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EAZAs ZOO Educators Conference 2009 Building an EAZA Education Strategy Cologne Zoo, Germany 25 February - 1 March 2009 Maria Antonieta Costa Lisbon Zoo, Portugal. CARNIVORE CONFLICT AN EDUCATIONAL PROPOSAL. Piaget: new knowledge comes from the reorganisation of a previous knowledge;
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EAZAs ZOO Educators Conference 2009 Building an EAZA Education Strategy Cologne Zoo, Germany 25 February - 1 March 2009 Maria Antonieta Costa Lisbon Zoo, Portugal
CARNIVORE CONFLICT AN EDUCATIONAL PROPOSAL
Piaget: • new knowledge comes from the reorganisation of a previous knowledge; • new acquisition is related to what was previously learned; • knowledge is the result of the relationship between the one/ones who know(s) and what is known; • the conception of educational programs capable of promulgating effective learning results from the dialectic “subject / object / context”.
To promote effective acquisition of knowledge, educational programs need to involve: • HANDS-ON; • MINDS-ON; • HEARTS-ON • These three aspects complete the knowledge process: • to learn by doing (hands-on); • to learn by thinking (minds-on); • to learn by involving oneself (hearts-on).
Educational Programs at Lisbon Zoo are mainly searched from the primary and junior schools.
Teachers of upper levels: • need curriculum justification to take their students to the Zoo; • have to achieve specifically prescribed and tested academic goals for their students. Zoos have to provide schools with an experience that is educationally useful and capable of making a difference from the general idea that it is only an entertaining place.
Our policy is that we can build BRIDGES with schools and teacher’s of upper levels, by maintaining regular and continuous partnerships in the area of Conservation Education. In the scope of the EAZA Campaign 2009 Lisbon Zoo, supported by the Portuguese Education Ministry, launched for the 1st time a contest to all schools in Portugal: Human - Large European Carnivore - Neighbourhood
The competition's goals are: • Raise awareness of the importance of preserving wildlife and its ecosystems, in particular those populated by big European carnivores; • Encourage debate within the school environment of man’s behaviour in relation to the environment and its consequences. • Stimulating students of upper levels creativity trough participation in the competition.
Projects will be evaluated according to the following criteria: • how information sources have been acquired and the usage of these sources history comprehension - specialisation, temporality, context; • Demonstration of how the carnivores have managed to adapt to different factors - abiotic and biotic - and their spatial distribution; • communication regarding preservation and biodiversity; • proven links to curriculum contents • originality and creativity;
With this educational proposal Lisbon ZOO achieved to involve 606 students from 34 schools!
“Education plans and zoo education programmes can be successful in increasing the students awareness of the irreplaceable value of nature” • This proposal has contributed to: • promote education for environmental awareness on upper levels students at Lisbon Zoo; • unify efforts with EAZA Education Strategy, moreover with the 2008/09 EAZA European Carnivore Campaign.
Education policy in Lisbon Zoo gives more and more emphasis to knowledge as an active and shared process of giving meaning to the world around us. Lisbon Zoo intends to act as a promoter of the knowledge construction process, where each student is an active agent of his own knowledge.
Has we can manage to grow a Zoo in the centre of a big City, each of our visiting students can manage to be a good neighbour. Even towards large carnivores! In the Lisbon Zoo visitors can see: Grey Wolves, Eurasian Lynxes, Red foxes, Brown Bears, Bottlenose Dolphins,... and more than other 300 species.