Fresh from the Carnival break, the schools of Moura, Mourão and Barrancos started their classes with “The adventures of Manchas the lynx and Bui the vulture*”.

Children from the EB1 school of Fojo, in Moura, were the first to try this second educational activity of the LIFE Habitat Lince Abutre Project, which brought to the classroom the experience of being vultures and lynxes for a day.

The activity started by remembering the students of what they learned during the field trips to Baldio da Amareleja, followed by a more thorough presentation about the Iberian lynx and the Black Vulture, focusing on their ecology, on the main threats affecting these species, and on the efforts the Project is taking towards their conservation.

Afterwards, the class is divided into Team Lynx and Team Vulture and all the students participate in the floor game “The adventures of Manchas and Bui” where each team tries to take their species to the end square where they find a good den/nest where they can breed safely. To get there, they have to face several challenges, answer questions and cross the good and bad squares found along the game.

During the current school term we will make about 40 visits to the schools currently collaborating with the Project. Among classes from key stage 1 & 2, we hope the adventures of Manchas and Bui will reach approximately 700 children in the region.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Manchas is the Portuguese word for spots, while Bui is short for buitre, the Spanish word or vulture.