Virtual field trip to Edinburgh Zoo

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

It's the height of the summer here in the UK, so what better time to head outside (virtually) to experience the atmosphere and animals at the world famous Edinburgh Zoo, in Scotland! This famous zoo is set in over 82 acres of hillside and has over 2,500 animals – many of which are endangered species. It is especially well known for its daily penguin parade and the fact that it is home to the only giant pandas in the UK.

The students were excited to have the opportunity to see some of the six live webcams - panda, penguin, tiger, koala, snow monkey and lion.

 Our virtual tour started with a brief whole group discussion of whether the students had ever visited a zoo and if zoos were popular in their countries. Some skepticism was expressed about the animals being kept in captivity, so it was clarified that this particular zoo is more of a wildlife sanctuary and is part of one of Scotland’s leading conservation charities. This was followed by displaying a picture of Edinburgh Zoo on the screen and using a ‘visible thinking routine’ to ask the students what they might see, hear and smell if they were to be in the photo.

For this virtual tour I used two different resources. The first one is 360 degree Virtual Tour of Edinburgh Zoo . As we followed the paths around the Zoo, the students took it in turns to describe what they could see and direct me which direction they wanted to go next. This provided useful practice of giving, and asking for directions.

For the main part of the activity we visited the official website of Edinburgh Zoo Welcome to RZSS Edinburgh Zoo  and firstly read some information on the fantastic Education page, introducing us to the Zoo and giving background details. The students clicked the link which I pasted in the chat box and then answered a quiz I had compiled and shared on the screen. They typed their answers in the chat box but did not hit return until directed. This ensured that slower typists and thinkers were not disadvantaged.

After they had a good idea of what the main attractions were, and we had built up some new and useful vocabulary, it was time to look at some of the live webcams. This is one of the best features of this virtual trip as the students are able to see six different species in their unique habitats in real time. This does really make it feel as if you are there. The only point to be aware of is that depending on your luck, and possibly the time of day, some of the animals may be more active than others, so it is a good idea to have a look at them all and be ready to jump from one to another.

For the first part of this activity I provided some scaffolding. The students were given the choice of either finding out about the Rockhopper penguin or the lion. They chose the Rockhopper and we read a checklist of different behaviors that you might expect to see when watching this animal. Then we watched the Rockhopper webcam together, and the students had to describe which of the behaviors they could see. It was absolutely fascinating, and they saw hopping across the land, investigating their environment and watching objects. We also noticed comfort behaviors, such as preening its own feathers, yawning and stretching. This enabled the students to build up a range of useful vocabulary to describe animal behaviors in a very meaningful and memorable way.

  The students had to then decide which of the animals from the remaining webcams they wished to explore and find out more information about. They were then paired up with someone else who had made the same choice. There is also the possibility, depending on the level and individual preferences of the students, to undertake this part of the activity on their own. I always endeavor to make these virtual trips as realistic as possible, and when you are going round an actual place in a group, people tend to sometimes branch off on their own or  maybe team up with one or two other people. Therefore, I left it up to the students’ own choice. The animals chosen were the Snow monkey, the koala and the panda. They were directed to a section on the website that gave detailed information and fun facts about each of these animals and instructed to read the information and help each other to understand it – finding out the meaning of any unknown words and making sure that their partner understood it too. New words were to be noted down in the chat box for later peer-teaching the rest of the whole group when we came back together (at least three items of lexis). The pairs had to make up a summary of the most interesting parts of the description that they read and also to be prepared to answer any questions that might be asked. The best way to structure this is to remind the groups that all must take part equally and to ensure that they split their short talk up to give each person a chance to speak. It is also a good idea to encourage those listening to write any questions they may have in the chat box, so the speakers can look at them at the end and attempt to answer them. This also gives additional writing practice.  After the speakers were finished they wrote their new words in the chat box, along with the part of speech and gave the definition and an example sentence. Such words as foraging, aggressive behavior and parade cropped up.

At the end of the virtual tour- if time remains, it is a good idea to further personalize the activity by asking the students to tell each other about an animal or a bird that is native to their country. I found that, due to the level of interaction and participation, that there was little time remaining at the end. I always take this as a positive sign though, as this kind of activity is more of a social opportunity and does not have a fixed ‘lesson plan’ as such.

I highly recommend this as a destination for a virtual tour if you are looking for something a bit more unusual and different from a museum or cultural attraction. The best feature for us was the attraction of the live webcams of these rare and unique animals that we would not normally have the chance to see. An activity such as this is an extremely good way of building up vocabulary around animals, behaviors and the environment. Sometimes this kind of vocabulary can be quite difficult to teach, as it can be hard to imagine the differences between the terms. However it is often a priority for students who may be taking exams  such as IELTS, as this is often a common topic. This is a meaningful and interactive way for the students to not only learn the vocabulary but also to have meaningful practice in using it in a real life situation. They also have the opportunity to develop a range of 21st Century Skills, whilst participating in group work, negotiating with their partners and navigating various pages on the website. Additionally, there are valuable opportunities for peer teaching.