Magdeburg – The Magdeburg Zoo wants to focus even more on the topic of education in the future. With the decision to fill a second teacher position, the course was already set in 2022, as managing director Dirk Wilke explains. This path is now being continued with the establishment of a modern classroom in the zoo’s entrance building.
The former organic bistro in the Zoo-Welle was completely renovated for this purpose. School classes and kindergarten groups can take advantage of various educational offerings there. “And especially in bad weather,” as zoo educator Stephan Worm emphasizes. Previously, lessons could only take place outdoors.
Collection with bird eggs and smuggled animal products
The classroom is completely furnished with extensive visual aids, as he shows. For example, there is a large collection of different bird eggs that zoo employees have built up over many years and can now be shown to children, says Worm. In a suitcase belonging to the animal protection organization WWF there are smuggled goods, such as a monitor bag, which are intended to show what people do to protected species.
In 2024 there will be two new offers for students and daycare children. In addition to a tour on the topic of species protection and sustainability, a second course will focus on species-appropriate animal husbandry in the zoo. “The children should also develop their own enclosure,” says Stephan Worm.
Ikea furniture store supports setting up zoo classrooms
The classroom with around 30 seats was set up with the support of the Magdeburg Ikea branch, which designed it and equipped it with furniture and decorative elements. The room was furnished within a week.
The furniture alone is worth over 7,000 euros, says Christian Fischer from the management. 25 employees volunteered for this. “If it is well received, we will be happy,” he said at the official presentation of the classroom on December 19, 2023. It has been in use since June 2023.
Schools from Braunschweig and Wolfsburg come to Magdeburg Zoo
Apparently the offer is actually well received. “We have already received a lot of positive feedback from teachers,” explains Stephan Worm. They can also use the large multimedia wall for their own content. The interest is so great that even school classes from Lower Saxony, for example from Braunschweig and Wolfsburg, come to Magdeburg because of it, he reports. The free entry up to the age of 15 is crucial, adds zoo boss Wilke.
In 2023, a good 5,000 children and 4,000 adults would have taken advantage of the guided tours and other zoo education offers. Next year there will be even more, says Stephan Worm. The qualified biologist is supported by a colleague and currently ten zoo guides. As zoo spokeswoman Regina Jembere points out, other interested parties are being sought for this, “from students to pensioners”.
Goal: Integrate the municipal zoo school into the zoo as an additional offering
Meanwhile, Dirk Wilke is looking a little further ahead. The city of Magdeburg has been running its own small zoo school at the school environment center on Harsdorfer Straße for many years. This also offers two guided tours of the zoo by teachers every Friday. There have been considerations for a long time to fully integrate this zoo school into the actual zoo. Corresponding discussions have already been held. “I assume that the city council will receive a decision on this at the beginning of 2024,” explains the zoo boss.
The stated goal is to advance zoo education in a contemporary way and for every participant to “take a piece of knowledge and education home with them,” as Regina Jembere puts it. For example, there is a cooperation with the neighboring elementary school, which runs a zoo group once a week, as well as with students from the Norbertusgymnasium, who run a project with turtles there as part of “Jugend forscht”.
2023-12-20 04:40:55
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