FBF lecturers organise virtual tour to Malacca Crocodile and Recreation Park for kindergarten students

With travelling restrictions set in place due to the Movement Control Order (MCO) issued by the Malaysian government, a group of lecturers from the Department of Commerce and Accountancy parked under the Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) decided to sponsor virtual tour tickets to Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park for the kindergarten students. The FBF lecturers who sponsored the virtual tour tickets were Che Siti Lazrina binti Md Lazim, Ku Nur Ilyani binti Ku Abd Aziz, Mohd Danial Afiq bin Khamar Tazilah, Nabihah binti Aminaddin, Zainon binti Md Yunus, Norhayati binti Md Isa, Nur Diyana binti Ismail, Siti Nur Amira binti Othman, Sonia Johanthan and Kogilavani Apadore.

The virtual learning tour was titled “Welcome to our virtual tour to Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park with Little Caliphs Kuala Kangsar”. It was organised on 13 August 2021. The event was conducted both physically and virtually. Four lecturers were sent to Little Caliph Kuala Kangsar, while 50 participants including students from Little Caliph and UTAR made a virtual tour to the Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park via Microsoft Teams.

As a project under the UTAR Committee for Community Outreach (CCO) programme, the activity aimed to promote a joyful learning opportunity in the classroom by allowing students to virtually “visit” the Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park in Ayer Keroh, Malacca. Through the virtual learning tour, students were able to understand the importance of caring for the environment and how it plays an important role in the animals’ lives. They also had the opportunity to learn about the threats to habitat and wildlife.

The event kick-started with a welcome address and opening remarks by FBF Department of Commerce and Accountancy lecturer-cum-Project Leader of the programme Che Siti Lazrina. The opening remarks was followed by a speech from Little Caliphs Principal Marne binti Ogol.

“Welcome to the virtual learning tour. Today we will lead you to an interesting place called the Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park to see different animals. First of all, I would like to thank all the committee members from UTAR, the staff from Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park, as well as the principal and teachers from Little Caliphs, Kuala Kangsar for all the support and assistance in making this event happen.  Through this learning tour, I believe students will learn how different animals are taken care of and how conservation efforts are carried out,” said Che Siti Lazrina.

On behalf of the Little Caliphs, Marne expressed her gratitude to UTAR for sponsoring the kindergarten students and teachers to view the wild animals. “Despite the ongoing MCO that was caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, our kindergarten students and teachers are very lucky because we can virtually visit the Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park. Thus, I would like to thank UTAR for organising this webinar for our students. I am sure that our students will be very excited when they see the fearsome and fascinating crocodiles from four different species.”

Little Caliphs Principal Marne delivering her speech

Before heading to Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park, UTAR staff conducted an interactive session with the kindergarten students. The pop quizzes enabled students to learn about all the animals related to the virtual visit. Besides holding pop quizzes, the interactive session also included playing songs, watching animal cartoons and answering fun animal trivia questions. The session also saw an animal-related craft competition held for the kindergarten school kids.

Group photo of the kindergarten students (right) after the Animal Jigsaw Puzzle session (left)

Songs and cartoons played during the interactive session

Che Siti Lazrina enthused, “The interactive session provides the opportunity for hands-on learning. Our UTAR staff got the chance to engage and interact with the students in a multi-sensory and highly interactive way.”

Animals Quiz during the interactive session

The interactive session ended with a souvenir presentation. The souvenir was handed to Little Caliphs Principal Marne by UTAR lecturer Siti Nur Amira.

 

UTAR lecturer Siti Nur Amira presenting a souvenir to Little Caliphs Principal Marne

The virtual tour was conducted by the staff from Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park. Plenty of facts and tips regarding the animals were provided to the participants. The virtual visit also featured a crocodile show and a crocodile feeding demonstration. Other than the four different species of crocodiles, the participants also got the opportunity to see other animals such as emus, tortoises, deers, reptiles, raccoons and other wild animals. During the tour session, participants also visited Miniature Malaysia where they saw smaller replicas of Malaysia’s iconic buildings.

The reptiles at Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park

Participants enjoy looking at a tortoise 



The supervisor showing the different types of crocodile species to the participants

A virtual visit to the Melaka Crocodile and Recreation Park

UTAR lecturers with the kindergarten students



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