Chester Zoo is an amazing resource for schools – and not just for those able to visit. It lives in the ether as well, through its fun and informative website with materials matched to the curriculum and age groups.
From the inspection of tiger poo to track their numbers to the nature of scientific inquiry and data handling, the website provides a wealth of downloadable educational resources free of charge for use in the classroom.
Did you know that the Rothschild’s giraffe sleeps for two hours and the Asiatic lion for 20 hours. Or that palm oil is in half the products in UK supermarkets? There’s accurate information online about the 21,000 animals that roam the extensive grounds and their natural habitat.
But what engages children and teachers alike is the focus on conservation – saving Indonesian songbirds from extinction, for example, or combating the human-tiger conflict in Nepal. There’s information and factsheets to download about the campaigns both before and after a visit to the zoo, plus photos and videos taken by zoologists out in the field.
“However far away you are from the zoo you can use our resources for a wide range of curriculum projects, and download packs for our key campaigns to build your own project in school,” says Charlotte Smith, Chester Zoo’s head of discovery and learning.
“The opportunity to see amazing wildlife first-hand gives children an experience they cannot get in the classroom, so we always advise a visit to the zoo or another wildlife organisation where possible. There’s materials on our website to be used before and after the visit, so pupils can get the most out of it,” she says.
News of the zoo’s 21,000 animals is regularly updated and for older children there are research findings and data to analyse. Want to know why producing palm oil sustainably will help save the wildlife? The zoo has an animated video to demonstrate the palm oil supply chain and explain how the supermarket shopper can change the behaviour of producers and manufacturers.
The material is matched where possible to the national curriculum, searchable by age and curriculum key stage as well as topic, keyword or curriculum subject. Online resources linked to the workshops offered at the zoo are matched to GCSE and A-level exam specifications. There’s also links to conservation and science research papers published by the zoo’s highly qualified scientists and zoologists.
Threats to the rainforest, the story of sustainable palm oil and the illegal wildlife trade, are some of the most popular topics with schools, says Lauren Walker, Chester Zoo’s digital learning officer. “Our downloadable collections of resources on sustainable palm oil, for example, include an interactive game to guide students through the process of becoming a plantation owner. Our Nigeria geography collection of resources forms a case study for GCSE and A-level students to use for curriculum-based questions. Our Wildlife Connections resources include practical guides on helping wildlife in the UK,” she says.
Accuracy is very important for teachers says Nicola Hawley, head of geography at St Gerard’s, a school for four- to 18-year-olds in Bangor, Wales. “Geography is embedded in the resources and it helps us when, for example, we are teaching eco systems, that we can use [the resources] to prepare for a visit and afterwards explore the experience. It makes it so much more than a lovely day out,” she says.
Hawley is a member of the Geographical Association, as well as a member of Chester Zoo’s curriculum advisory panel. “We have been looking at the online resources to make sure they are in line with what we are teaching in schools, because if you can link anything online to the curriculum and know it is accurate, then that is more useful for schools,” she says.
“I took some 12- to 14-year-olds to the zoo yesterday and they really enjoyed themselves. Now we’re looking at the zoo’s blogs showing change over time. Year 9s collected information at the zoo on four animals living in the rainforest and we will be looking at them as individual case studies alongside the climatic data, deforestation and adaptation. The English department is going to use the animals as the basis for stories with year 9s, and year 7s are going to look at different types of maps and create their own, based on their visit,” she says.
“When they came out of the zoo the children were talking about it on the bus home – and they are still talking about all the things they discovered.”
Chester Zoo works with primary and secondary teachers, subject experts, text book authors and university lecturers through its curriculum advisory panels. It also helps to train teachers. Una Meehan, a senior lecturer in education at the University of Chester and a drama specialist, who sits on the panel, says student teachers spend time at the zoo and then take activities into schools as local wildlife champions. “In the 21st century we should be preparing our young people for a new world and they need to be able to think creatively about conservation because it is something that matters to all of us, whether it be the destruction of habitats in the back garden, through the use of fake grass, felling forest trees or capturing songbirds in Asia,” she says.
The online resources are an invaluable source of real, live data, plus photographs of animals at the zoo and field trips taken by staff, and teaching materials that can be adapted by age group, she says. “It’s not just about taking children to see animals – it’s about geography and history, maths and science, art, music and communication. It’s thinking in a creative and structured way about how to engage children in their learning and the world they live in.”
Discover how Chester Zoo can help you bring learning to life at chesterzoo.org/learning
