To increase students’ learning capacity, educate them in an outdoor environment and get them involved in hands on practical exercises.
Port Moresby Nature Park education program coordinator, Ishimu Bebe, says students who undergo their education environment programs during school excursions and the holidays have learnt a lot.
Bebe says their education environment programs, like Kids for Conservation, World Wildlife Week and Culture Week, were developed specifically to help children learn about plants and animals.
The programs aim to inspire, educate and foster this learning and the appreciation of the native flora and fauna that PNG has.
Bebe stresses that by doing so, the children become good environmental stewards of PNG in the future, when they become decision makers.
He says this is basically hands on activities for the kids, unlike the indoor classroom experience.
“Outdoor learning increases their learning capacity and it creates an environment where it aligns their mind back to the indoor classroom learning.
“Our programs look at specific topics, especially science based, where students can come in to the park to learn about a specific animal or a specific topic like reproduction in marsupials.
“We train teachers as well so that they can deliver the topics in an outdoor setting so it also complements their indoor learning,” Bebe explains.
Nature Park aligns its programs with the education curriculum taught within the schools so that they complement the indoor learning. They take in students as early as Elementary to Grade Eight.
It is also looking at including Grade 11 and 12s to study other areas where they can explore the environment and do self enquire base learning.