Welcome to week 5 of GO Wild!
Just like last week we have all the resource links, running order suggestions, discussion topics, useful questions and additional links right here for you to access and share.
This week is going to look to the future! Over the last 4 sessions you have learnt all about conservation, you have gained conservation skills so we hope that you may have been inspired to pursue a conservation career. This week we are going to look at what it takes to work as a conservationist. We will explore some job roles, that could be filled by your pupils in years to come, consider skills and knowledge that might be useful. We might even get your pupils doing our work for us!
So if you are ready let’s get going we have another long journey ahead…
GO WILD – Week 5 – The Future! – RESOURCE PACK
Resource pack includes:
- Week 5 – Step-by-step Guide for Educators
- Printable resources
- Links to video content
Step 1: Introduction
Todays introduction video will get your pupils thinking about how all the job roles at Chester Zoo contribute to the mission of the zoo ‘Preventing Extinction’.
Please ask your pupils to have a pen and paper to hand while watching.
Step 2: Career skills challenge
In this step your pupils will be investigating the skills, Knowledge and personal qualities that are needed for a range of roles at the zoo.
This activity can be done in groups or individually.
The link will take you to our careers skills collection share the Careers profiles instruction page and the career profiles matching game with your pupils first.
Once your pupils have completed the activity please share the completed set document so that your pupils can check their answers.
Resources & links:
Step 3: Communication Skills
Ask your pupils to look at the careers skills activity they have just completed:
- Which skill appeared the most?
- That’s right communication!
Communication is a vital skill for many of the staff in the zoo but also in so many other sectors and settings so we think it’s worth looking a little closer at this skill.
There are lots of different ways that we communicate, challenge your pupils to complete the communication word search to get them thinking about all the ways that we can communicate.
Can your pupils think of any other methods of communication not included in the word search?
-If animals can’t talk, how do they communicate? If your pupils have cats or dogs at home perhaps they know how their pets might ‘Mark their territory’
Do plants communicate?
– Understanding a range of communication methods is really important part of our keepers’ role. Challenge your pupils to a game of our chimp facial expression activity to see how our keepers are able to use facial expressions learn from our chimps.
Resources & links:
Step 4: Lets hear from some more zoo colleagues
In this step your pupils will be hearing about a number of job roles within the zoo including:
- Laboratory Technician
- Registrar
- Interpretation Manger
- Technical Assistant to CEO
- Education Officer
- Lab Coordinator
- Curatorial Assisant
- Catering
- Guest Experience
Before watching the videos ask your pupils for their ideas of what these job roles might involve as they may never have heard of these jobs before.
If resources allow you may want to share out the videos amongst the class so they watch just one of 2 videos. Alternatively you can share all the videos with your pupils
Ask your pupils to make some notes of the key points in the video to share with the class after they have viewed their video/s.
Resources & links:
Step 5: Over to you
Lots of roles within in the zoo rely on communication skills but the way that staff communicate varies.
Oral communication e.g. talking to guests, running school workshops, providing or receiving instructions for colleagues.
Written communication e.g. writing articles, blogs, newsletters, press releases and signage. This might be for zoo members, the press, the website or school resources
Drawing e.g. sharing educational information with guests, designing new habitats for our animals
Challenge your pupils, individually or in groups, to create a piece of written communication about one of the UK native species they have learnt about during your Go Wild project. If time allows they may like to have a go at more than one form of communication. We have included our native species fact files again to help with research.
Create an animal talk – your pupils will create a script for an animal talk, you may like to ask them to present their talks
UK wildlife blogs – this collection contains a number of examples of blogs that have been shared on the zoos website. Your pupils may like to create a blog about their Go Wild project to share with other classes or families.
Create a comic book – combines written and drawn communication skills
Before starting their pieces of work, you may like to discuss the following questions:
- Who are you creating your piece for?
- How will this inform e.g. language, length, tone
- What is the key message of your communication?
Resources & links:
Step 6: Get outside
Our environment is speaking to us! And there is a lot we can learn from the environment if we learn to listen and read it, for instance:
- We can tell the time from the sun
- We can navigate by the stars but also the lichen growing on a tree trunk
- We can tell the chemistry of the soil form the plants that grow
- We can tell the history of a piece of land from the plants that grow
- We can predict the weather from a pine cone
- We can tell the season from a tree
- How else is our environment ‘speaking’ to us?
A key skill when it comes to communication is listening. So let’s get outside for a conversation with the environment.
Some useful questions:
- What can you hear?
- What does that tell you about the environment
- Are any of the sounds animals communicating with each other or you?
- Can you hear any birds calling?
- What might those calls mean? (go away! I’m here! I’m hungry!)
- What can you smell?
- Are any of those smells animals communicating with each other or you?
- Are any of the smells plants communicating?
- Can you smell any flowers or fruit growing in the area? Why might they produce a smell?
- What can you see?
- Thinking about colour. How might animals and plants use colour to communicate? Think about a ladybird, a butterfly, a brightly coloured flower or a piece of fruit.
Step 7: Organisation skills
The second most frequent skill that came up in the first activity of the day the Careers skills challenge was organisation.
We hope, during this go wild journey, your pupils have enjoyed and benefited from getting outdoors, and that this is something that you will continue to do even after you Go Wild journey comes to an end…
During the course of this project, your pupils have learnt that it is important to monitor wildlife through the year and at different times of day. This is going to be increasingly important as they start to take action for wildlife, so that they know how their hard work is making a difference and to help make decisions about the future of their wildlife areas.
So as the final activity for your pupils we would like you to work with them to plan future wildlife survey opportunities. Why not add the dates and details of your surveys to a wildlife connections wall planner.
Resources & links:
Step 8: And Finally
We really hope you and your pupils have enjoyed this Go Wild Journey. We would love to hear what you thought and see what you and your pupils have got up to so don’t forget to share with us and inspire other educator colleagues.
Join our Conservation Education & Engagement Facebook Community Group
Use #GoWildwithCZ
Before you go…
Just a reminder before you go that if any of your pupils have questions or if you would like to delve a little deeper into the subject…
We have created a Go Wild virtual workshop to complement this programme. The session delves a little deeper into the world of our native species and the conservation work that is going on at Chester Zoo. We have designed this interactive session to fit in at any stage of the programme.
We also have our 25 minute Ask Chester Zoo workshops that are perfect to give your pupils the opportunity to ask any questions to us that may arise during the course of your Go Wild project.
For more information about either of these offers please contact learning@chesterzoo.org
You’re never too old to have FUN! We’ve got plenty of FANTABULOUS games and activities for you to take part in! Every day is a PLAY DAY at Chester Zoo.