{"id":1246,"date":"2012-06-21T15:43:49","date_gmt":"2012-06-21T19:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=1246"},"modified":"2012-12-07T10:45:48","modified_gmt":"2012-12-07T15:45:48","slug":"three-must-dos-on-a-biology-class-trip-to-the-lands-down-under","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/three-must-dos-on-a-biology-class-trip-to-the-lands-down-under","title":{"rendered":"Three Must-Dos on a Biology Class Trip to the Lands Down Under"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"Scenic<\/a>
\nSay g\u2019day to the animals of Australia and New Zealand on a biology trip to these lands down under. You\u2019ll come across endless wildlife\u2014from fish to mammals to bugs\u2014on these three bonzer <\/em>best bets. (That\u2019s Aussie, for must-dos!)
\n<\/p>\n

\"Coral<\/a>

Great Barrier Reef – photo by Cory Doctorow<\/p><\/div>\n


\n1. Mother Nature\u2019s Enormous Reef<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just off Australia\u2019s northwest coast is the Great Barrier Reef, the largest natural structure on earth. (So gigantic, it can be seen from space with the naked eye.) Made from living coral growing on the skeletons of dead coral, life on the Reef is overflowing. Go snorkeling to try and spy dugongs (sea cows), sea turtles and sea snakes. Look carefully through the coral\u2019s mesh of pink, blue and green walls to glimpse sponges, worms, starfish and crustaceans. And, see if you can spot a dolphin, whale or porpoise nearby. Once you get your land legs back on shore, watch white-breasted sea eagles and red-footed boobies patrolling the skies for their prey.<\/p>\n

\"Koala<\/a>

A koala pauses his snacking for an Explorica photo op<\/p><\/div>\n

Go from a crowded sea to an equally plentiful land, and learn to speak Aussie animal-style<\/em> at Featherdale Wildlife Park. This animal haven used to be a dedicated chook farm (or chicken to you and me) in the 1970s, but is now home to some of Australia\u2019s most magnificent residents. Where else can you spot penguins, buzzards, koalas and crocs\u2014all in the same place. You\u2019ll also find Boomers (daddy kangaroos) and Joeys (baby kangaroos), dingoes (native Australian dogs) and Bushman\u2019s clocks (kookaburras). Before you leave, pose for a photo with a friendly koala or kangaroo\u2014a kool<\/em> pic for your Facebook timeline!<\/p>\n

\"Australia<\/a>

Glow Worm Grotto photo credit: www.waitomo.com<\/p><\/div>\n

3. Grottoes that Glow<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, get starstruck by thousands of glowworms that light up what\u2019s known as the Glowworm Grotto, one of 400 dark caverns in New Zealand\u2019s Waitomo Caves. Interestingly, these glowworms (known as titiwai <\/em>to the native Maoris) aren\u2019t worms at all. They\u2019re baby fungus gnats that emanate blue-green light from their bodies to help them hunt for food.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Say g\u2019day to the animals of Australia and New Zealand on a biology trip to these lands down under. You\u2019ll come across endless wildlife\u2014from fish to mammals to bugs\u2014on these three bonzer best bets. (That\u2019s Aussie, for must-dos!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,63,172],"tags":[85,266,58,267],"class_list":["post-1246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parents","category-students","category-teachers","tag-australia","tag-australia-educational-tours","tag-educational-travel","tag-must-dos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1246"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1256,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1246\/revisions\/1256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}