Going Wild about Scotland through June

24/07/2016 in RZSS

We have made it to the end of the school year!

In our last week of term we visited Shetland. This represented a huge milestone for the Wild about Scotland programme.  We can now truly say we have travelled the length and breadth of the country, with Shetland our 32^nd out of 32 local authority areas that we have now visited. We have also visited over 300 schools and had over 30,000 visitors on board the bus at schools and events since the project launched in August 2014!

We had a fantastic time in Shetland, enjoing unusually warm and dry weather. Perfect for mini-beast hunting with schools and seeing some of Shetland’s larger attractions. Our favourite was of course the puffin! We were very lucky to get within a few metres of them at the cliffs around Sumburgh head, on the Southern tip of the island, along with large colonies of guillemots and fulmars. Other highlights for us included the dramatic cliffs and arches of the Eshaness coastline and the huge tombolo connecting St Ninian’s Isle to the mainland.

(Puffin at Sumburgh Head. Taken by our Education Officer Jamie)

We’ve also had adventures closer to home this month, hosting our first Wild about Scotland Community Day at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo. Visitors were invited to take part in additonal activities to celebrate native biodiversity. These included making pine cone bird feeders in the Wild about Scotland Garden and a special trail to follow around the zoo. The Wild about Scotland bus was also there, with over 300 members of the public coming on board for extra information and activities on native species.

(A spot of mini-beast yoga to relax at the end of a session.)

As part of our mission to enthuse as many people as possible about our native wildife, we have now officially launched our online learning resources.  Here we’ve put together information sheets, ideas for activities and games for teachers or leaders to use with their class or group. This ranges from how to get started with a simple mini-beast hunt to creating a mini-beast hotel or even putting on your own Bioblitz. Resources can be used as stand alone activites or in conjunction with a visit from the Wild about Scotland team. Access is completely free and available at http://www.rzss.org.uk/rzss-education/wild-about-scotland/resources/ Please spread the word and let us know if there are any topics or resources you would like us to feature.

(Exploring threats to wildlife in our Endangered Animals session.)

In other news, we are very proud to have received a silver award from the British and Irish Asocciation of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) for outstanding contribution and achievement in the education category. This is a great end to the second year of the project and with continued funding from Clydesdale Bank confirmed, we are now very excited to start planning our programme for year three!

In the mean time, look out for us at events throughout the summer:

• National Museum of Rural Life, East Kilbride - Saturday 23^rd July
• Falkland Palace, Fife  - Monday 1^st August
• Whitmuir Organic Farm - Friday 5^th – Saturday 6^th August
• Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre, Grangemouth - Tuesday 9^th August
• ‘Big Picnic’ @Helix Park and Kelpies, Falkirk - Saturday 13^th August

 

See you next month,

Jamie and Lindsay
Wild about Scotland Education Officers 

Top tweets and teacher comments

“A fabulous and worthwhile learning experience for children and teacher!! Thank you.” Dornoch Primary School

“The children loved this experience and learned so much about endangered animals. This was fantastic, thank you!” Noble Primary School

Such lovely puffin displays made by Longniddry Nursery after their Polly the Puffin story on the @WildaboutScot bus pic.twitter.com/MFZ56vGDJJ

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) June 15, 2016

Delighted our @WildaboutScot bus supported by @clydesdalebank has won a top @BIAZA award: https://t.co/QTT1W2v36l pic.twitter.com/TFNjcpn2MD

— RZSS (@rzss) June 14, 2016

What a fantastic first @WildaboutScot Day @EdinburghZoo! Great to see so many ppl excited abt Scottish biodiversity pic.twitter.com/5pIT6NLM43

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) June 11, 2016

Well, that was a brilliant week in the #Highlands! Thanks to all the schools for having us. This is #Dornoch beach pic.twitter.com/wEIdvIYLH8

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) June 10, 2016

Balgreen Primary 1s enjoying mini-beast hunting and mini-beast yoga in the sun today. Outdoor learning fun and games pic.twitter.com/9miEBOxGPQ

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) June 3, 2016

Brilliant answers today by Noble Primary School pupils during their Endangered Animals session on-board the bus. pic.twitter.com/CU7vcEMfKS

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) June 1, 2016