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Learning experiences at zoos and wildlife parks

Zoos and wildlife parks offer interactive, sensory learning experiences, helping to consolidate and reinforce classroom learning.

<p>Looking for a learning activity that is hands on&comma; fun&comma; informative and maybe just a little bit scary&quest; A visit to a zoo or wildlife park might be just what your students need&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Research conducted by London Zoo showed that a visit to the zoo can enhance student’s knowledge about science&comma; and conservation of wildlife&period; Involving school children aged between seven and 14&comma; students were asked about their knowledge of animals&comma; habitats&comma; and conservation before and after their visit to the zoo&period; More than half of the 3000 children surveyed showed a positive change in education or conservation-related knowledge areas&comma; and personal attitude towards endangered species&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;latest-print-issue&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>Read the Term 3 edition of <em>School News<&sol;em> HERE<&sol;strong><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Students were also asked to draw their favourite animals and habitats before and after their zoo visit&period; Analysing the drawings revealed that more than half of ten-year olds involved in the study demonstrated a measurable improvement in their drawings&period; Animals were more often depicted in their correct habitat&comma; with correct scientific terms such as &OpenCurlyQuote;canopy’ and &OpenCurlyQuote;rainforest’ more widely used&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Further to this&comma; a report published by Kansas State University highlighted the important role zoos and wildlife parks have in educating people about wildlife and habitat conservation&comma; to protect endangered species and prevent more animals from becoming extinct&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The report suggested that the emotional and intellectual connection visitors can make with animals at the zoo or wildlife park&comma; the ability to talk directly to zookeepers or volunteers about the animals&comma; and including interactive educational components alongside animal encounters contribute to an improved understanding about the importance of conservation&comma; and an individual’s role in this&period; Creating this environmental awareness in students from a young age is vital in ensuring proactive&comma; community-wide efforts to minimise harm to wildlife habitats&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;25493" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-25493" style&equals;"width&colon; 1024px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"wp-image-25493 size-large" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;10&sol;SN29-EOTC-School-excurions-to-zoos-and-wildlife-parks-Territory-Wildlife-Park-1-1024x768&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Wildlife Park" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"768" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-25493" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Image supplied by Territory Wildlife Park<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Another study&comma; which looked at primary aged students in Germany&comma; found that a zoo excursion had many other benefits over classroom learning&comma; including raising achievement&period; The study found that out of the classroom&comma; gender inequities were less pronounced&comma; with girls stating that they felt less pressure and tension learning in the zoo context&period; It also found that an EOTC learning experience was associated with learner agency&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As with all excursions and external learning activities&comma; a visits to the zoo or wildlife park must link with classroom activities and objectives of the Australian Curriculum&period; When planning a visit to the zoo&comma; this link can be easily established&period; Zoos can support learning in a wide range of areas&comma; including biodiversity&comma; ecosystems and environmental conservation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Learning activities can span several subject areas&semi; humanities disciplines including geography and social sciences through an understanding of habitat and place&semi; sciences with a connection to environmental studies&comma; and animal biology&semi; maths&comma; through data analysis&semi; art with the painting&comma; drawing or modelling of animals and their habitats&comma; and English&comma; from activities which involve writing about animal encounters and experiences at zoos and wildlife parks&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Younger students who may not have seen animals up close before&comma; enjoy extra benefits from visiting the zoo or wildlife park&period; Fantasy is brought to life&comma; as they observe lions&comma; giraffes&comma; zebras and koalas right in front of them&period; Bringing a wide variety of animals together from across the world makes observing these animals accessible&comma; without the need for extensive travel&period; Tactile learners benefit from the opportunity to touch and hold animals&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Soft skills like sensitivity and discipline can also be fostered when students are up close and personal with nature&period; Understanding that animals are living beings can help children develop sensitivity towards their environment&comma; and help them understand that animals have emotions just like they do&period; Empathising with animals gives children a sensitive mindset for fellow creatures&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Discipline is taught by ensuring students adhere to the rules and regulations of the environment they are visiting&period; To maintain the safety of both animals and students&comma; visitors must comply with directions such as not feeding the animals&comma; or leaving litter around the area&period; A healthy sense of fear and respect for nature can also be imparted&period; Learning safe ways to behave when encountering animals&comma; including potentially dangerous animals like snakes and spiders&comma; aggressive animals or those that are injured&comma; can be taught&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Zoos and wildlife parks have the added benefit of tying in neatly with modules on our unique flora and fauna&comma; and can give students an opportunity to understand the myriad ongoing conservation efforts&period; Zoos and wildlife parks are often sites of captive breeding programmes&comma; as well as a way to raise funds for conservation and environmental causes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Children’s learning outcomes are improved when they engage all of their senses&period; Zoos and wildlife parks are the perfect environment for this&excl; Students can see&comma; hear&comma; smell and touch animals&comma; meaning they will remember more than just what they were told about them&period; The sensory experience of visiting an animal’s habitat will also be remembered&comma; for example&comma; entering a dark space to view nocturnal animals&comma; or a cold environment for polar bears or penguins&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These hands-on learning experiences can often be supported by resources supplied by zoos and wildlife parks&period; Many facilities have online tools to help students plan the class trip to the zoo&comma; or consolidate learning once returned to the classroom&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;25494" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-25494" style&equals;"width&colon; 1024px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"wp-image-25494 size-large" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;school-news&period;com&period;au&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2023&sol;10&sol;SN29-EOTC-School-excurions-to-zoos-and-wildlife-parks-Territory-Wildlife-Park-3-1024x684&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Wildlife Park" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"684" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-25494" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Image supplied by Territory Wildlife Park<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>And&comma; of course&comma; like all excursions and school trips&comma; a visit to the zoo or wildlife park will create shared experiences and memories for your students&period; These can strengthen bonds within your class&comma; and cement friendships&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>We are fortunate in Australia to be home to a wide range of wildlife parks and zoos to explore&period; Diverse locations around the country provide an opportunity to observe animals both in their natural habitats&comma; and in simulated environments&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>One example is <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;territorywildlifepark&period;com&period;au&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Territory Wildlife Park<&sol;a>&comma; located 50kms south of Darwin and situated on 400 hectares of natural bushland&comma; which includes diverse habitats including wetlands&comma; woodlands and monsoon forest&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These natural habitats provide an excellent backdrop to display an equally impressive range of native flora and fauna&comma; making it an essential introduction to the Top End’s wildlife and habitats&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Park offers school groups the opportunity to use the Park’s facilities and the expertise of its guiding and zookeeping staff&comma; to deliver educational programs on a variety of topics and themes&period; There are a range of outdoor venues and exhibits that can be used as living classrooms&comma; where students can immerse themselves in real habitats and interact with living creatures&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There are excursion guides for each grade&comma; Transition though to Year 6 to help you get the most out of your visit&period; The range of habitats&comma; animal displays and locations on Park mean you can tick multiple outcomes on every visit&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Camp Woollybutt is exclusively available for use by schools&period; This campground with hot showers and flushing toilets is a safe location to camp overnight&period; There is a range of options including guide led activities and catering to make the camping process as easy as possible&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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