New Educational Materials on the Nature of Malá Fatra

We are preparing a new set of teaching materials for environmental education focused on the nature and biodiversity of the Malá Fatra National Park.

The goal is to introduce children and young people to the natural values of the national park in a clear, interactive, and age-appropriate way.

We will prepare five teaching guides—specifically for preschools, elementary schools (grades 1–5), high schools, and special education schools. Each guide will combine expert information with hands-on activities, and both the content and the way it is presented will be tailored to the specific age group.

Five Environments of the Malá Fatra

We will introduce the nature of Malá Fatra through five basic environments—forests, meadows, wetlands, high-mountain environments, and human settlements.

Children will learn about typical plants and animals, natural processes, and the relationships between individual species and their environments. We will focus, for example, on natural and managed forests, the encroachment of vegetation and meadow management, the importance of wetlands, the functioning of the high-mountain environment, and how settlement and construction affect the nature of the national park.

The materials will also cover current topics such as invasive species, climate change, overtourism, pollution, and inappropriate development, along with examples of ways we can help nature.

Experiential Learning

Practical and playful activities—worksheets, quizzes, matching exercises, movement games, and thought-provoking tasks—will be an important part of the guides. Some of the activities can also be carried out directly in nature.
We will also prepare identification guides for the plants and animals of Malá Fatra. For each of the five habitats, approximately 30 to 35 characteristic species will be selected to help children better understand the nature around them.

Large-format magnetic illustrations of habitats will also be created, to which children will match typical plants and animals. This will allow them to clearly visualize which species belong to each habitat and how they are connected to it.

The educational materials will also include a short video introducing the nature of the Malá Fatra National Park to the general public.

We want these new materials to help children not only learn about the species and habitats of Malá Fatra, but above all to understand how nature works, what threatens it, and why it makes sense to protect it.

This activity is being carried out as part of the “Tourists and Nature Together” project, funded by the Swiss Contribution and the state budget of the Slovak Republic.