For several difficult years of war, we have been holding interesting educational events at the zoo to mark September 1, the first day of the school year. Not all children now have the opportunity to attend real, “live” lessons rather than classes online in front of a computer screen. Some children have never even heard the sound of the first school bell. That is why our “Fun Lessons” at Mykolaiv Zoo have become a wonderful tradition!
At the beginning of the lessons, a little first-grader rang a real school bell! And so our First School Bell celebration at the zoo began. In between air raid alerts, we held several “Fun Lessons.”
During the “Ecology Lesson” the children met some live animals – a European pond turtle, a pond slider, and giant African land snails. They learned useful information about invasive animal species and the basics of environmentally responsible behaviour.
During the “Microbiology Lesson” our guests had the opportunity to examine a variety of biological specimens under a microscope. At the “Paleontology Lesson” the participants took part in a real “excavation” and discovered many fascinating remains – bones, teeth and claws of zoo animals.
At the next lesson, the children played “Zooloto” – a game through which they became acquainted with a variety of museum specimens. They were able not only to examine them closely but even to touch and feel them.
The “Health Lesson” was dedicated to the importance of proper nutrition – not only for people, but also for the animals at the zoo. At the end of the lesson we held a demonstrative feeding for the monkeys.
We hope that our “Fun Lessons” helped our children, at least for a little while, to experience the childhood that, sadly, has coincided with war.
