Field trip to zoo an eye-opener

Michaela Langford, 8, had only one thing to say about seeing the white alligator at Utah's Hogle Zoo.

"It was awesome!" she said.

Her friend Madison Monsen, 8, agreed.

"(I really wanted to see the) alligator 'cause I've never seen a white alligator," she said.

Both girls took a visit to Hogle Zoo May 17 as a field trip with their classmates from Vae View Elementary in Layton. The second graders have been studying about animals all year, and the trip was an opportunity for them to see animals, many not native to Utah, up close, said Kristine Scott, a Vae View second-grade teacher.

"Some of them have never seen real live animals before, and for them it just kind of opens the reality of what they're reading about and gives an idea of how much there is to learn," she said. "At this time of the year it gives them a reward for working hard."

Misty Zellitti, another Vae View second-grade teacher, said she pulled up a list of Hogle Zoo's animals before coming and taught her class about the different habitats the animals live in, from zebras and giraffes on the savanna to monkeys living in jungles and snow leopards where it's cold.

"It's a good learning experience for them to see animals not indigenous to Utah," she said.

Felix Martinez, 7, liked all the animals, especially the white alligator. "Because it has blue eyes, it just looked cool," he said.

Michael Diaz, 8, and Hector Galeana, 7, were both fans of the monkeys climbing in the trees, but Michael also enjoyed seeing the gorilla. "He likes to swing in the branches," he said.

Sunset Martinez couldn't wait to see the warthogs because she did a report about them beforehand. "This is the first time I saw them for real," she said.

Audrey Hernandez-Martinez, Sunset's mother, said coming to the zoo as a parent supervisor was great because she got to spend time with her daughter and watch as she saw the animals for the first time. Sara Langford, another parent volunteer, said she wished she could have brought all her children on the field trip but still had fun with her daughter, Michaela.

"It's always fun to come to the zoo," she said. "The kids get to learn about the animals and learn something they (can't see) in the classroom."

Scott said she was grateful her students came on the trip.

"I find that the kids in this school don't have a lot of opportunities to go to the zoo," she said. "The majority haven't ever been with their families. When we walk around with them at the zoo, it's fun to watch their faces when they see animals they've read about but never seen."

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E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com