As a college student in Reno, Nev., 20 years ago, Amanda Kaaha­nui knew she loved nature and wanted to help protect it. Through a part-time volunteer job, she realized she didn’t have to earn a Ph.D. in environmental science or go on expeditions in remote regions to do that.

She could teach.

"I worked for two years at Oxbow Nature Study Area, a 22-acre wilderness preserve in the middle of the city," Kaaha­nui said. "I gave tours to school kids, describing the trees, plants, birds, rabbits, raccoons, beavers and other animals that lived there. I thought, ‘This is a way I can make a difference in how people perceive the world.’ I had found my passion."

For Kaahanui a subsequent 18-month stint supervising the computer lab at an elementary school confirmed that she preferred working outdoors around animals. Today she is head instructor for the Hono­lulu Zoo Society, which spearheads the zoo’s volunteer, membership, conservation, research and education programs.

The society, established in 1969, introduced its first tours and special events more than 15 years ago. Ranging from stargazing to sleepovers (see sidebar), it now attracts some 25,000 people annually, most of them preschool and elementary-school children.

All the offerings are based on the art of interpretation established by the National Park Service in the 1950s. NPS defines interpretation as "an educational activity (that) aims to reveal meanings and relationships through the use of original objects, by firsthand experience, and illustrative media rather than simply to communicate factual information."

Games, stories, arts and crafts, and more teach participants about animals’ habits, habitats, food webs and methods of movement and communication. Activities also emphasize the importance of recycling, sustainability and conservation.

"It’s hard to change adults’ beliefs and ways of doing things," Kaaha­nui said. "But if we can get children to recognize Earth as a special place and their responsibility to protect it, they can go home and help their parents change their behaviors."

One of the messages Kaaha­nui shares is the danger of littering. Plastic bags blown into the ocean look like jellyfish, which are a prime food source for many sea creatures. Ingesting the bags kills them.

The bags can prove deadly in other ways. For example, while a sea turtle is submerged, its neck can get snagged in one handle of a bag while the other handle catches on a rock. Unable to surface for air, the turtle will drown.

"Using cloth bags instead of plastic bags can save the lives of many precious marine animals," Kaaha­nui said. "I love leading kids on that journey of discovery and seeing them make those connections."

Zoo residents serve as living teaching tools. For one group, Kaaha­nui might use Asian elephants for a lesson on locomotion, noting how quietly they walk even though they weigh between 7,000 and 11,000 pounds. With another group she might point out that the elephants can hear sounds as far as 10 miles away.

A few weeks ago Kaaha­nui was accompanying second-graders on a Twilight Tour. As they were standing near Goliath, an American alligator, he started bellowing — part of the male rituals of mating and defining territory.

"It’s amazing; I’ve heard it only a few times in the 15 years I’ve worked at the zoo," Kaaha­nui said. "Visitors wouldn’t know why American alligators do that if a zoo educator weren’t there to explain it. I love bringing such marvels and mysteries to light for them. That’s the value of our educational programs: to instill in participants a renewed sense of wonder and respect for all the members of our animal kingdom."

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.