SCIENCE
YEAR 7 SCIENCE - ZOO EXCURSION
During Week 3 of Term 4, our Year 7 cohort visited the Melbourne Zoo for their excursion relating to their Year 7 Science studies.
A variety of students across Year 7 have shared their experiences on this exciting and much-loved excursion below.
Katherine Johnstone
Head of Science
The Zoo excursion was one of my favourite trips as it was really fun and educational! We had to complete a booklet as part of our excursion. We had to walk around the zoo looking for the answers in the booklet, and these answers also helped us learn. We were split into groups to look for the answers and so that we didn’t get lost. I saw many different animals, some of which were the Lions, Giraffes, Penguins, Meerkats and many more!
The butterfly house was unfortunately closed, but there were other different and interesting animals there! I learnt a lot about them from the boards in front of the enclosures, like their names, what type of animal they are (Squirrel Monkeys, Snow Leopard, etc.) and other useful information.
The weather was really sunny throughout the day, which made the whole experience even better for everyone. As we walked between the different enclosures, we had the chance to talk with our friends and share information, take photos, and point out animals we found especially fascinating or unusual. Overall, the excursion was enjoyable, interesting, and something I would happily do again because it helped us learn in a fun, approachable and engaging way.
Sakina Abedi, Year 7
At the climax of Year 7 Science classification topic classes went on a long-anticipated trip to the Melbourne Zoo! While consolidating their learning of taxonomy students spent the day in a group exploring and viewing the various exotica populating the Melbourne Zoo. Some popular exhibits were the Ring-Tailed Lemurs, Giant Tortoises and Sumatran Tigers. While at first glance being interesting animals but when looking more deeply students find kingdoms, phyla, classes, orders, families, genuses and species. For example, the Ring-Tailed Lemur belongs to the Family Lemuridae.
Myself personally, I most enjoyed the Sumatran Tiger, given its closeness to a more domesticated feline. Seeing the tiger outside of a documentary setting showed me how while it can be a ravenous set of teeth and claws - it is also a preening and stretching cat. But this cat might be a little less keen on petting. On the day I visited the zoo, the highly anticipated butterfly house was closed for renovation, but by heading to a nearby feature I was able to watch through the windows as the butterflies fluttered around the construction workers.
Leaving the zoo was leaving with both satisfaction and longing. It was a great day to look back on for a long time.
Gabriel Eather, Year 7
The excursion to the zoo has helped me learn a lot about animals and how they move around. I found out that the white-cheeked gibbon likes to groom each other's hair and the lemurs like to meditate in the morning!
My favourite part of the day was watching the seal show. The seal jumped from the water onto the rocks and gave the trainer a fist bump. It was so amazing! I also enjoyed seeing the orangutan swing around and even go up to the glass.
I learned that donating old mobile phones can help save the eastern lowland gorilla. So, any old phones you have could save the gorillas in Africa!
Eitan Sher, Year 7
When I was at the zoo excursion, we went to the lemurs first to finish the booklet so we could go see the meerkats while we had recess and went to see the giraffes and other animals on the way, then after the giraffes we went to see the sea life, and we saw some penguins and seals. After lunch, we went to see the tiger show then finally we got on the bus and went back to school.
Hudson Clark, Year 7
A few weeks ago, on Friday 10 October my class 7P and I went to the zoo for a science excursion. We had to form groups of four, so we split my friend group in half and went separate ways. Firstly, we went to the reptile house looking at all the amazing snakes, lizards and frogs. We also saw the meerkats and the Tasmanian devils; they were hard to find at first but then they started running around and playing with each other making it almost my favourite animals to see but my favourite animals to see.
The ring-tailed lemurs, since they were super active and the Sumatran tiger was also my favorite because of their beauty and elegance. But that's not all that we saw. We also saw two sleeping snow leopards and we saw the giraffes being fed and the baby giraffe was also out with its mother eating. It was a very beautiful sight.
Sarah Dib, Year 7
The Year 7 Zoo Excursion was extremely fun!
