Up Close with Nature at the Zoo

Published Date: September 5, 2002

Reading about animals and seeing pictures in books is educational, but learning really comes alive when youngsters take a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo.

Teachers bring more than 150,000 boys and girls on school field trips to the Zoo each year, and some of their favorite places to visit are exhibits funded by the Dater Foundation.

The Manatee Springs exhibit features the Dater Discovery Center, where interactive computer programs and touch-screen technology adds a new dimension to learning. Young people participating in the Zoo's overnight program get to "Sleep with the Manatees."

Blakeley's Barn in the Children's Zoo is a "contact yard" where youngsters meet farm animals close up.

The Wings of Wonder program featuring more than 30 different species of birds is one of the Zoo's most popular attractions.

"We're making the Zoo more active, more hands on for young people," says the Zoo's Thane Maynard, "and the Foundation's grants have played a major role in making that happen."

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden is a cultural attraction and educational resource for the community, exhibiting over 700 different animal species and over 3,000 types of plants. 1.3 million people visit the Zoo's 65 acres each year.

The Dater Foundation has supported the Cincinnati Zoo's educational programs with some of its largest individual grants, including a $420,000 grant for the Manatee Springs exhibit in the Dater Discovery Center.

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