We're thrilled to announce our new partnership with AZA, a network of more than 6,000 zoo and aquarium professionals and organizations world-wide, with members in all fifty states and in (among other countries) Hong Kong, Argentina, and the Bahamas.
Nette Pletcher, Professional Development Program Manager at AZA, says she is especially proud of the organization's multi-institutional conservation programs like Amphibian Conservation, collaborations that "activate the public to connect with and take personal action to conserve wildlife and wild habitats."
Many of AZA's hands-on activities are now available at howtosmile.org. One activity, called Dress Like a Frog, is "marvelously effective at making difficult concepts understandable to young children," says Nette, "The idea that an amphibian has permeable skin is made less abstract when a child dons a mesh shirt and pictures molecules of oxygen and water passing through the holes. If the activity is paired with the opportunity to view live animals, the learning experience is particularly memorable."
Nette continues, "The amphibian extinction crisis is a threat to frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians worldwide. If we want the kids who today enjoy dressing up and hopping around like frogs to contribute to wildlife conservation in the future, then we must educate them about the importance of these species and how they can help save them."
Learners can get more hands-on amphibian experience by participating in AZA's Frog Watch USA, a citizen science initiative that encourages families and individuals to add to our store of knowledge by reporting on frog and toad calls in their local environments.
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