６、Hands-on exhibits related to the digestive tract of ruminants

 

Hiroshi MASHIMA

Inokashira Park Zoo,　Tokyo Zoological Park Society

 

For the past few years, we have conducted special exhibitions on a variety of themes at low cost. Most of the exhibits were hand-made by zoo staff and were hands-on exhibits for the educational benefit of child visitors. In this presentation, we introduce three hands-on exhibits on the mechanism of rumination and the long digestive tract of a ruminant. The first device is “Sugoroku,” a traditional Japanese board game similar to “Snakes and Ladders.” The aim of the game is to move the piece likened to food through the digestive tract. The game is designed to express the movement of food during rumination; therefore the food piece goes back and forth between the mouth and the stomach. The second and third devices are played by moving a metal ball through the groove engraved on a wooden board which imitates a digestive tract. One of them is played by holding both hands and tilting it. Another board is attached to a base which allows the board to rotate. Moving the ball from the mouth to the anus is not easy. The visitors learn the mechanism of rumination and digestive tract formation by playing.