Teacher Resource
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
1
Inside this pack:
Zoos Victoria: Education for Conservation ............................................................................ 3
Introduction to the Resource Pack ........................................................................................ 3
Got a question?..................................................................................................................... 4
Don’t Palm Us Off: Get involved ............................................................................................ 5
Don’t Palm Us Off and AusVELS .......................................................................................... 6
Inquiry Questions .................................................................................................................. 7
Resources........................................................................................................................... 11
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
2
Zoos Victoria: Education for Conservation
Zoos Victoria recognises that education is a vital step in helping save the world’s most
endangered wildlife. Our education programs reflect best practice by connecting future
generations to the world’s unique wildlife and shaping personal values to include positive
conservation principles. In addition, programs provide clear conservation actions that
contribute directly to saving species across the globe now and into the future. We call this
practice Education for Conservation.
From an education perspective, Zoos Victoria aims to also reflect the leading pedagogy used
in Victorian schools. As such, this teacher pack is designed to complement integrated
curriculum units, inquiry-based learning and address AusVELS outcomes.
Want to know about Education for Conservation?
Feel free to contact us, or better yet, visit one of our properties with your students and
experience Education for Conservation in action.
Introduction to the Resource Pack
Get involved in Zoos Victoria’s Don’t Palm Us Off campaign with this specially designed
Teacher Resource. With access to a range of unique resources and classroom ideas, this
resource will help you guide students through an integrated curriculum experience exploring
inquiry questions that promote investigation of wildlife conservation, world cultures and
community development.
Schools can also support the work of Zoos Victoria in protecting endangered species such
as orang-utans by helping to inspire manufacturers to switch to Certified Sustainable Palm
Oil (CSPO) in their products.
It is with the support of schools that over 200,000 people have signed up to support Zoos
Victoria’s Don’t Palm Us Off campaign.
Thank you for your support.
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
3
Got a question?
We’re here to help! Get in contact with us at any stage of your Don’t Palm Us Off journey
using the details below.
Teachers
Email our Community Conservation Team at [email protected]
Book a visit by calling 1300 966 784.
Students
Enquiries or questions can be directed to [email protected]
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
4
Don’t Palm Us Off: Get involved
Key Action: Encourage manufactures to label and switch to Certified Sustainable Palm
Oil (CSPO).
There are many different ways you and your students can become involved with the Don’t
Palm Us Off campaign. Check out the action list below for ideas and suggestions.
Things you can do
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Download and read through the Teacher Resource
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Introduce students to Don’t Palm Us Off through your own, or the suggested, inquiry
questions.
Register for an upcoming student and/or teacher Don’t Palm Us Off web conference
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Audit your school supplies/canteen to find out how many products contain or don’t
contain CSPO.
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Email manufacturers to switch to 100% CSPO via the online Zoopermarket
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Inspire your school community to join your email campaign and inspire a
manufacturer to switch to 100% CSPO
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Become a Fighting Extinction School by sharing your Don’t Palm Us Off journey
either on our Share your Story website, with one of our Zoos Victoria Education
Officers or via an upcoming web conference.
Want to do more?

Adopt an animal with Zoos Victoria
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
5
Don’t Palm Us Off and AusVELS
Zoos Victoria’s unique conservation programs, such as Don’t Palm Us Off, offer genuine
case studies for student inquiry learning with strong links to AusVELS discipline-based
learning domains and numerous other links to Physical, Personal and Social Learning as
well as Interdisciplinary Learning domains. The strongest curriculum links associated with
the Don’t Palm Us Off campaign are highlighted below.
Best suited for students completing:
Year 3 to Year 10
Main Discipline-Based Learning Domains:
Civics and Citizenship, Geography, Science, Humanities and Economics (with opportunities
to link to numerous other curriculum domains)
Strongest Curriculum Links
AC
Geography
Economics
Civics and
citizenship
Year 3
Science AC
Hum
anitie
s
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year
10
Community
Engagement
Civic knowledge and
understanding
Economic knowledge
and understanding
Economic reasoning
and interpretation
Geographical
knowledge
and understanding
Geographical inquiry
and skills
Humanities
knowledge and
understanding
Science
Understanding
Science Inquiry
Skills
Science as a Human
Endeavour
Linked curriculum standards or content description
Curriculum standard not available at this level
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
6
Inquiry Questions
Don’t Palm Us Off is a rich action case study that provides real world learning opportunities
for students to explore the issues associated with this campaign.
Students can engage with Don’t Palm Us Off through inquiry learning opportunities that allow
investigation of the following overarching and inquiry questions using our suggested
resources. These suggested inquiry questions are connected to content descriptors and
achievement standards in AusVELS.
Years 3-4
Overarching Question:
Why is protecting and caring for the environment important?
Introduce Don’t Palm Us Off
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Where would you travel to see an orang-utan in their natural habitat?
How do you think local communities feel about species such as orang-utans?
