Teaching Sequence

05 minutes	Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge
05 minutes	Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Begin this lesson by asking students to share what they remember from the Tuning In lesson. Use the following prompts to guide student discussion:

I wonder what a zoo is?
I wonder what animal welfare is?
I wonder how zoos might make sure animals are happy and healthy?
I wonder if zoos are good places for animals to be? How might they be troubling places for animals to be?

In addition, invite students to share any thoughts, questions or reflections they recorded in their Learning Journal.

Part B: What Is Conservation?

Step 1.

Now invite students to share whether they’ve heard of the following phrase in the context of zoos: Fighting Extinction.

Invite students to think about what this phrase might mean. Encourage students to share their ideas through a class discussion. Through your discussion lead students to the idea that many animals are at risk of extinction. Share the following definition of extinction with students:

You could provide some examples of animals that have gone extinct, including dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, and the dodo (consider sharing these images - Extinct Animals with students). Acknowledge to students that it is sad that we will never see these animals again but explain that the good news is that there are many people working very hard to make sure we don’t see more animals become extinct. This work is called ‘conservation’.

Explain to students that one of the jobs that zoos do is to try and fight extinction through conservation work. What does this look like?

Step 2.

You can now share the following clip with students, explaining that it tells the story of the Eastern Barred Bandicoot, which is a small, nocturnal marsupial found in Tasmania and Victoria. There were only 50 of these animals left living in the wild because foxes kept catching and eating them. As a consequence, all of these animals were brought into captivity and they are now extinct in the wild. However, zoo keepers and scientists from Zoos Victoria began a conservation program with the bandicoots. The program is still going and so far has been very successful in breeding (when adult bandicoots produce offspring) and releasing bandicoots back into the wild.

As students watch, invite them to record anything they think is interesting or important:

The story of the bandicoot, the fox and the dog (https://youtu.be/QjKDsgusbS4)

Once complete, invite students to reflect on the clip using the following questions:

What was this clip about?
What did you notice about the Eastern Barred Bandicoots?
What did you notice about the foxes?
What did you notice about the dogs?
What did you notice about the people (zoo keepers, members of the public, etc) involved in the conservation work?
What else did you find interesting or important in this clip?
What questions do you have about this clip?

Invite students to record any 'I wonder' questions they have in their Learnings Journals.

Step 3.

OPTIONAL - Explain to students that there are many animals that zoos work to conserve. For Zoos Victoria, some of these animals are Australian, like the Eastern Barred Bandicoot, and some are from other places in the world. One of these programs is with the snow leopards in Nepal. Watch the following clip with students:

Saving Snow Leopards in Nepal (https://youtu.be/LH-TyiwHGmk)

Once complete, invite students to reflect on the clip through a class discussion around the following questions:

What did you see in this clip?
What does this clip make you think about?
What does this clip make you wonder?

Allow students time to record any ‘I wonder’ questions they have in their Learning Journal.

Extend: You could also display this website to students and spend some time looking at some of the different international conservation programs that Zoos Victoria is involved in. The Zoos Victoria YouTube channel also has more clips about conservation programs run through their zoos.

Part C: Digging Deep Into Animals And Conservation

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now work to investigate one of the animals at the zoo that is part of a conservation program.

Step 2.

Display an image of the animal you have chosen (or see here). Break students into small groups or pairs and invite them to discuss this animal, including:

What type of animal is this?
Have you ever seen this animal (or one like it) before? Where did you see it?
What is this animal doing?
What do you find interesting about this animal?

Step 3.

You could then distribute the information about this animal you found earlier (or see here) to each group. Invite groups to look at the information and answer the questions below (also available on the Student Worksheet). As they work, you can move between groups, checking for comprehension and prompting students with further questions where necessary.

Differentiation -

Foundation

What does this animal need to survive?
What type of habitat does this animal live in?
Why does this animal have a conservation program?

Year 1

What does this animal need to survive?
What type of habitat does this animal live in?
What features does this animal have? How are these features similar or different to your own?
Why does this animal have a conservation program?

Year 2

What does this animal need to survive?
What type of habitat does this animal live in?
What features does this animal have? How are these features similar or different to your own?
What is the life-cycle of this animal?
Why does this animal have a conservation program?

Once complete, invite groups to pair up and share their ideas. The teacher can again move between the new groups, checking for comprehension and prompting students with further questions where necessary.

Step 4.

OPTIONAL - If you have a clip about this animal to share with students, you can watch it now (or see below). As they watch, invite students to record anything they think is interesting or important:

Saving the Corroboree Frog (https://youtu.be/tcxkxjlTMx8)

Once complete, invite students to share their thoughts through class discussion using the following questions:

What did you see in this clip?
What did you find out about this conservation program?
What does this clip make you think about?
How does the information in this clip make you feel?
What does this clip make you wonder?

Once complete, allow students time to record any 'I wonder' questions they have about their animal in their Learnings Journals.

Step 5.

Finally, invite students to imagine this animal is again living in the wild. Students should create a drawing of this animal living in its natural habitat. Depending on age and ability, students could annotate this drawing.

Students could share their drawings with a classmate or with the class for feedback. Remind students to be kind, helpful and specific when providing feedback:

Reflection

Engage students in a class discussion to reflect on their thoughts about this lesson by inviting students to respond to the following questions:

How are the ideas and information presented in this lesson connected to what you already knew?
What new ideas did you get in this lessons that pushed your thinking in new directions?
What is still confusing for you about the topics presented in this lesson?
What new questions do you now have about these topics?

Invite students time to record any further questions they have in their Learnings Journals.

Take It Further

Visit Your Local Zoo

Questions and issues raised in this lesson can be used to guide your students' learning experiences at your zoo. Once you have completed this lesson, consider using the Planning Your Zoo Visit document to work with students to plan your trip to the zoo. Students should also be encouraged to take their Learning Journals to the zoo.

Taking Action

Following your trip to your local zoo, you can use the Taking Action document to guide students to design and implement a social action project around a local animal species they identify as needing conserving. Students can be inspired by the conservation work of the zoo they visit, and you can use learnings from the lesson below to support the students to take action.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Fighting Extinction - Investigating Zoos

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