Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here on the Zoo’s website!
Have you ever heard of a zebra educating children about conservation? Our presentation started with a visit from Roberta, an animated zebra. Roberta helped introduce our presenter for the day, Maya O’Connor. Ms. O’Connor is a Senior Educator who partakes in education outreach programs. The educators at the Zoo use Roberta, an enthusiastic, friendly, and talkative animal, to engage children. Roberta, welcomes kids to speak with her on a huge theater screen in an enjoyable discussion about conservation. Behind the scenes, there is an educator who talks for Roberta and answers questions asked by kids on the other side of the screen. The Education Department involves children in a variety of fun ways to ignite a passion for wildlife.
After meeting Roberta, Ms. O’Connor shared information about local education programs. The San Diego Zoo’s Education Department ventures out into local classrooms to teach school children about animal conservation and preservation. For example, out in the field, biologists use telemetry devices, which are handheld satellites that pick up the signals of trackers on animals. Zoo Educators captivate a child’s interests by replicating this part of a field biologists’ job with hands-on activities. A popular game, similar to hide and seek, is played with the students. The educators will hide a stuffed animal with a backpack that has the tracker. Students are given a telemetry device to scout out the hiding animals. As the device becomes closer to the tracker, it will emit louder and more distinct beeping sounds. Children will have to locate the animal, simulating a similar experience field biologists do to find and collect data from animals in the wild. The Zoo InternQuest interns and I played this game with Ms. O’Connor. A burrowing owl puppet was hidden within the classroom and with the help of a telemetry satellite, we were able to track down the animal. Hands-on experiences get kids involved, which fuels a desire to help the environment.
In addition to hands-on activities, encounters with animal ambassadors is another way to actively involve students. Today we met Rio, a double yellow headed Amazon parrot who is one of the animal ambassadors at the San Diego Zoo. These animals represent their species to educate the public about the importance of animals and their habitats. Similar to how you train your pets at home, animals go through training to become an animal ambassador. Animal ambassadors travel to local classrooms to teach the community about conservation of their species and habitat in the wild. These experiences expose the community to a variety of local and international animal species in need of help. Through conservation education with the help of animal ambassadors, Ms. O’Connor fosters conservation-minded values and ideals in classrooms locally and globally.
Ms. O’Connor expands her involvement outside local classrooms by helping with community based conservation in Kenya. Ms. O’Connor has helped with a program in Kenya called Twiga Walinzi, which translates to Giraffe Guardians in Swahili. The next generation of students are given the opportunity to learn about conservation. Locals and researchers collaborate in these classrooms to learn about endangered species, such as the reticulated giraffes. As Twiga Walinzi continues to visit classrooms, the different subjects that the students learn about in school are integrated with conservation messages. Conservation messages help the future generations become young conservationists by introducing ideas to help the environment. Through these efforts, the ultimate goal for Ms. O’Connor and the San Diego Zoo’s Education Department is to inspire people young and old to create a better future with hopes to end extinction.
Maranda, Real World Team
Week One, Winter Session 2019
