Aquarium’s visitors broaden their knowledge on ecology
On April 15, the Primorsky Aquarium – for the first time in its history – celebrated Ecological Knowledge Day. Its aquarists understand that their mission is to promote environmental awareness, cultivate ecoliteracy in the public and inform people about the most relevant environmental issues. The target audience of the event included both adult and young visitors.
“It is essential for everyone to become more ecologically literate and eco-minded so that our everyday and professional lives help preserving nature’s balance,” said Ekaterina Raevskaya, Senior Specialist at the Education Department of the Primorsky Aquarium.
The celebration was arranged in a manner that allowed every visitor to feel part of nature, which requires mindful approach to the environment, living up to its developmental laws and bringing human activities into harmony with them.
The event organizers managed to combine entertainment with education, raising environmental awareness in children and grown-ups in a playful way. The program was full of amazing experiences.
One of the celebration’s highlights was a series of five learning stations called “Eco-Mindedness”. While rotating through them, visitors learned about mass extinctions on Earth, a cycle of matter, types of introduced species, examples of positive human impact on the environment and the most common environmental misconceptions. The program also featured a themed tour around the exhibits and “Planet, How is Your Health?”, an environmental quiz, during which young guests enthusiastically discussed the most topical questions of modern ecology and tried to answer them.
During an art workshop called “A Time to Gather Stones”, attendees had an opportunity to paint various sea creatures on rocks and shells, and make them using different materials. In addition, the event offered face painting in a designated area.
To promote sustainable use of natural resources, aquarists invited visitors to participate in a charity event for collection of unwanted textiles (squares of cotton fabric, bed linen, T-shirts, blankets and towels) for “Umka”, a nonprofit homeless pet foundation.
“Our celebration focused on the four laws of ecology formulated by ecologist Barry Commoner in his book “The Closing Circle” released in 1971,” said Ekaterina Raevskaya. “We also asked visitors to answer the following question: “Should humans try to conquer nature or to adapt to it?” Participants in the celebration sought an answer to this question, exploring the laws of ecology. At each learning station, Aquarium educators explained to the attendees that ecology was not mere knowledge of human impact on ecosystems but, first of all, it was the study of interactions among living things and their environment. We want our guests to be able to competently talk about ecology after this event held by the Primorsky Aquarium. Starting this year, the Aquarium will make it an annual tradition to celebrate Ecological Knowledge Day.”