Book a FREE* activity for your students
Sessions are 45 minutes unless otherwise stated.
Sessions work best with 30 or fewer pupils, but unless otherwise stated, we can accommodate more if necessary.
Our sessions are limited in availability and very popular.
Please book as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
If you have any questions about these sessions or wish to check availability on a specific date, please contact our education department directly at 01206 332511, 01206 332512 or 01206 331292 or email education@colchesterzoo.org
Available Sessions:
- Animal Behaviour
- Art Session
- Classification Talk
- Classification Workshop
- Conservation Talk
- Enclosure Design
- Q & A Session
- Teachers in Training
- The Role of Zoos Talk
- Wildlife Forensics
Click on an education session for more details including curriculum links.
For Animal Care Students, we offer specific education modules which cover zoo animal care in more depth. Click here for more details.
* Colchester Zoo reserves the right to charge a £20 fee for all educational sessions which are booked but not attended either due to last minute cancellation (less than 1 week notice), or not attending on the day without a valid reason. If you attend the session they are free of charge.
Detailed Session Descriptions:
Animal Behaviour Workshop – Biology Focus
Please note this session is 90 minutes, and for a maximum of 20 students.
Students discover why we study animal behaviour at Colchester Zoo. As a group, students will learn how to observe, record and interpret animal behaviours. Students practice identifying behaviours of live animals and learn the difference between innate and learned behaviours. Using this knowledge, students carry out a behavioural study. They enter this data into ethograms which will be analysed by the entire group.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Biology:
- Students collect data, and analyse results in graph form
- Animals respond to changes in their environment (stimulus)
- Describe and/or observe: innate behaviour, imprinting, habituation, classical conditioning and operant conditioning
- Conditioning is a type of learning
- Distinguish between unconditioned and conditioned responses
- Examine the different types of operant conditioning through hands-on observations and training with animals
Animal Behaviour Workshop – Psychology Focus
Please note this session is 90 minutes, and for a maximum of 20 students.
Students discover the basics of animal behaviour. As a starting point, students learn the difference between innate and learned behaviour. This leads into the theories of classical and operant condition and the different types of operant conditioning. Building on that, students discover how animal training is a form of operant conditioning.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Psychology:
- Distinguish between an unconditioned response and a conditioned response
- Observe, describe and explain difference between classical conditioning and operant condition
- Understand how learning can be achieved through observation and imitation
- Describe and evaluate attempts to apply conditioning to change unwanted behaviour
- Describe the role of reinforcement and punishment
Art at the Zoo
Please note this session is for a maximum of 30 students.
This session opens with a brief introduction to Colchester Zoo and how we use art. Then students have the opportunity to sketch, draw, or photograph from a variety of still life resources, including: furs, skins, skulls, feathers, and more. These resources allow students to get up close and pay attention to textures, patterns, shape, and structure.
Students attending this session must bring their own dry drawing materials, sketchbooks, cameras, etc. Art materials will not be provided.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
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Art and Design:
- Use a range of technique to record observations in sketchbooks and other media
- Increase proficiency in the handling of different materials
- Use a variety of approaches, including biomimicry, to generate creative ideas
- Understand arts in context
- Record ideas and designs from a range of objects and artefacts
- Experiment with recording textures, patterns, shapes and structure
Classification Talk
After discovering why and how we classify things, students learn the different levels of the classification system. All the levels (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species) are explained, with examples and characteristics given for the major invertebrate phyla. Students then get the chance to guess what characteristics define animals in the vertebrate phyla. This ends with a closer look at class mammalia, and the many orders within it. The focus is then on the primate order, examining the various families. At the species level, students learn about what makes a species a species.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Biology:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the classification system of: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
- Describe the main characteristics of phylum chordate
- Describe the main characteristics of the main vertebrate groups: fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals
- Explain what defines a species and how this differs from subspecies
- Learn what a hybrid is
If you would like students to get the chance to see animal artefacts up close and practice classifying animals based on hands-on observations, book the Classification Workshop.
Classification Workshop
Please note this session is 90 minutes, and for a maximum of 40 students.
After discovering why and how we classify things, students learn the different levels of the classification system. All the levels (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species) are explained, with examples and characteristics given for the major invertebrate phyla. Students then get the chance to guess what characteristics define animals in the vertebrate phyla. Using this knowledge, students examine real animal artefacts (skins, skulls, etc.) and practice classifying them based on their visual characteristics. After classifying the artefacts, students will also have the chance to examine them looking for individual variation, and guessing at the cause of the variation. This ends with a closer look at class mammalia, and the many orders within it. The focus is then on the primate order, examining the various families. At the species level, students learn about what makes a species a species, and relate individual variation to features they noticed during their classification activity.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
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Biology:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the classification system of: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.
- Describe the main characteristics of phylum chordate
- Describe the main characteristics of the main vertebrate groups: fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals
- Explain what defines a species and how this differs from subspecies
- Learn what a hybrid is
- Explain the difference between genetic and environmental variation
- Define the term continuous variation and discontinuous variation
Conservation Talk
What is conservation and why should we care about it? Students discover this while examining endangered species artefacts and learning about the threats they face. After learning about how zoos and other organisations help conservation, students figure out why that might not be enough. The problems of uneven distribution of wealth and food are discussed leading into the issue of different stakeholder demands. The example of palm oil plantations in the rainforest is used to illustrate that different stakeholders have different priorities, which is then tied back into conservation.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Biology or Environmental coursework:
- Understand how humans interact to influence and change landscapes and environments
- Appreciate the complexity of conservation issues and how the needs of many different stakeholders must be considered
- Analyse the positive and negative effects of managing food production and distribution
- Recognise that practical solutions for human needs may require compromise between competing priorities
- Understand that deforestation leads to reductions in biodiversity and that a major cause of deforestation is food production
- Understand solutions to allow sustainable harvesting of natural resources such as timber and fish
- Appreciate the tension between conserving nature and the needs of local human communities Citizenship coursework:
- Understand the issues of global interdependence and how they might be tackled
- Recognize policies and practices for sustainable development and their impact on the environment
This talk focuses on the big picture problems facing conservation. If you would like a focus specifically on poaching and the illegal wildlife trade book the Wildlife Forensics Workshop.
