Taronga Education

15/10/2024

⭐️2024 TARONGA ENRICHMENT COMPETITION WINNERS⭐️

Last Term the Taronga Education team ran our annual STEM Enrichment Design Competition for the platypus and the dingo. We had some incredible entries again this year which made it very challenging for the judging panel.

We are excited to share with you that Kai from St. Francis de Sales School (Woolooware) created the winning enrichment for the Dingo! The judges thought that the enrichment not only was natural looking but would also pose a challenge for the dingo as it is placed higher up and provided them with a different way of engaging with enrichment.

We were also thrilled for Elizabeth from St. Columba’s Catholic Primary School Leichhardt North who was successful in designing and building the enrichment for Tilly the platypus. The judges loved the natural look of this enrichment as well as the raft for Tilly to engage with.

These two students demonstrated outstanding design thinking in order to develop and build these enrichment devices for the dingo and the platypus. We are looking forward to hosting their classes at Taronga Zoo Sydney to watch their enrichment be placed in with these animals.

Congratulations again Kai and Elizabeth👏👏

08/10/2024

Thanks so much to the Year 12 teachers who book our Heredity and Genetic Change workshops every year. In 2025 we are running a full day event that will feature scientists and keepers assisting the education team deliver the content on the reproductive techniques used in the zoo and how population data is monitored both at the zoo and in endangered wild populations.
We realise a lot of your scopes and sequences have already been developed for year 12, but if you have any wiggle room keep your eyes out for this when the date is confirmed and 2025 bookings bookings open.

17/09/2024

We have been getting some AMAZING STEM Enrichment Competition submissions for this year's design challenge!

Don't forget to submit your designs by FRIDAY 27th SEPTEMBER here:
https://taronga.org.au/education/digital-programs-online-resources/enrichment-design-competition

05/08/2024

Looking for an engaging and authentic STEM project for your class?

Have your students put their design and production skills to the test by planning and creating a new and exciting enrichment design for one of two animals found at Taronga Zoo- Dingoes and the Platypus.
The winners of this STEM based project will be selected by an expert panel of judge zookeepers and behavioural scientists from Taronga Zoo and have the chance to win a visit to Taronga Zoo Sydney or Taronga Western Plains Zoo and watch their enrichment go in with one of these animals!

See the website for all the resources and more information!
https://taronga.org.au/education/digital-programs-online-resources/enrichment-design-competition

25/07/2024

WANT TO BE PART OF OUR FREE DIGITAL NAIDOC EVENT TOMORROW?

Friday 26th July at 1:00pm, come and join Uncle Col and the Taronga Educators for a wonderful Animals of the Dreaming NAIDOC Event.

The live stream will commence automatically at 1:00pm and will run for approximately an hour. You can find the live stream here:
https://taronga.org.au/education/digital-programs-online-resources/naidoc-week

We look forward to you joining us!

To Celebrate NAIDOC week, the Taronga Education Team are offering a FREE digital live performance of our Animals of the Dreaming program on Friday 26th July from 1:00pm.

24/06/2024

Looking for an engaging NAIDOC event for your students?

To Celebrate NAIDOC week, the Taronga Education Team are offering a FREE digital live performance of our Animals of the Dreaming program on Friday 26th July at 1:00pm.

Come and join Uncle Col and our amazing Educators as they present an engaging experience of storytelling and music. Participants will be introduced to a wide variety of unique and wonderful Native Australian animals, such as a frog, possum, lizard, snake, and turtle up close to the camera!

REGISTER HERE: https://taronga.tfaforms.net/50

FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION HERE:
https://taronga.org.au/education/digital-programs-online-resources/naidoc-week

To Celebrate NAIDOC week, the Taronga Education Team are offering a FREE digital live performance of our Animals of the Dreaming program on Friday 26th July from 1:00pm.

17/01/2024

Calling all teachers!

Taronga Zoo Sydney and Taronga Western Plains Zoo is having a Teachers Day on Thursday 25th January. Bring your family for FREE, and get the opportunity to learn about our educational programs and visit our immersive habitat classrooms, as well as explore the Zoo.

Follow the link below for more details!

Taronga would love to invite all teachers and their family (one extra adult and two children) to enjoy a complimentary day at Taronga Zoo Sydney or Taronga Western Plains Zoo on Friday July 14.

10/10/2023

⭐️Enrichment Design-Highly Commended⭐️

As a follow up to yesterday's winner post, we would like to commend these students on their incredible efforts in our STEM Enrichment Design Competition.

These students, who are both from the same school as the winner, were awarded highly commended for the Sun Bear category:

Ethan and Charlotte from St Francis de Sales Catholic Primary School Woolooware

These students were awarded highly commended for the Echidna category:
Leila from St Anthony of Padua Catholic College Austral

and

Matteo from St. Columba’s Catholic Primary School Leichhardt North

These entries were innovative and impressed the judging panel making it challenging to select the winning entries, so we want to congratulate these students on their fantastic work.

