Macomb County Students Visit Detroit Zoo To Research Animal Traits for Invention Program

Students from Macomb County school districts traveled to the Detroit Zoo on Feb. 27. They went to study animals and their homes as part of the Little Inventors program. The trip drew around 600 kids to the Royal Oak site between Feb. 23 and Feb. 27.

The program has students study how animals work and then apply those lessons to fix problems. This year's theme, "Wild Ideas: Forest Floors to Ocean Shores," gets kids thinking about survival in the wild.

"We're looking at animal superpowers and getting students to look at nature to inspire them to solve real-world problems," said Mark Muzzin, a STEM education consultant and MiSTEM Network Macomb Region Director, according to Macomb Daily.

Little Inventors started in the United Kingdom. Macomb County school districts are the only ones in the country doing this program, according to Lisa Rivard, a consultant with the Macomb Intermediate School District.

"What we're trying to do is just take students' ideas seriously, and so we're the first and only in the United States to run a challenge directly for teachers so they can drive it down to the students," Muzzin said.

David Mangune teaches STEM at Wilde Elementary. His students were learning about biomimicry, which means watching animals and then using what you see to create solutions.

The zoo uses an app-based software called a mobile learning quest. It guides students through the grounds. Claire Lannoye-Hall works as the vice president of education at the Zoo. She said the trip lets kids connect what they learn in class with the real world.

Each student got a Detroit Zoo hat during the field trip. Staff from the location also helped vet books and classroom supplies used in the program.