Zoos for Effective Science Teaching: A Training Program forMiddle and Secondary Level Science Teachers, Phase II

1986年9月，由NSF资助的纽约动物学会发起了一项计划，面向来自纽约、新泽西和康涅狄格州的30名优秀的中学和中学理科教师。该项目名为“有效科学动物园”(Z.E.S.T.)。本提案是该方案的延续，再延长两年。在1987年1月至3月的8个星期六举行的6个小时的会议包括幕后参观、动物观察和数据收集活动、视听节目和动物园工作人员关于动物行为的演讲、动物园动物的合作繁殖和人口管理以及对课堂动物的照顾。部分内容涉及如何设计创新材料，将课堂课程与动物园的使用联系起来，并协助参与者进行同伴培训。角色扮演练习是为了增强教师对同伴培训的信心。参与者将收到各种各样的印刷材料，包括WIZE(通过动物园教育进行野生动物调查)课堂工具包：生活方式的多样性和生存策略。Wize是几个享有盛誉的科学教育卓越奖项的获得者，是由布朗克斯动物园用国家科学基金会的主要资金开发的面向6到12年级的生命科学课程。每个参与者将选择一个与其科学学科特别相关的主题，并开发一个关于该主题的教学单元。将审查最好的教学单元，以纳入Z.E.S.T.教师手册，该手册将提供给三州地区的科学教师，供班级参观布朗克斯动物园时使用。教师在Z.E.S.T.培训中选择专注的主题和获得的材料也是教师在自己的学校进行同行培训的基础。在Z.E.S.T.项目之前，参与者所在学校的管理人员会在动物园参加一次会议，以了解该项目的概况。他们还强调了他们对教师的支持的重要性，特别是在他们努力培训同龄人方面。这一项目有许多特点，证明其作为教师增强项目的资助是合理的。以下是更重要的：1)它拓宽了动物园具有教育性的概念；2)它结合课堂教学展示了动物展览的技术和材料；3)开发了一个供全国动物园使用的模型。

In September, 1986 the New York Zoological Society, funded by NSF, initiated a program for 30 outstanding middle and secondary school science teachers from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The program was entitled "Zoos for Effective Science" (Z.E.S.T.). The present proposal is a continuation of the program for two additional years. Six hour sessions, held on 8 Saturdays, January through March 1987, involve behind-the-scenes touring, animal observation and data-gathering activities, audio/visual programs and presentations by zoo staff on animal behavior, cooperative breeding and demographic management for zoo animals, and care of classroom animals. Segments are conducted on how to design innovative materials linking classroom curriculum with use of the Zoo and on assisting participants with peer-training techniques. Role-playing exercises are used to enhance the confidence of the teachers in peer training. Participants receive a wide range of printed materials including WIZE (Wildlife Inquiry through Zoo Education) classroom kits: Diversity of Lifestyles and Survival Strategies. WIZE, the winner of several prestigious awards for excellence in science education, is a life science curriculum for grades 6 through 12 developed by the Bronx Zoo with major funding from the National Science Foundation. Each participant will select a subject of special relevance to his or her science discipline and develops an instructional unit on the topic. The best of the instructional units will be reviewed for inclusion in a Z.E.S.T. Teachers Manual, which will be made available to science teachers in the tri-state area for use in conjunction with class visits to the Bronx Zoo. The topics teachers chose to concentrate on and the materials they received in their Z.E.S.T. training also serve as the basis for peer training the teachers are expected to conduct in their own schools. Prior to the Z.E.S.T. program, administrators from the participants' schools attend a conference at the Zoo for an overview of the project. The importance of their support to the teachers, particularly in their efforts to train their peers, is also stressed. This project has a number of features which justify its funding as a Teacher Enhancement Project. The following are the more significant: 1) it broadens the perceptions about zoos being educational; 2) it presents techniques and materials using animal exhibitions in conjunction with classroom instruction; and 3) develops a model for use by zoos throughout the country.