ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXVII, Number 3, March 2012 12

Amphibian awareness programme was held on the 25th of Feb 2012 at the Vadanemelli Village Panchayat School close to Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. The medium of education is Tamil and the total number of children studying in this school is 25.

The school is situated in a small scrub area where there are lot of small pools and water bodies are abundant with tadpoles and frogs. The idea of the programme in the school was to introduce the concept of amphibians as a part of their daily environs and the role of amphibians and people together in an ecosystem.

We started with an interactive session with the children to assess how much they know about amphibians. This was followed by a presentation. Since the children were between the age group of 4-9, a presentation was made with lot of colourful pictures and cartoons, used mainly to get and hold their attention. The ideas used for preparing this presentation was taken from ‘Frogs are a part of our biodiversity’ package sent to us by the Zoo Outreach Organization.

Although the presentation was in English it was translated and delivered in Tamil. The kids were told about what amphibians are, the different kinds of amphibians, how are they different from reptiles. We explained that amphibians are unique and important animals as they are older than dinosaurs. Similarities and distinguishing characteristics between frogs and toads were discussed. Life cycle of a frog was discussed and kids were shown how a tadpole looks and how they breathe through gills.

The amphibian’s skin and permeability was discussed in detail. Children were told that permeability relates to how easily a gas or liquid molecule can pass back and forth from the environment into animals or from the animals into the environment. In the presentation there were different slides of close-up views of skins of various animals from birds to reptiles and mammals. They were then told how an amphibian’s skin is very different and unique because it is more permeable to substances, which can be helpful and harmful at the same time. This concept was supported with a small experiment to understand the concept of permeability.

Materials used:Two boiled eggs (prepared 24 hours prior); Food colouring agent (we used bright red colour); Air-tight Container; Knife

Procedure:• Two eggs were boiled on the

previous day of the activity. We called it as Egg#1 and Egg#2.

• 1 tea spoon of red food colour was added to a container filled with water.

• Of the two hard-boiled eggs, Egg#1 was peeled & soaked in the coloured water, while Egg#2 was left unpeeled and soaked in the same water.

• Next day both the eggs were carried to the school with the container holding coloured water.

The children were gathered and were shown both the eggs. They could see that the Egg# 2 had food colour coated all around it whereas Egg# 1 there were very light stains on the shell. Egg# 1 was peeled in front of the kids. Both the eggs were cut into halves and presented in front of the children.

Amphibian Awareness ProgrammeGayathri Selvaraj and Mittal Gala*

*Program Manager, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Chennai, Email: program.manager.mcbt@gmail.com

Pre-discussion before the presentation

Slide - Amphibians are older than dinosaurs

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Results:• It was observed that the Egg#2 was

white inside just like any hardboiled egg and the food colour could not penetrate through the shell.

• Egg#1 however was not only orange from the outside but the colour had penetrated inside.

The kids were asked question like:- What animal do they think would be more affected by water pollution, a frog or lizard? Why? What will happen to frogs if harmful chemicals like pesticides are used by humans? What will happen to the tadpoles if we pollute the water?The kids could answer the above questions correctly and understood the concept of permeability.The idea of the experiment was taken from the AZA site. Please see the link below.http://www.aza.org/uploadedfiles/conservation/commitments_and_impacts/amphibian_conservation/amphibian_resources/soak_it_up.pdf

The presentation on amphibians continued with more slides on how useful the frogs are and some of the points explained were;• Frog eat bugs and act as natural pest

controllers• They act as bio-indicators• Tadpoles feed on algae and keep the

water system clean• They are an important part of the

food chain

From ‘Amphibian – An Art Aark (Coloring book by Zoo Outreach Organization) we made copies of Marbled Toad, Bi-coloured Frog and Small tree frog for the colouring activity and distributed it to kids explaining them about each species

Towards the end of the programme, the kids were assembled in the playground and were asked to participate in a hopping race, which they readily agreed.

The poster on South Asian Amphibians was left with the teachers for the class.

Madras Crocodile Bank Trust/Centre for Herpetology would like to sincerely thank the Zoo Outreach Organization and Amphibian Ark team for providing us with the Amphibian packages and all the support to make this program a fun and successful event. We would also like to thank ‘Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA), in providing ideas, which made the programme interesting and educative.

