Survey Instrument
It is clear from both national and international zoo per-spectives that a key emphasis for zoo-based education is promoting understanding of conservation biology. Thus, I tailored my methods to explore this domain of pupils’ thinking. To accurately elicit pupils’ understandings of habitats and animals, I designed a survey instrument that asked children to draw their favorite animal where it lives in the wild both before and after their visit or educational presentation. A drawing task, such as this, provides an opportunity for children to express their understanding in a medium that is less reliant on formal linguistic capabilities; thus, it is more accessible to young pupils and those for whom English is not their first language.