Internship in Environmental Education

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Internship in Environmental Education

• Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
• Adventure, Conservation, Education

2
Obtaining the Internship

• Contacted Connie Lightfoot for information
  regarding the internship.
• Requirements
• Experience in working with children
• Coursework in environmental education
• Strong communication skills
• Willingness to learn to work with a variety of
  animals
• Successful completion of a background check
• Filled out an application form and wrote an essay
  explaining why I wanted to participate in the
  intern program.

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Internships at CZBG

• Interns are generally college students or those
  who have recently graduated.
• Positions available to undergraduates include
  Animal Care, Environmental Education Business,
  Development, and Horticulture/Botany.
• Students that are in graduate or veterinary
  school are able to intern in veterinary
  technology or with C.R.E.W. (conservation and
  research of endangered wildlife).

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Environmental Education

• Act as an instructor for a different age group
  (4-5, 6-7, 8-11) every week.
• Our goal is to teach kids interesting and fun
  general facts about animals, while stressing
  conservation and care for our environment.
• Sessions lasted Monday Friday, and we would
  work from 8 until 1230.
• As well as teaching, interns were expected to
  keep a weekly journal detailing their experiences
  and also create a research project dealing with a
  specific topic in their internship.

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Animal Handling

• Additionally, interns in environmental education
  were expected to complete animal handling
  training and present live animal demonstrations.
• Missed initial training session because of late
  ending date was able to arrange an individual
  training session with Jan Dietrich, who trains
  every volunteer/staff member in animal handling.

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Animal Handling

• The session lasted 3 hours and covered about half
  of the demonstration animals housed at the zoo.
• Specific training information included how to
  remove and return animal from cage,
  transportation of animal from ARC, how to hold
  the animal so it is most comfortable, and how to
  observe any changes in the animal.
• The sessions emphasize the great care the zoo
  takes in creating a comfortable environment for
  all animals.

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• Sally/Glen ring-neck dove
• Large and Small Alligator Snapping Turtle
• Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
• MJ/Spidey tarantula
• Sonic/Hermione hedgehog
• Crystal Ball Ball python
• Spectrum rainbow boa
• Rocky Demurral's ground boa
• Crackle lesser hedgehog tenrec
• Bach/Mozart African Grey hornbill
• Largo/Cruncher American Alligator
• Venus/Marvin Blue Tongue Skink
• Magic Bearded dragon
• Jabba Whites Tree Frog
• Domino - rabbit

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Moving Right Along

• 4/5 Year Olds

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4-5 year olds Locomotion

• Objectives
• Identify the way an animal moves based on its
  appearance and habitat.
• List reasons why movement is important to
  animals.
• Make a craft related to the days topic while
  building fine motor skills and a sense of
  accomplishment.
• Utilize zoo exhibits as a teaching resource.

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• 930 10 Introduction
• Kids arrive, and are allowed to play with
  puzzles, read books, or complete coloring sheets
  dealing with the days topic.
• 10 1055 Hike/Break/Snack
• A trip around the zoo lead by intern where
  students are shown animals which relate to the
  locomotion discussed during the day (air, trees,
  water, ground, underground)
• 1055 1130 Animal Demos
• Interns/staff take turns introducing the animal
  that relates to the days topic. Kids are then
  allowed to touch (not pet) or ask questions,
  depending on the animal.
• 1130 1145 Craft
• Kids create a craft dealing with the days topic
  for example, a bird feeder for animals that
  move in air, or a vine snake for animals who live
  in the trees.

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4-5 Year Olds Cont.

• Information about age group
• For me most difficult age group
• Too young to follow directions
• Had difficult time absorbing material
• Often cried or got openly upset
• Enjoyed hikes and crafts

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Feast for the Beasts

• 6/7 Year Olds

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6/7 Year Olds

• Objectives
• Identify an animals diet based on skull/teeth
• Identify the roles of animals in food chains
• Identify adaptations that help animals be
  successful in getting food.
• Define and name examples of herbivores,
  carnivores, insectivores, omnivores, scavengers
  and decomposers.

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• Schedule was similar to 4/5 year olds,
• Hike was centered around animal group
• Introductory activities were spent learning and
  reviewing vocab words.
• Craft also pertained to carnivores, herbivores,
  etc.

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My feelings about this age group

• Had attended first year of school, so were often
  more respectful than younger kids.
• Could grasp concepts well and remember until the
  next day.
• Had developed reading skills.
• Respected fellow classmates and were interested
  in sharing and making friends.

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Home Sweet Home

• 8-11 Year Olds

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Objectives

• Identify at least five biomes
• Identify at least five animals and plants that
  live in each biome
• List advantages and disadvantages for living in
  certain biomes.
• Identify adaptations on plants and animals in
  each biome
• Foster inquiry based learning
• Foster verbal presentation skills, creativity and
  teamwork.
• Utilize the zoo as an outdoor classroom through
  daily hikes in the zoo.

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Schedule for the day

• Introduction
• First day we discussed major biomes (tundra,
  desert, grassland, rainforest)
• Each day we would go more in-depth about specific
  biomes
• Hike
• Kids would see animals from the days biome and
  could visually pick up adaptations to their
  environment (ex black tongue of giraffe)
• Activity
• Consisted of games that dealt with hibernation
  (for tundra) or the need for shelter in ones
  habitat.
• Also created crafts which dealt with the biomes
  for desert, created sand art.

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My feelings

• 8/11 were my favorite
• Kids had been in school long enough to know
  appropriate behavior.
• Were very interested in learning and sharing
  their ideas.
• Were old enough to make jokes and carry
  conversations.

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My Project

• Each intern had to complete a research project.
• Decided to make a lesson plan, and chose 8/11 for
  my group.
• Theme was centered around the grassland biome,
  and I kept the general structure of the day.

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• Intro
• Instead of regular activities I separated the
  kids into groups each group then presented
  information, therefore giving them a chance to be
  teacher.
• Also played a game of 20 questions
• Hike
• Went to grassland animals and discussed specific
  adaptations learned about in the mornings intro.
• Craft
• Made our own grassland!

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What I Learned

• Skills I developed
• Teaching/communication
• Time Management
• Presentational

This internship was definitely a learning
experience in working with both people and
animals. Unfortunately, I would have preferred
to have more contact with animals than with
children. It certainly helped me to develop
communication skills with children, parents and
zoo administrators, as well as the importance of
having zoos to educate the public. If you love
children and zoo animals, this internship is
definitely for you!