Providing students with a unique learning experience, Zoology, Microbiology and Environmental Science teacher Chris Skowronski took his classes on a combined field trip to the Toledo Zoo, which contains over 700 species of animals and over 16,000 individual animals, on May 2. The goal of the trip was to motivate students to explore a real-world environment and promote learning about animals and nature. Skowronski divided his students into various groups and sent them off to different animal exhibits and hands-on experiences around the nationally ranked zoo.
While Zoology students got to visit the animals around the Toledo Zoo, Environmental Science students were assigned different tasks, such as testing the climate around the Toledo Zoo and the natural germs on natural surfaces, according to Skowronski.
“One group looked at the air quality in and around the Toledo Zoo,” Skowronski said. “One group looked at the drinking water quality of the different fountains. I had a couple groups look at the microbial load, how much bacteria will inspire another, on surfaces that little kids would touch such as the playground in the aquarium space, but also drinking fountains and tables in the cafeteria.”
Attendee on the trip and Environmental Science student, junior Sofia Gualdoni, believed that the experience has helped form a relationship between classroom learning and the real world. She was given the opportunity to apply her learning first-hand at the Toledo Zoo, and felt it helped her understand how animals rely on their environment.
“I got to apply many things we have been learning about the environment to the trip and did things like test water to see how it affected animal health,” Gualdoni said.
Although the Toledo Zoo has a wide range of educational programs for schools, Skowronski requested a new, unique Microbiology program that focuses on teaching students about the helpful bacteria, such as inside animals’ guts, that contribute to their health.
“Lucky for us, they actually designed a program that was tailor made for microbiology,” Skowronski said. “The teacher focused on the microbiome of different species, which is basically how species break down different foods with the bacteria and viruses in their gut.”
Reflecting on the day, Gualdoni said that interacting with the animals, and seeing them up close after learning about microbiomes, ecosystems, and important animal species in school, gave her and her classmates a deeper understanding and appreciation for their lessons in class.
“Everyone really liked it, it was a cool way to visualize our learning and really see the real world effects,” Gualdoni said.
Committed to teaching upcoming students how to protect animals by taking care of both animal and human habitats, Toledo Zoo School and Prairie Specialist Timothy Messer wants to instill a lasting appreciation for wildlife in the minds of students.
“During these classes, our main goals are to help educate students in ways that they can help act on conservation in their natural environment,” Messer said. “We want students to understand the importance of animals in their ecosystem, the importance of respecting them and giving them their space, as well as the different ways that they can help out the endangered species and the species that they just happen to see every day.”
The opportunity of providing students outside of the classroom learning experiences is one that all teachers should strive for, according to Gualdoni. Overall, she thinks the trip was a success, and believes that it positively impacted her view on how important in-person learning is. Her understanding of the environment, how it affects animals in their natural habitats and all the importance of protecting it has been rooted deeper within her from this.
“I think field trips like these are super important,” Gualdoni said. “They get the class more engaged and you gain new experiences.”
