OWLHK was funded by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in 2018 to launch the Forest Ecology Board Game Education Programme, which uses the board game "Law of the Forest" as the main teaching agent and approach for primary school students to effectively understand biodiversity in Hong Kong and enhance their conservation awareness.
A total of ten primary schools were visited, and more than 350 students participated in this programme. Each board game activity includes a lecture, and the board game educational activities with "Law of the Forest" are conducted in small groups under the guidance of tutors.
The results of the environmental education activities were very satisfactory, according to the total of 324 pre-event questionnaires and 333 post-activity questionnaires were collected. In terms of ecological knowledge, participants were required to answer five multiple-choice questions related to the ecology of Hong Kong to verify the participants’ knowledge about ecology. Each answer has four points, and five answers accounts for twenty points. The questionnaire before and after the event asked the same multiple-choice questions in order to compare any changes of participants before and after the event. The average score before the event was 4.98 points, and the average score after the event was 11.13 points, reflecting the participants’ awareness of local ecology have greatly improved.
More than 85% of the participants agreed that the activities raised his environmental protection knowledge and awareness of local environmental issues, and more than 83% of the participants agreed that the activity increased his awareness of environmental protection, reflecting the effectiveness of our activities in enhancing the participants’ awareness and attitude towards the environment and ecology.
Many students have left us positive comments. They expressed that they have learned a lot about the local habitats, and many participants expressed that they yearn for more from the programme, hoping that they could join the activity again or extend the activity time. The following is an excerpt of some comments:
- Excellent
- Perfect, I have no other opinions
- I wish there were more time to play, and more cards with ecological background , better to put this board game at our school
- Hope to play this game again
- I had a great time today, so I hope there were more time for the activities
- The interactive lecture and the Law of the Forest have made me realize the diversity of different ecological environments and animals, I have benefited a lot!
- This activity is very good, I have learnt a lot of knowledge, thank you!
- Let everyone know more about the mysteries of nature
- The picture below shows the Asian Barred Owlet that a student drew from the board game