Difference in Egg #1 and Egg#2 ; Inset Egg1 peeled in front of class, Egg-2 Food colour penetrated till the egg white

Frog and Toad colouring pages from ‘Amphibian- An Art Aark

Leap Race

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The Second “National Workshop for Zoo Educators on Conservation Education” was held at Bhopal from 27 Feb-1 March 2012. Twenty-four participants from 22 Indian zoos participated in the training workshop. Most of them were education staff and a few other staff holding education subject as well.

Since 29 February fell in between the workshop dates, we arranged a Leap Day 2012 to promote successes in the conservation of amphibians in situ and ex situ entitled “Leaping Ahead of Extinction”. AArk is the joint effort of World Association of Zoos and Aquariums WAZA, Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, SSC/IUCN CBSG and Amphibian Specialist Group ASG, SSC/IUCN. Zoo Outreach Organization has strong links with all.

Though South Asian Zoos in general don’t keep amphibians in captivity for conservation breeding, ZOO promoted this activity in South Asian region to create awareness among public why we have to conserve amphibians by publishing and supplying education materials. Materials demonstrated at the CZA training were AArk leap day poster, South Asian Amphibian poster, colouring book, amphibian packets and masks to the organizers of the programme in this region. Among ZOO’s educator contacts, sixteen institutions/persons conducted programmes for large groups of visitors in order to to create awareness on amphibian conservation.

In the CZA Educators workshop, ZOO Education Officer gave a presentation on amphibians. It included kinds of amphibians, their habitats, their importance to ecosystems. He also included the global amphibian crisis, the chytrid fungus, and Global Amphibian Assessments using the Red List. In 2008 a leap day activity was organised and again this leap year which he used as a platform for demonstrating how to capture the interest of children.

ZOO’s various amphibian education materials and activities since 2007 were demonstrated, e.g., how to use these materials at their own zoo to teach about amphibian conservation in a variety of audiences. Subsequently they participated in amphibian exercises and learned new techniques, including how to be part of international environmental activities.

Indian Zoo Educators leaping for Amphibian Conservation at Bhopal WorkshopR. Marimuthu*

Indian Zoo Educators leaping ahead for saving amphibians

*Education Officer, Zoo Outreach Organization. Email: marimuthu@zooreach.org

ZOO's amphibian education materials explained to the participants

Participants with AArk logo mask

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On the 29th of Feb 2012, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust/ Centre for Herpetology conducted a Leap Day amphibian awareness programme for 20 kids of lower kindergarten.

The package provided by Zoo Outreach Organization was used for the programme. The package contained:1) Amphibian masks2) Colouring books for distribution as prizes3) South Asian amphibian poster4) Sample kit on ‘Frogs a part of

Biodiversity’

The programme started with a power point presentation which covered topics like:• What are amphibians? What does the

word ‘AMPHIBIAN’ mean?• Different kinds of amphibians.

Amphibian Morphology and life cycle of a frog and adaptation with respect to their habitats

• Difference between Frogs and Toads• How do they breathe? Why do frogs

call and how?• Why are amphibians important?

Threats, why are they vanishing?• How to save them and how can you

help?

To make it fun-learning and interesting for the kids, the presentation was made very simple by adding lots of cartoons, pictures and video-clips. The presentation was based mainly on the sample kit from the package ‘Frogs are part of Biodiversity’.

To ensure that every child received a complete package of items and

activities, 20 Amphibian Activity Packs were made using material provided in the package like masks and re-producing materials like ’word search’, mazes, arts and crafts from Zoo Outreach’s Helping Herps booklet. Every kid got a Global Warning- patch to color and stick on a candy stick, idea taken from the Zoo Outreach -Amphibian Ark-2008’ and ‘Amphibian art and craft activities for kids’.

The children and the teachers not only enjoyed this presentation, but learnt about amphibians and why we should protect them. The program was concluded with the children wearing frog and toad masks and doing a frog leap to celebrate the Leap Day and the

cause of Amphibian Conservation The poster on South Asian Amphibians poster was left with the teachers for the classroom and library along with 2 Amphibian Colouring books.

Madras Crocodile Bank Trust/ Centre for herpetology would like to sincerely thank The Zoo Outreach Organization and Amphibian Ark team for providing us with the Amphibian packages and all the support to make this program a fun and successful event.

Leap Day programme conducted with kindergartens of HLC (Headstart Learning Centre) International School, ChennaiMittal Gala*

*Program Manager, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Chennai, Email: program.manager.mcbt@gmail.com

Global Warning- Put amphibians on the Map

Children taking a frog leap to celebrate Leap Day

Amphibian Word Search