Bolles Middle School Bartram Campus Grade 6 advisories are partnering with the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens for a program called Connecting Classrooms to Conservation this school year.

The initiative gives students an opportunity to engage in a custom project-based learning experience to better understand the issues facing wildlife and wild places today. The sixth graders are learning about biodiversity and researching selected species to decide which conservation initiatives their advisory group will connect to in the coming months.

On October 4, Jacksonville Zoo educator Emily Blum introduced the program to the students with a special guest named Gomez, an orange-winged Amazon parrot who is an animal ambassador for the zoo. The pair visited the sixth graders while they were in class with middle school science teachers Bitsy Body and Laura Boswell. The Bulldogs asked Blum thoughtful questions about Gomez while she shared more about his species and background – and he enjoyed eating peanuts. Blum also showed the students various items, including a jar of penguin feathers, a giraffe neckbone and an anteater tracker, and explained the principles of conservation and biodiversity. 

The Grade 6 students will head to the Jacksonville Zoo on October 30 to get up close with the species they will research and work to conserve in their advisory groups. These sixth graders are ready to make a wild impact! #BollesBartram