Enclosure Design Workshop
Please note this session is 90 minutes, and for a maximum of 40 students.
Students will learn all about creating appropriate enclosures for zoo animals. Using examples from the zoo, pupils learn how enclosure design must meet the needs of the keepers, animals, and visitors. Using this knowledge, pupils critique a current enclosure at the zoo through first hand observation. Then pupils have the chance to design their own enclosure and share their design with the group.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Design and Technology:
- Identify and solve design problems
- Communicate design ideas using annotated sketches
- Analyse and evaluate existing products
- Work collaboratively in a team to design
- Take into account the views of intended users and other interested groups
- Present objective evaluative comments against their original specification criteria
- Use user group feedback to evaluate their initial design
This workshop is aimed at Design and Technology students. For Animal Care students we recommend our Enclosure Design Animal Care Module. Click here for more details.
Q & A Session
Please note this session is 45 minutes, and for a maximum of 50 students.
This session is a bookable timeslot for your students to ask Colchester Zoo staff questions. Zoo staff are prepared to answer questions on a wide range of topics including how we use science at Colchester Zoo, how we meet the needs of our customers, health and safety concerns of a zoo, case study examples of our conservation projects around the world, or a focus on any other topic.
This session is ideal for students who are required to gather specific information for completing mock assessment, portfolios, workbooks, etc.
Students attending this session MUST come prepared with a list of questions to ask the speaker.
Teachers in Training – All About School Trips
Trainee teachers will learn all about planning an educational school trip, using Colchester Zoo as a point of reference. We cover the rationale for school trips, and how this can be used to increase student learning. We’ll then walk through the steps to plan a successful trip. This includes information about risk assessments, organising adult helpers, planning activities, and how to link trips to the national curriculum. The session includes a chance to look at the education department’s teaching resources (skulls, furs, etc.), as well as examples of some of the formal education sessions teachers can book.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Planning for school trips:
- Understand the importance of risk assessments
- Gain familiarity with Health and Safety regulations related to school trips
- Learn how to develop useful worksheets and trip activities
- Be able to justify the educational potential of school trips
- Understand how to better utilise adult helpers
- Learn how to make the most out of your school trip
The Role of Zoos Talk
What do zoos do, and why? Students learn the main goals of a modern zoo. Based on these goals, students can consider their own opinions about zoos while discovering how zoos play vital roles in conservation. Colchester Zoo’s contributions to in-situ and ex-situ conservation will be discussed using specific case studies.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Biology or Environmental coursework:
- Understand reasons for loss of global biodiversity
- Recognise the importance of biodiversity and the benefits humans get from nature
- Understand that practical solutions for human needs may require compromise between competing priorities
- Learn the history of zoos and how modern zoos are attempting to modify and change their priorities and goals
- Define the terms ex-situ and in-situ conservation
- Evaluate the effectiveness and potential problems with species reintroduction
- Define the term de-extinction, and how it relates to conservation Citizenship coursework:
- Think critically and debate an ethical question
- Understand the roles played by NGO’s and private businesses in society
- Learn the history of zoos and how modern zoos are attempting to modify and change their priorities and goals
- Consider ethical implications of extinction versus captivity
Wildlife Forensics Workshop
Please note this session is 90 minutes, and for a maximum of 40 students.
Students explore the issues of illegal wildlife crime, learning about the problems of hunting, poaching, pets, souvenirs, medicine, and bushmeat. While examining real, seized artefacts of the illegal wildlife trade, students learn how organisations are helping to stop these crimes by identifying criminals and identifying the animal victims. Some of the methods, such as finger print analysis and firearm analysis may be familiar, but students will also get to try feather identification, and skull identification as well as learning about DNA analysis for species and parentage. Students will leave with new science skills and an appreciation of the threat caused by wildlife crime.
Click for curriculum topics covered:
- Biology or Environmental coursework:
- Analyse and interpret scientific data concerning environmental issues
- Understand reasons for loss of global biodiversity and the impact this loss has
- Recognise the importance of in the field and laboratory science in relation to data collection
- Understand threats specific animals species face in terms of: poaching, bushmeat, pet trade, and souvenirs Citizenship coursework:
- Understand the role of law and justice systems in relation to identification of criminals
- Evaluate the role and operation of criminal law in reference to the global community
- Understand difficulties of identifying international illegal action
- Recognise the problems caused by the illegal international trade in wildlife and how this can impact the global community Law coursework:
- Understand the necessity of distinguishing between opinion based on evidence and opinion based on non-scientific idea
- Explore methods used to gather and evaluate evidence
- Develop enquiry, critical thinking and decision-making skills
- Understand potential uses for DNA analysis
- Recognise the difference and reasons for identification of victims as well as identification of criminals
This workshop focuses on the illegal wildlife trade including poaching. If you would like more of a focus on the big picture problems of conservation (local people needing jobs and money; world agriculture, etc.) book the Conservation Talk or Workshop.
