Conservation Challenge: Rethink Your Rubbish - Zoo to You

Conservation Challenge:

Rethink Your Rubbish

Centered on sustainability concepts, this project-based learning unit helps students explore human impacts on wildlife around the globe, and how their actions can make a difference. This unit includes an educator guide, a project launch field trip to the Zoo, an action-centered outreach program and an invitation to the end-of-year student showcase.

Session 1, Zoo Field Trip Launch: Students explore the Zoo at their own pace and interact with representatives from the Zoo’s Conservation Engagement & Learning and Sustainability teams to learn how waste can impact wildlife around the globe.

Session 2, School Visit: Zoo staff help students perform a waste audit at your school to identify challenges that impact local wildlife—then identify the solution most likely to have a positive impact, and work to implement it within your school community.

Session 3 (optional), Student Showcase at Denver Zoo: students are invited back to the Zoo in May for the Conservation Learning Showcase, where they can share with the community how they positively impacted their school’s sustainability efforts through implementation of their solution.

GRADES

6–8

DATES + TIMES

2023–2024 Zoo Field Trip launch dates (choose one):

Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Thursday, March 7, 2024

Follow up at-school Outreach program is custom-scheduled after registration is initiated. Teachers will be contacted to set up their Outreach date.

The spring 2024 Student Showcase date will be May 3.

COST

$350 per classroom for all three sessions. Please contact us at DZEducation@denverzoo.org regarding discounts for additional classrooms.

Scholarships are available through Denver Zoo’s Access to Awe Scholarship Fund for schools and nonprofit organizations who can demonstrate need.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

To apply for financial assistance, click here.

PROGRAMMING

Session 1 is an active, self-paced field trip exploring facilitated stations around the Zoo. Other schools may be exploring on your same launch date, and capacities allow for multiple classrooms to attend on the same date.

Session 2 at your school is a facilitated program led by a Zoo Conservation Learning staff member, and will be custom scheduled to accommodate one classroom of up to 30 students at a time. This program can run between 45 and 60 minutes, depending on your bell schedule. Opportunities to engage multiple classrooms are available.

Session 3 is an opportunity for your class or student representatives from your school to return to the Zoo and present their impact to the public at our Student Conservation Showcase. Students may rotate through the presentation booth and explore the rest of the Showcase and Zoo with chaperones on a self-guided field trip.

Please contact us at dzeducation@denverzoo.org for further questions, including the ability to accommodate for upper elementary grades.

CHAPERONES

For at-Zoo programming, all chaperones are admitted for Conservation Challenge: Rethink Your Rubbish at no charge. All chaperones must enter the Zoo at the same time as the group. Late arrivals will be required to pay the full price of admission or use their Zoo memberships. Every school group visiting Denver Zoo must have at least one adult per 10 students, regardless of the students' ages. Schools who do not bring at least one adult per 10 students will be charged the full price of admission. Please note, due to space and capacity, we may limit large groups to no more than 5 chaperones attending the program. Other adults can rejoin the group after the program.

For at-school programming, an adult representative of the school must be present during the entirety of the program.

RESCHEDULE + CANCELLATION

FEES