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Observatory Hill Environmental Education Centre

Observatory Hill Environmental Education Centre

Leading environmental education to empower learners for a sustainable future.

Telephone02 9247 7321

Emailobservhill-e.school@det.nsw.edu.au

S6 - Global Sustainability - Tourism (Taronga Zoo)

Global Sustainability - Tourism supports the Stage 6 Geography of the same name. It focuses on a local-scale case study of Taronga Zoo as part of the broader eco-tourism movement. The program is a partnership between Observatory Hill EEC and Taronga Zoo Sydney Education Centre

Program dates

2024 Available Excursion Dates:

  • Term 4 - Thursday, November 28, 2024 (Week 7)

Program location

Taronga Zoo Sydney Mosman

View the Google map. Please note that if arriving by ferry, buses meet ferries for transfer to the Zoo entrance. The program meeting point is the Taronga Institute for Science and Learning. 

Key inquiry question

Describe and evaluate Taronga Zoo Sydney's, a local tourism destination, role in sustainable eco-tourism's global movement. (Inquiry question TBC)

Key syllabus outcomes

Students will:

  • GE-12-01  analyses rural and urban places, ecosystems, global biodiversity and economic activity, for their characteristics, spatial patterns, interactions, and nature and extent of change over time

  • GE-12-02 analyses geographical processes and influences, at a range of scales, that form and transform places and environments

  • GE-12-03 assesses geographical opportunities and challenges and the role of varying perspectives and responses in their management

  • GE-12-05 synthesises and evaluates relevant geographical information from a variety of sources

  • GE-12-07 selects and applies geographical inquiry skills and tools, including spatial technologies, fieldwork, and ethical practices, to investigate places and environments

 

Geographic Inquiry Skills

Acquire quantitative and/or qualitative data and information using ethical practices by:

Acquiring geographical information

  • collecting and recording primary geographical data using a range of tools

Processing geographical information

  • Represent data and information in appropriate forms, and where appropriate, by:

    • using digital and spatial technologies

    • conforming to cartographic convention

  • Interpret, synthesise and analyse data and information using quantitative and qualitative methods to:

    • make reasoned generalisations and inferences

    • propose explanations for patterns, trends, relationships and anomalies using geographical models and theories where relevant

    • draw conclusions and predict future trends

 

Student pre-visit and follow-up activities

Successful fieldwork visits have direct links to current classroom learning. Pre-visit activities before the excursion will help students better understand their excursion content and provide connectedness and relevance to classroom learning.

The following tasks, together with fieldwork, will help students answer the fieldwork question:

A support website is currently under construction. 

On the day activities

During the full-day fieldwork excursion, students:

  • Learn about Taronga Zoo Sydney’s initiatives, roles and responsibilities, and outcomes as a global leader in the movement towards more sustainable tourism through presentations from the Education Team at Taronga Zoo and the Zoo’s marketing department.

  • Digitally collect primary data throughout the Zoo in a collaborative project highlighting the projects and outcomes Taronga Zoo Sydney engages in/with relating to sustainable tourism.

Cost 

  • Government Schools: $25 per student (GST free). 

  • Non-Government Schools: $35 per student (GST free).