Education on schools is one part of the bigger education program (also a website and an exposition are in development). At this moment the education program is developed for primary schools in both rural and urban areas. In two morning sessions the children do several activities related to the five key elements. The first activities are to determine the general knowledge and perception of river dolphins and their environment. This will help to adapt the following activities. In the next activities the children are informed about the dolphins, their habitat and the threats. After these, activities are more concentrated on the possible solutions for threats and on conservation. When the two day education program is finished schools will be stimulated to continue with the environmental education. The first trial of this program was in a primary school in Loma Suárez, a village close to Trinidad. Around 40 children from different class years were present. The first day was meant to introduce the river dolphin and to verify the knowledge present. The session started with an introduction game to establish a positive atmosphere. After the game the children were divided into four groups. In the first activity the children were asked to draw on big papers things they already knew about the river dolphin and its environment. The children were very active in this assignment. Unexpectedly they could tell many things. Especially the older children could give detailed information, for example on prey species eaten by the dolphins. Probably this high knowledge level was due to the fact that the majority of these children came from fishing families. The next activity was a brief presentation, about the biology and ecology of the river dolphin, given by the education team. Afterwards the children could ask and were asked questions about the presentation. During the last activity, dependent on age, the children got books to colour or to read. (These were not yet developed specially about the river dolphin) The second day was dedicated to a puppet play. It is chosen to include a puppet play in the program, because it encourages children to discuss environmental issues in a playful and easy way. The play discussed a topic about the harmful effects of rubbish in the environment. The characters used were an adult river dolphin, a girl (which represents the human version of the dolphin known from local stories), a brother and a sister from the city, a (migratory) fish, a giant otter, a turtle, a park ranger. The children were very concentrated and reactive during the play. Afterwards there was a short discussion on what the children had seen. For the last activity the children were divided in groups according to age. The groups had to think about a story they would like to play with the puppets for the other groups. The story did not have to be realistic, but was meant to trigger the children to think about the topic. In a later stage the intent is that teachers are going to direct the children. Together they have to formulate new themes, stories and solutions. To stimulate this, the puppets were left in the school.
During these days I have seen that it is really important to have trials on schools. Some activities worked better than others. For example the activity in which the children had to play their own story with the puppets did not work well. I think that having the puppets in their hands was emotionally seen already enough. Furthermore, it is important to verify the knowledge present in the group. When that is known the following activities can be adapted and the effect of the program can be increased. Although this kind of education could be useful in conservation, I think that education not mainly should focus on children, but also on adults. Through children the parents could be reached. They tell for example what they have learned and they bring their books. However an education program is a minor part of the daily life of these children and I think that children sooner take over ideas and behaviour of their parents or other adults.