How do you think local communities use the resources of the rainforest?
How does the environment of orang-utan habitat differ from your local environment?
What do you believe the ‘perfect’ orang-utan habitat would look like?
What similarities and differences can you find between orang-utans and humans?
What do you believe is the role of an orang-utan within its local ecosystem?
Understand the Issues
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What do you believe is the greatest threat to orang-utan populations?
How can you describe the changes to orang-utan rainforest habitat overtime?
How can you explain the link between palm oil and declining orang-utan populations?
Why do you believe rainforest habitat is popular for palm oil plantations?
How could the lifecycle of an orang-utan impact on its declining population?
How can your actions positively benefit species such as orang-utans?
Do you believe palm oil is a natural or non-natural resource?
What do you predict will happen to the orang-utan population in 50 years’ time?
Act to save wildlife
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What do you believe are the aims of the Don’t Palm Us Off campaign?
What do you think it means to be an “informed consumer”?
How many of your school’s canteen products contain palm oil?
Why is it often difficult to tell if a product contains palm oil?
How can you encourage manufactures to label and switch to CSPO?
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
7
Years 5-6
Overarching Question:
Can our actions and decisions affect species on the other side of the world?
Introduce Don’t Palm Us Off
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Where would you travel to see an orang-utan in their natural habitat?
How is the environment of orang-utan rainforest habitat different from your local
environment?
What are some ways you can tell the difference between male and female orangutans?
What do you believe are the top features (adaptations) that orang-utans have to help
them survive in rainforests?
Understand the Issues
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Which do you believe is the main threat that orang-utans face?
What do you predict will happen to the orang-utan population in 50 years’ time?
Why do you believe palm oil has been linked to orang-utans?
How do you think palm oil is produced?
What do you believe are the different points of view on the use of palm oil?
What would be the impact(s) if manufacturers stopped using palm oil tomorrow?
Why do you think there are strong supporters of palm oil?
Why is palm oil such a popular resource?
Is there a better replacement for palm oil?
What is meant by the term CSPO?
Act to save wildlife
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Which products do you use contain palm oil?
Why is it often difficult to tell if a product contains palm oil?
What do you think it means to be an “informed consumer”?
How can you encourage manufactures to label and switch to CSOP?
How could you educate others about the link between palm oil and orang-utans?
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
8
Years 7-8
Overarching Question:
Is protecting animal species from extinction the responsibility of local communities or the
world?
Introduce Don’t Palm Us Off
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Where and how would you travel to see orang-utans in the wild?
What are the distinctive features of orang-utan habitat?
How would you describe the differences between orang-utan species?
What do you believe are the top physical and behavioural traits (adaptations) that
orang-utans have to help them survive?
Why do you think Zoos Victoria refers to orang-utan as an ambassador species?
What animal species live in orang-utan habitat do you believe can be related to the
terms; tertiary consumers, secondary consumers, primary consumers, producers?
Understand the Issues
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What do you believe are the ‘root causes’ of the threats that orang-utans face today?
Why do you think orang-utan populations are slow to recover from a decline?
How do you see that humans have interrupted the food chain/web of orang-utans?
How have humans altered the habitat of orang-utans overtime?
Would you consider rainforests to be a renewable or non-renewable resource?
How can you describe the range of points of view on the issue of palm oil?
Why could Palm Oil be considered a complex environmental issue?
What would be the impact(s) if manufacturers stopped using palm oil tomorrow?
Do you believe that palm oil production can be sustainable?
What are the benefit and detriments of using palm oil?
Can you find any environmentally friendlier alternatives to palm oil?
Do you believe that orang-utan population decline is an acceptable trade-off
consequence of human development?
Act to save wildlife
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Which everyday products do you use contain palm oil?
Why is it often difficult to tell if a product contains palm oil?
What do you understand CSPO to mean?
Do you believe that the Don’t Palm Us Off campaign is the best way to support
endangered orang-utan populations?
What does it mean to you to be an ‘informed consumer’?
How can you encourage manufactures to label and switch to CSPO?
How could you educate others about the link between palm oil and orang-utans?
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
9
Years 9-10
Overarching Question:
Is it inevitable that some wildlife species will become extinct for human development to
progress?
Introducing Don’t Palm Us Off
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Where and how would you travel to see orang-utans in the wild?
How can you tell the difference between orang-utan species?
Why do you think there are behavioural and physical differences between orang-utan
species?
What other environments/habitats/ecosystems do you think orang-utans could
successfully survive in?
Why do you think Zoos Victoria refers to the orang-utan as an ambassador species?
What would be the impact on the local ecosystem if orang-utans became extinct?
Understanding the Issues
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Do you feel that human development can ever be environmentally sustainable?
How do the living conditions of communities near orang-utan habitat contribute to
orang-utan endangerment?
Which of the two orang-utan species do you think is least likely to become extinct?
