Explore goes wild with the Dickerson Park Zoo

 

Explore students in 14 different SPS schools got to meet some of Dickerson Park Zoo’s animals face to face. Students in intensive support classrooms got a special treat as guest speakers from the Zoo to You program traveled to their schools to teach them about and show off several live animals. 

At Delaware Elementary, students got to meet a chinchilla, a turtle and a dove. The students were introduced to the animals and taught a short lesson about each one. They watched Chewy the Chinchilla have a dust bath, got to feel shells similar to Tudor the turtle’s and learned about George the dove’s mate for life, Martha. 

“Bringing a bit of the zoo to us provides great learning experiences for the students,” said Delaware teacher Teresa Carpenter. “The students not only got to hear and see animals but also touch representations of the animals.”

Hosting these experiences at the schools offered students a safe space to learn and experience these animals in whatever manner best suited their needs. With the variety of seating and sensory options available at the schools, students were better able to focus on the lesson and the experience.

Experiences like this utilize several senses to teach students. The Zoo to You program presented information verbally, but also tactically and audibly. Students were encouraged to listen closely to the sounds the animals made and were offered the chance to feel animal pelts, turtle shells and bird feathers before meeting the related animals. 

“The presenter did such a great job encouraging students to look, touch and listen,” said Carpenter. “We learned about animals from books and videos. Bringing animals for students to see, hear and smell adds so much to understanding what we have already learned.”

These kinds of activities and learning opportunities are a testament to the power of partnership and community in education. It is thanks to the support of the Dickerson Park Zoo that SPS students got to have this wild experience.