By: Mecca Verdiano Boor (Volunteer Panda Mobile) & Natalia Trita Agnika

Beginning the month of December, WWF-Indonesia's Panda Mobile once again spread the message of conservation to elementary school students. This time the activity was carried out at SDN 02 Cilandak, South Jakarta on Thursday (01/12). The presence of Panda Mobile to this school is due to the invitation of Generasi Berkarakter Community. One of the generation characters expected for the next generation of this nation is to have an attitude of love and care for the environment. After the opening by Lia from Generasi Berkarakter Community, Pratama Aditya and Muhammad Azahri from Panda Mobile explained about WWF-Indonesia.

After that, on the school field, Kak Ryan delivered a storytelling session about orangutans and tigers. Despite the scorching heat, the students were eager to listen to the story and got carried away. They clapped happily when the orangutan character was rescued and taken to people who care about the environment.

In the next session, the students were divided into two large groups and did several different activities. One of the activities was a tiger and orangutan-themed cricket game, which was conducted by students in grades 1-3. They were very interested in the facts about the two animals listed on the board. This knowledge made them more familiar with orangutans and tigers.

As a medium for conveying conservation messages, Panda Mobile is also equipped with a water laboratory. Students at SDN 02 Cilandak also had the opportunity to try the facility. But before testing the water quality, they received an explanation about the water cycle and the importance of preserving water by saving water and not littering. The water laboratory facilities they tried were testing the acidity of the water using a pH meter and litmus paper. After that they looked at the content of microorganisms through a microscope.

Another activity that can make students care more about the environment is watching movies. Movies such as "Tiger Hunter," "The World Where We Live," and "The Water You Need for Your Cotton" opened their minds about the environment. The volunteers who accompanied them during the movie screenings asked questions to explore the students' understanding of the message.

On that occasion, students in grades 4-6 also received knowledge about how to reduce waste with the 3R concept (reduce, reuse, recycle). They were taught to utilize used items that are no longer used and turn them into more useful items. What they did was to turn an old t-shirt into a multi-purpose cloth bag. Before starting to make the cloth bags, the volunteers explained various facts about plastic waste and why we should reduce the use of single-use plastic bags. The explanation made the students more excited in making cloth bags from used T-shirts.