levels in the animals.
16. What events have scientists found that raises the stress level of the animals that live in zoos?
Answer: Research has shown that construction of new parts to the zoos, the height of the holding areas or cages, changes in smells around the area, and moving to a new exhibit can raise the stress level of the animals.
17. If you are at school and the extremely loud fire alarm sounds in your classroom, trace the path of cortisol through your body.
Answer: Cortisol is released from adrenal glands on top of the kidneys, where it heads to the brain (the hippocampus of the brain). Different hormones go to the adrenal glands to stop the corisol release and go to the brain to round up the cortisol and take it through the bloodstream to the kidneys where it will go to bladder to leave the body with other waste.
18. Give a synonym for the word stress that describes what is happening inside the body and explain your answer.
Answer: A good synonym for stress that would explain what is happening in the body is imbalance, or uneven because the stress is caused by the uneven levels of hormones in the body.
19. List three locations where the St. Louis Zoo has projects, and the animals that are being helped by them.
Answer: Three locations for St. Louis Zoo projects are the Horn of Africa, where they work with Grevy’s zebra, Madagascar, where they help lemurs, and Armenia (Russia and Asia Minor) where they help mountain vipers (snakes)
20. List three accomplishments of the Conservation and Research Center at Front Royal.
Answer: The center has helped to put more and reintroduce black footed ferrets into the wild in the US. They have studied how cutting down trees has affected the Allegheny Mountain area. Their studies have lasted many years providing long records, and they have studied Kentucky Warbler birds in the summer in Virginia and in the winter in Central America, which can help many other birds that migrate.
21. Agree or disagree with this statement and explain your answer: It does not matter to me whether or not amphibians like frogs and toads become extinct, because I do not live near any frogs or toads.
Answer: Disagree. Amphibians can live in many different places, so even if you do not see them, there are probably some near by. Frogs and toads eat mosquitoes that can travel great distances, so a frog far away could eat a mosquito before it gets to your house, bites you, and makes you sick. Amphibians also secrete or release fluids from their skin that might make new medicine for people all over the world, so saving amphibians can help everyone.
22. Name your favorite project, its location name the participating organizations, and explain your choice.
Answer: Here are some examples of possible answers: “My favorite project is the one in North America, at the St. Louis zoo on the American Burying Beetle. This is my choice because this beetle keeps the environment clean by getting dead things out of the way.” “My favorite project involves the Malayan Flying Lemur in Singapore/Southeast Asia. It is supported by Singapore Zoological Gardens. I like this project because I think it would be cool to stay up all night and study an animal that lives in trees.”
 

Study Questions Laboratory Research Methods
1. Name three activities that are included in a “Species Survival Plan.”



2. Do you think that other species of animals could be helped by an SSP for “flagship species”? Explain why or why not.



3. Describe how zoos have changed the way they keep the animals.



4. Name three natural behaviors that enrichment can produce in zoo animals.



5. You need to use the Olympus CH30 microscope. The objective is currently set at 10X. The teacher’s instructions are to view your specimen at 40X. Explain how to adjust the microscope.



6. Why is it important to wrap the cord around the base of the microscope before putting it away?



7. Write one to three sentences that explain how to use a graduated cylinder. Include the word meniscus.



8. List the place value for each bar on the scale, from top to bottom.



9. Which four safety categories do you think would be most important in the zoo? Explain your answers.



10. After viewing the picture of the laboratory, name three pieces of laboratory equipment and the safety symbol or symbols that would match each one.



11. Write a short phrase that would help you remember what kind of hook to use if you were a reptile keeper.



12. Name three different parts of the world where Dallas Zoo projects are taking place.



13. Name five different animals that are part of the Dallas Zoo’s Collection Based Research Programs.



14. Describe the function of the Okapi’s stripes.



15. If the stress hormones are produced inside an animal’s body, how do scientists measure them if they are not sticking needles into the animals?



16. What events have scientists found that raises the stress level of the animals that live in zoos?



17. If you are at school and the extremely loud fire alarm sounds in your classroom, trace the path of cortisol through your body.



18. Give a synonym for the word stress that describes what is happening inside the body and explain your answer.



19. List three locations where the St. Louis Zoo has projects, and the animals that are being helped by them.



20. List three accomplishments of the Conservation and Research Center at Front Royal.



21. Agree or disagree with this statement and explain your answer: It does not matter to me whether or not amphibians like frogs and toads become extinct, because I do not live near any frogs or toads.



22. Name your favorite project, its location name the participating organizations, and explain your choice.



 

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