We would like to thank all students for their submissions to the 2023 Enrichment Design Competition and encourage you all to participate in the 2024 competition which will be released in Term 3 next year!

09/10/2023

‼️ 2023 ENRICHMENT DESIGN COMPETITION WINNER ALERT ‼️

Last term the Taronga Education Team held their annual STEM Enrichment Design Competition. This year the task was to design and build an enrichment object for either the Sun Bear or the Echidna. This year we had some of the most complex and natural looking enrichment which made it very challenging for the judges.

A huge congratulations for this year's winners:

Kai from St Francis de Sales Catholic Primary School Woolooware who won the Sun Bear category. See Kai's design in the first photograph.

and

Allegra from St. Columba’s Catholic Primary School Leichhardt North who won the Echidna category. See Allegra's design in the second photograph.

These two students demonstrated outstanding design thinking in order to develop these interactive and natural looking enrichment objects for the Sun Bear and the Echidna. We are looking forward to hosting the winning classes at Taronga Zoo Sydney this term to see the enrichment items being put to the test by our two species.

Again, a huge congratulations to Kai and Allegra for their brilliant designs. We will also announce our highly commended students over the next week.👏

23/08/2023

There is still time to put your design thinking skills together and enter our enrichment design competition to win an excursion for your class to Taronga Zoo Sydney or Taronga Western Plains Zoo. We are looking forward to seeing the innovation and creativity in developing feeders that are going to encourage some of Taronga's favourite animals to display their natural behavours.
https://taronga.org.au/education/digital-programs-online-resources/enrichment-design-competition?fbclid=IwAR1OsXgXpMuZA5fyQzhayMPojy3ZMdsRXq6yyCBIMqNsOm8r4mBiV--6lQw

Zoo keepers and volunteers at Taronga Zoo spend a large amount of time creating enrichment for the animals in their care. Put your design and productions skills to the test by submitting a new and exciting enrichment design for animals found at Taronga Zoo.

17/07/2023

Win a visit for your class to Taronga Zoo Sydney or Taronga Western Plains Zoo!

Put your design and production skills to the test by submitting a new and exciting enrichment design for one of two animals found at Taronga Zoo- The Sun Bear and the Echidna.

The winners of this STEM based project will be selected by an expert panel of judge zookeepers and behavioural scientists from Taronga Zoo and have the chance to watch their enrichment go in with one of these animals!

See the website for all the resources and more information!

Zoo keepers and volunteers at Taronga Zoo spend a large amount of time creating enrichment for the animals in their care. Put your design and productions skills to the test by submitting a new and exciting enrichment design for animals found at Taronga Zoo.

13/07/2023

We look forward meeting our colleagues who signed up for tomorrow’s Taronga Teachers’ Day.
Registrations are now closed, please make sure you arrive during the 9.30am and 11.00am sign in window. After this time we will be unable to validate your entry.
To speed up the process, please have your accreditation receipt or be logged into your ETAMS account to show that you are a current accredited teacher.
If you missed out, we look forward to engaging with you at a future event.

27/06/2023

We love hearing about your engagement with our Animals of the Dreaming performance. Thank you to everyone who tuned in live or watched the the replay at 2pm. It was a very special event and a great privilege for us to be able to work with Uncle Col to share his knowledge, story and music with students across Australia.

27/06/2023

Teachers, this one is for you!
To thank you for all your hard work, the Taronga Teachers' Day is running on Friday July 14 at both Taronga Zoo Sydney and Taronga Western Plains Zoo. As part of this, teachers and their family will receive free entry to the zoo. You will have the opportunity to hear about the programs on offer for schools, have a brief animal encounter and those who arrive first will receive a complimentary welcome pack.

For more information and to secure your spot head to:

Taronga would love to invite all teachers and their family (one extra adult and two children) to enjoy a complimentary day at Taronga Zoo Sydney or Taronga Western Plains Zoo on Friday July 14.

15/06/2023

FREE Animals of the Dreaming Online Performance

To Celebrate NAIDOC week, the Taronga Education Team are offering a FREE digital live performance of our Animals of the Dreaming program on Tuesday 27th June at 11:45am.

Come and join Uncle Col and our amazing Educators as they present an engaging experience of storytelling and music. Participants will be introduced to a wide variety of unique and wonderful Native Australian animals, such as a frog, possum, lizard, snake, and turtle up close to the camera!

Animals of the Dreaming Zoomobile is an inspiring program combining two fascinating aspects of unique Australia – native animals and the Dreamtime. This program is delivered by Brewarrina Elder, Colin Hardy OAM and supported by our Indigenous zoo staff.

09/06/2023

The Taronga Education Team is excited to share one of the stories from our Wild Writing Competition. This beautiful piece was written by Anna in Stage 3 at Cherrybrook Public School. Thank you to everyone who submitted their work.

08/06/2023

The educators at Taronga Zoo Sydney and Taronga Western Plains Zoo have a special school holiday event planned. Stay tuned for more information.