Do you think endangered species is a bigger problem in developing or developed
countries?
How do you think the values and needs of our society influence orang-utan
populations?
What do you understand to be the link between orang-utans and palm oil?
Why could Palm Oil be considered a complex environmental issue?
Do you think palm oil production can ever be sustainable?
What are the benefit and detriments of using palm oil?
What would be the environmental, social and economic impacts if manufacturers
stopped using palm oil tomorrow?
Act for Wildlife
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What do you understand being an ‘informed consumer’ to mean?
Would purchasing products containing CSPO mean that you were a sustainable
consumer?
How would you reduce the purchasing and use of unsustainable palm oil across the
world?
How can you encourage manufactures to label and switch to CSPO?
How could you educate others about the link between palm oil and orang-utans?
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
10
Resources
Put simply the Don’t Palm Us Off campaign is about having the right to choose food products
that don’t destroy orang-utan habitat. However, as with most wildlife conservation problems
the issues are more complex.
Below are a range of resources which will give you a greater understanding of the campaign.
Share these resources with your students to investigate the Don’t Palm Us Off inquiry
questions
About Don’t Palm Us Off
Don’t Palm Us Off
https://vimeo.com/73596136
Don’t Palm Us Off Information Sheet
http://www.zoo.org.au/sites/default/files/DPUOinsert_NEW_FA_2.pdf
Zoos Victoria Don’t Palm Us Off Page
http://www.zoo.org.au/get-involved/act-for-wildlife/dont-palm-us-off
Zoos Victoria’s Zoopermarket
http://www.zoo.org.au/zoopermarket
Zoos Victoria and CSPO
http://www.zoo.org.au/sites/default/files/DPUO_sheet_ZV%20stance%20CSPO.pdf
The Don’t Palm Us Off Animals
Whilst the Sumatran Orang-utan is the ambassador animal for Don’t Palm Us Off, there are
numerous species which are effected by Unsustainable Palm Oil Plantations. Listed below
are some of these species and information about each of them.
Asian Elephants
Zoos Victoria
http://www.zoo.org.au/melbourne/animals/asian-elephant
https://vimeo.com/19409131
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/elephants/
IUCN Red List
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
Arkive
http://www.arkive.org/asian-elephant/elephas-maximus/
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
11
Sumatran Orang-utans
Zoos Victoria
http://www.zoo.org.au/melbourne/animals/sumatran-orang-utan
https://vimeo.com/27518914
Orang-utan Cameras;
http://www.actwild.org.au/videos-and-cams/camera-1/
http://www.actwild.org.au/videos-and-cams/camera-2/
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/great_apes/orangutans/
IUCN Red List
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
Arkive
http://www.arkive.org/sumatran-orangutan/pongo-abelii/
Sumatran Tiger
Zoos Victoria
http://www.zoo.org.au/melbourne/animals/sumatran-tiger
https://vimeo.com/96559203
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
http://tigers.panda.org/
IUCN Red List
http://www.iucnredlist.org/
Arkive
http://www.arkive.org/tiger/panthera-tigris/
Other Organisations
Auckland Zoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PNDRexwAXk
The Orang-utan Project
http://www.orangutan.org.au/?gclid=CNvJiYyRvsYCFZcmvQodu1MPtA
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
http://www.rspo.org/files/resource_centre/keydoc/2%20en_RSPO%20Principles%20and%20
Criteria%20for%20Sustainable%20Palm%20Oil%20Production%20(2007).pdf
WWF (WWF Palm Oil Buyer’s Score Card (2011))
http://www.wwf.org.au/news_resources/resource_library/?3342/WWF-Palm-Oil-BuyersScorecard-2011
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
12
Digital Learning Tools
Sign up for Education and Conservation updates
http://www.zoo.org.au/enews
Create your own Mash-up video
http://wild.zoo.org.au/mashups/#/dontpalmusoff
Act Wild
http://www.actwild.org.au/animals/orangutan/
http://www.actwild.org.au/animals/tiger/
Zoo Blog Posts
http://www.actwild.org.au/zoofeeds/?tag=orang-utans
http://www.actwild.org.au/zoofeeds/?tag=tigers
Other Resources
ABC - The Checkout: Palm Oil - PG rating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl8zB6dNzJk
Palm Oil Discussion and Debate
https://theconversation.com/palm-oil-scourge-of-the-earth-or-wonder-crop-42165
https://theconversation.com/palm-oil-continues-to-destroy-indonesias-wildlife-31831
Ted Talks: Lian Pin Koh: Drone’s Eye View of Conservation
https://www.ted.com/talks/lian_pin_koh_a_drone_s_eye_view_of_conservation/transcript?la
nguage=en
Ted Talks: Willie Smits: How to restore a rainforest.
https://www.ted.com/talks/willie_smits_restores_a_rainforest/transcript?language=en
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation
organisation committed to fighting wildlife extinction.
13