Digital programs
Interactive online Science programs to connect your students with animals.
Free of charge
Program description
Teachers and students are invited to join free online 30-minute workshops throughout the year. These programs support the VELYDF and Victorian Curriculum and are available to all schools and early childhood services. To support the workshop each program comes with a free digital teaching resource, which includes lesson plans and classroom activities.
While not a tour of the zoo, these workshops give you direct access to a Zoo Teacher and unique content.
Each workshop is hosted on Microsoft Teams Webinars. You will not need a webcam or microphone, you can type your questions into the Q&A.
2025 Timetable
Digital programs will be running on:
- Wednesday 19 February
- Wednesday 7 May
- Wednesday 30 July
- Wednesday 15 October
Workshops will have the same format and content each time. Select your preferred time and program to find out more:
| Time | Program |
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10.00 - 10.30am
|
|
|
10.45 - 11.15am |
|
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11.30am - 12.00pm |
|
|
12.00pm-12.30pm |
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12.45pm-1.15pm |
Explore nature and Aboriginal connections to Country through play, storytelling and song.
Children will learn:
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Australian animal coverings and body features
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People’s connection to place and nature
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How to use the senses to find out about science
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How to respect and care for animals
Program resources
Discover African and Australian animal body features, homes and basic needs.
Students will learn:
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Features of African and Australian animals
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Homes and basic needs of animals
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How to use their senses during scientific investigation
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How to respect and care for wildlife
Journey through the bush to discover Australian animals and their survival skills.
Students will learn:
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Life cycles and grouping of Australian animals
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Animals depend on each other, and their habitat, to survive
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How to use observation during scientific investigation
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How to take action for sustainability and wildlife conservation
Program resources
Explore the African animal features make them successful predators and able to avoid becoming prey.
Students will learn:
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African animal adaptations that help them to survive
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Why people are working together to protect wildlife
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How to investigate an animal’s body features, diet and senses
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How to take action for sustainability and wildlife conservation
Bring the science of the animal kingdom to life by examining skulls, biological artefacts and zoo animals.
Students will learn:
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Structural and behavioural animal adaptations
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Animal classifications
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Human impact on places, habitats and ecosystems
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How to classify animals in various ways
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How to use scientific knowledge for wildlife conservation
Program resources
Investigate the adaptations and interdependencies that enable Little Penguins to survive within a marine ecosystem.
Students will learn:
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Little Penguin adaptations that enhance survival and enable life to exist in a range of environments
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Survival through interdependencies between species and populations within an ecosystem
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How to collect and analyse real datasets
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How to extend scientific inquiry skills
Enter penguin cam live dates
Program resources
Analyse and compare primates to reveal humans’ closest living and extinct relatives, evolutionary trends and what it means to be classified as Homo sapiens.
Students will learn:
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Anatomical and behavioural characteristics of mammals, primates, hominoids and hominins
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Processes that underpin speciation of primates
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Construction and use of phylogenetic trees as evidence for relatedness of species
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How to compare DNA sequences
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How to collect and analyse behavioural observation data
Program resources
