Belize Zoo Goes Live Online for Schools!

The Belize Zoo wants to take the wildlife into classrooms in the coming weeks – virtually, that is. They are launching a brand new and exciting educational experience for teachers and students called Belize Zoo Live. Today we went to the Zoo to find out more about how the programme will work and what schools can expect. Education Director Jamal Andrewin Bohn says this is something they have always wanted to do and with the demand from friends abroad who want to experience the zoo’s offerings – they decided this is the right time to do it. Andrewin Bohn tells us more.

Jamal Andrewin Bohn

Jamal Andrewin Bohn, Education Director, The Belize Zoo

“This program has been a dream or a vision for a long time before the pandemic hit and the concept is basically that we can bring the Belize Zoo to you – people who aren’t here physically or people who are abroad or in their classrooms. It is an opportunity to use this living classroom that we have and transmit it virtually and still make it meaningful more than just watching a video or video clip or something short about the animals but make it interactive and an opportunity where teachers and students can see the animals and ask questions about them; learn a little bit more about their natural history; their ecology; their role in culture; everything they would learn when they come on a little tour at the Zoo.   We are hoping that school administrators, even parents that see it will share it with their child’s educator and they can reach out to us and we will be in a position to plan ahead, plan a day and discuss the concepts that they would like us to share. For Belize, obviously we are very familiar with the national curricula so it wouldn’t be hard for us to ensure that the animals we choose and the conversation we have with the students support the classroom objectives. Even now with the distance learning, teachers are still trying to achieve the national curricula that the Ministry of Education set out – that is something we can supplement with the animals at the zoo. It can easily be applied into social studies; science; even grammar learning new words and terminologies about the animals and their adaptation. So, we are looking forward to working with teachers on this front.”