Melbourne Zoo had some great activities and funny animals throughout the zoo. My favorite part was visiting the orangutan enclosure, where I watched an orangutan playing peacefully with a piece of Lego Duplo! The highlight of my visit was seeing the adorable ring-tailed lemurs huddled together, their playful energy and social behavior really captivating. Another great part was seeing the tiger that kept walking in circles, it was hilarious and confusing!
It was also wonderful to see the pygmy hippo in person, especially since I had been given it as my GHE project subject. Seeing it at the zoo gave me a fantastic, first-hand perspective on its behavior and lifestyle, making my project even more meaningful. Overall, it was a fun and educational experience I won't soon forget!
Elijah Fernandes, Year 7
On Friday 24 October students from various year seven classes took a journey by bus to the Melbourne Zoo. This excursion was part of our learning journey about classification and ecosystems in science which was an important part of our topic for our learning task.
Personally, I loved seeing all the animals in the exhibits and exploring the whole zoo with my friends. We had to complete a booklet that would help us understand things like scientific names. Overall, it was such a great experience and I’m sure many other people would agree as well.
Tess Ashton, Year 7
The zoo excursion was exhilarating and inspiring, Featuring a wide variety of animals of all types including Tigers, Lions, Giraffes, Platypus and Meerkats.
We got to be in a group with our friends to explore the animals that we don’t get to see every day. Melbourne zoo was a great experience because we got to see animal’s everywhere we turned. My favourite animal was the Ring-Tailed Lemur. When we went to see the Lemur it was licked by another one because they groom each other. We got lovely weather to go to the zoo.
The design of the zoo is very creative and the enclosure for each animal fits their habit needs and ensures that the animals are happy and healthy.
There were labels to specifically name the animals and it tells you some facts about them, which was good. The animals make me happy because they all have different personalities and they're all unique.
The animals were truly amazing, and everyone took so many photos and videos of the cute animals.
At the end of the trip, I was exhausted but thrilled and grateful for such a beautiful and breathtaking time at the zoo. This trip was a great memory.
Eleni Mindakis, Year 7
A few weeks ago, the Year Seven students visited the Melbourne Zoo as part of our science classification unit. During the excursion, we were given booklets to complete in order to record information, and each of us was assigned an endangered animal to research for an oral presentation. I found the experience very enjoyable. I loved observing the animals and exploring the zoo with my friends. My favourite part was the lemur walk, as we were able to walk among the lemurs while they moved freely around us. Thank you to our teacher, Ms Johnstone, for organising such a fun and engaging day.
Ingrid Foster, Year 7
The Zoo Excursion was really fun. My favorite part of the day was walking around with my friends and seeing all the animals. The animals I enjoyed seeing the most were the ring-tailed lemurs and the meerkats. The lemurs were so cute, and I loved watching them jump around and use their long-striped tails for balance and strength. The meerkats were funny because they kept standing up straight to look around like little guards. During the trip, I learned more about animal conservation and why some animals are becoming endangered.
The zookeepers explained that habitat loss, climate change, and pollution make it harder for animals to survive in the wild. This connected to what we learned in class about ecosystems and how humans affect the environment. I also learned that zoos try to help by running breeding programs and teaching people how to protect wildlife. Seeing the animals in real life made everything we learned in science feel more real and easier to understand. Overall, the excursion was a great experience, and it made me appreciate the importance of conserving our planet for future generations.
Caasha Mallawaarachchi, Year 7
On Friday 24 October 2025, my peers and I were lucky enough to visit the Melbourne Zoo. The day held many different exciting memories and cool moments. The highlight of the day for me was seeing the Reptile House because it was full of amazing animals with scaly skin and camouflage lizards! I also found the jellyfish exhibition really fascinating and mesmerising. My favourite part of the day was experiencing these moments with my friends while sharing a few lollies! The trip taught us about animal conservation, how to assist endangered species, as well as developing an understanding of the Australian environment.
Taylor Woodford, Year 7