JFC Students Take a 

Wild Step into the

 Future at Melbourne Zoo

On Thursday, July 30th an excited group of students stepped inside the Melbourne Zoo to kick off Day 1 of an immersive, four-day excursion. This unique program is a special partnership between the Science Centre of Excellence (SCoE) and Melbourne Zoo. Ten students from John Fawkner College were selected to take part, representing the Merri-bek North Education Plan initiative in this first-of-its-kind "Wild Futures" excursion in our region.

Over the course of the four-day program, our JFC students are teaming up with peers from other local schools in small groups. Together, they have been set an incredibly ambitious and thought-provoking challenge: to answer the question, "What if we designed a world where we didn’t need wildlife conservation?"

To tackle this big idea, the student teams will work through a rigorous three-step design process across the workshops:

• Identify the Threat: Research a local species native to the Merri-bek area and analyse the environmental threats it faces to design a future-focused conservation solution.
• Build a Prototype: Construct a physical or digital prototype of their design—such as an interactive game, a 3D model, or a powerful visual campaign—keeping the specific needs of the species and its environment at the centre.

• Showcase the Solution: Pitch and communicate the effectiveness of their design at a special showcase event hosted at Science Gallery Melbourne this coming December.

   

Day one was all about breaking the ice and diving deep into ecology. Students participated in a range of team-building activities to get to know their new team members and began researching the endangered species available for their projects. Working in their small groups, they mapped out complex food webs to understand how ecosystem imbalances impact endangered animals, brainstorming what must change in the future to protect both the wildlife and their habitats.

The absolute highlights of the day included an exclusive, up-close-and-personal meeting with Zilly—the only female Southern Cassowary currently residing at Melbourne Zoo. Students were also thrilled to witness the spectacular feeding time at the Lion Den, a special event that only occurs every two days.

It was a fantastic day of learning outside the classroom. Our students represented JFC with pride, navigating the zoo grounds while building meaningful connections with peers from other schools. We are incredibly proud of their start and cannot wait to see the innovative solutions our Wild Futures students design in the upcoming workshops.