Wild Encounter Programs

Add something Wild to your day!

Nashville Zoo offers Wild Encounter programs to students during the school year to enhance their field trip experience. Enroll your class in one of these interactive programs for live animal encounters and fun, educational activities that involve the entire group.

All Wild Encounter programs are approximately 45 minutes in length and can accommodate a maximum of 50 participants. Click here to see how our programs are aligned to Tennessee standards.

Fee: $2/participant (in addition to admission fee)

Program Title Grades Program Description
Sense-Sational Animals Pre-K & K Is it possible for an animal to smell with its tongue? Taste with its feet? See with its ears? These questions and more will be addressed as students are introduced to animals through the five senses.
A Day in the Life 1st - 3rd grade Have you ever wondered what it would be like to truly be a wild animal? Join us for this interactive program and follow animals through a typical day. Learn how they interact with their habitat and survive.
Animal Wrappers 1st - 6th grade Fur, feathers, skin, scales, exoskeletons. Body coverings are just one way to classify animals. Choose this overall introduction into animal classification or get more specific with a more in-depth study of a particular group. Variations include:
  • Mammal Mania
  • Reptiles and Amphibians
  • Basically Birds
  • Creepy Crawlies
The Rainforest 2nd - 12th grade Did you know that the rainforest is home to more than half the world's animals and plants? That some trees grow to over 200 feet tall? All this and more will be discovered in this interactive program as we journey into the depths of the rainforest and actually build its layers - discovering its great diversity and importance.
Surviving the Wild 2nd - 12th grade The need to survive has created spectacular diversity in the animal kingdom. Discover how and why animals are so different.
Endangered Species 4th - 12th grade Much of the world's wildlife is at risk of becoming threatened, endangered or extinct. Discover why species are at risk and what you can do to help.
Wildlife Careers 7th - 12th grade Do you belong in a zoo?? This class is specially designed for middle school and high school kids interested in animal careers.

To find out if a Wild Encounter program can be tailored to fit a specific need, please contact our Education Department at 615-833-1534 ext. 143 or education@nashvillezoo.org.