I had the opportunity to accompany a group of Year 7 students on a field trip to an ecological centre in Bacchus Marsh called EcoLinc. The students were amazingly energetic through the entire 12 hour day - I was just blown away by how motivated they can be to keep going when they are engaged in a task.
For me, a few parts of the day stood out. At one point, there was a presentation from a person who keeps rescued birds of prey. He had brought along with him a very noisy barking owl and an adorable little nanteen kestrel (a relative of the peregrine falcon). The birds were beautiful and hilarious and I loved learning more about Australian birds. The students were absolutely fascinated with the birds.
I have very mixed feelings about animals on display for this purpose. On one hand, they are rescued animals being given a second chance at life thanks to human care, and they connection with animals is what often moves people (adults and children alike) to care for them. However, on the other hand, I know from personal experience and from hearing the students around me speak that people see an animal like that in the care of humans and we immediately want one for ourselves.
A great example of this is the movie Finding Nemo. It was meant as a message for conservation of ocean life, but after seeing the film, many people wanted to keep a clownfish in an aquarium at home. Since clownfish are acquired through capture from the wild, more and more clownfish have been taken from their habitat in nature to keep up with increased demand. So the message of ocean conservation was not only lost, but the film had the opposite of the intended effect. Could this also be happening with our zoos, aquariums, and other areas with these rescued animals used for engagement with the public?
Video of noisy Barking owl
Nanteen Kestral
The students got to participate in a number of workshops, one of which was called the Amazing Race. They were given ipads and a series of questions they had to answer by finding images of plants and animals around the marsh with attached QR codes. They could scan the QR code and see whether or not they found the correct answer to their question, then continue on until all questions were answered.
I loved how the amazing race combined nature with technology. I know that they are coming out with apps for your phone that can identify plants and fungi. I doubt they work well yet, but I love the combination of nature and technology and the use of assisted reality (AR). Kids were really excited to get out and play Pokemon Go What about creating a real-life version of it, where they explore the real world and "collect" plants, animals, fungi, insects or other wildlife? It would be great if they could get the immediate feedback that they do from the game they played at the EcoLinc centre, or from other AR games like Pokemon Go. If we can generate that kind of interest in the real world and real animals, we would really be onto something!
Amazing Race - combining nature with technology
The students also had the opportunity to examine small living creatures from pond water. I loved seeing the variety of life they found, and I think it surprised them as well. They were less engaged than those who got to work with larger reptiles or amphibians, but they were interested. Some animals are just more appealing than others, I guess. But I think that bugs need love too!
Pond life in small "motel rooms"
For me, a few parts of the day stood out. At one point, there was a presentation from a person who keeps rescued birds of prey. He had brought along with him a very noisy barking owl and an adorable little nanteen kestrel (a relative of the peregrine falcon). The birds were beautiful and hilarious and I loved learning more about Australian birds. The students were absolutely fascinated with the birds.
I have very mixed feelings about animals on display for this purpose. On one hand, they are rescued animals being given a second chance at life thanks to human care, and they connection with animals is what often moves people (adults and children alike) to care for them. However, on the other hand, I know from personal experience and from hearing the students around me speak that people see an animal like that in the care of humans and we immediately want one for ourselves.
A great example of this is the movie Finding Nemo. It was meant as a message for conservation of ocean life, but after seeing the film, many people wanted to keep a clownfish in an aquarium at home. Since clownfish are acquired through capture from the wild, more and more clownfish have been taken from their habitat in nature to keep up with increased demand. So the message of ocean conservation was not only lost, but the film had the opposite of the intended effect. Could this also be happening with our zoos, aquariums, and other areas with these rescued animals used for engagement with the public?
Video of noisy Barking owl
Nanteen Kestral
The students got to participate in a number of workshops, one of which was called the Amazing Race. They were given ipads and a series of questions they had to answer by finding images of plants and animals around the marsh with attached QR codes. They could scan the QR code and see whether or not they found the correct answer to their question, then continue on until all questions were answered.
I loved how the amazing race combined nature with technology. I know that they are coming out with apps for your phone that can identify plants and fungi. I doubt they work well yet, but I love the combination of nature and technology and the use of assisted reality (AR). Kids were really excited to get out and play Pokemon Go What about creating a real-life version of it, where they explore the real world and "collect" plants, animals, fungi, insects or other wildlife? It would be great if they could get the immediate feedback that they do from the game they played at the EcoLinc centre, or from other AR games like Pokemon Go. If we can generate that kind of interest in the real world and real animals, we would really be onto something!
Amazing Race - combining nature with technology
The students also had the opportunity to examine small living creatures from pond water. I loved seeing the variety of life they found, and I think it surprised them as well. They were less engaged than those who got to work with larger reptiles or amphibians, but they were interested. Some animals are just more appealing than others, I guess. But I think that bugs need love too!
Pond life in small "motel rooms"
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