Woodland Park Zoo Blog

Posted by: Rob Goehrke, Education “ Hello, my name is Jeremy and I am a part of ZooCrew and for the winter session we were studying wolves. Now you may think wolves are these dangerous creatures that will kill anything they seem to find. But to be honest that's not completely true. ” Jeremy is an 8th grader at Pacific Middle School. As a member of ZooCrew , he got to work on a project that is tied to specific conservation careers. He and a few of his classmates chose to make a short film about a boy raised by wolves in order to highlight some misconceptions about this animal. After receiving ongoing feedback from of our Digital Communications Manager, they premiered their film at the zoo. (Above photo: Jeremy with the zoo's Digital Communications Manager inviting visitors to view the film.) After finishing their projects, ZooCrew students participated in a mock debate to delve into some of the complexities and challenges of conservation work. Since our winter to...

Posted by: Rob Goehrke, Education When you were 13, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did a career in science, technology, engineering or math (also known as STEM) appeal to you? How about a career that helped animals? With ZooCrew , we work with middle school students through after-school programs to introduce them to the varied STEM and conservation careers that are possible. They work with zoo advisors who represent different jobs across the zoo—from animal care to science writing—to get first-hand experience in how fun and rewarding these jobs can be. By working with professionals, our students can create meaningful, high-quality projects. Here are a few careers they explored and the projects they created last semester: Events ZooCrew students learned that events are crucial in raising funds and awareness for our conservation mission. Those who chose this career had the option of working with zoo Events Manager Toni Radonich to generate ideas to expand WildLights...

Posted by: Rob Goehrke, Education Partners One of my favorite things about working at Woodland Park Zoo is bringing amazing partnerships into the classroom. This season, our ZooCrew middle school program partnered with the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT)--a Woodland Park Zoo Partner for Wildlife conservation partner --in some exciting ways. Curriculum While deciding which animal to focus on this season, we came across a new curriculum guide that SLT put together in partnership with Facing the Future. With our snow leopard cubs just born months earlier, it seemed like a great fit. Curriculum from http://www.facingthefuture.org/ During our first lesson, the ZooCrew students learned that snow leopards are a top predator and a keystone species—they have a much larger impact on their ecosystem than some other species, which makes their protection even more important. During the next few weeks, the students learned about different types of people involved in protecting snow le...

Posted by: Rob Goehrke, Education One of the goals of our ZooCrew education program for middle schoolers is to  connect youth to professionals  in the field in order to complement their classroom learning and pique their interest in various STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers. This summer, tablets generously donated by Washington STEM* helped us do just that. ZooCrew youth collaborate with zookeepers, giving them a positive exposure to careers in science. Photo by Jess Thomas . In August, ZooCrew partnered with a summer camp based in West Seattle, a good 30 minutes from Woodland Park Zoo. We were working on a project that connected the kids back to our animals on zoo grounds—developing enrichment devices to keep the animals stimulated and kickstart their natural instincts. A project like that needs lots of feedback from the zookeepers to make it work, but it would have been a big investment to ask zookeepers to drive out, stay for the program...