Lesson Plan: Pet Teams
Time Period: Flexible but we recommend at least 45 minutes
Age range: 9-11
About this lesson
The aim of this lesson is to encourage group discussion about the importance of responsible pet ownership, the role of children in pet care and the issues they should consider when taking on a pet.
Prior Learning
If would be useful if children have spent some homework or class time in playing the two younger games included in the website (Pet Scientists and Pet Healthcare).
Playing these games, or simply dipping into them, will help to ensure children have a basic understanding of the requirements of responsible pet ownership.
Learning Intentions
The game will help you lead a lesson, or short group of lessons, where children are encouraged to discuss and agree whether they are prepared for the responsibility of caring for a pet, whether or not they have the right housing and living conditions for that pet, and, most importantly, whether they are prepared to commit themselves to this responsibility.
The games and video PetCasts explore those issues within the context of three of the most popular pets - dogs, cats and rabbits.
Learning Outcomes
Children should be capable of considering pet acquisition and ownership in a responsible way. They should be able to audit their home environment to make sure it is suitable for the intended pet, and be aware of the time needed to look after any pet properly.
NB: We recommend that children follow the PDSA Pet Charter and are encouraged to take a copy home to their parent or guardian.
Children will also have a better understanding of the jobs PDSA vets and nurses do.
Links to the National Curriculum England and Wales
Subject
PSHE/Citizenship KS2
Syllabus Link
Knowledge, skills and understanding.
Developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities.
1. Pupils should be taught:
a) to talk and write about their opinions, and explain their views, on issues that affect themselves and society.
e) about the range of jobs carried out by people they know, and to understand how they can develop skills to make their own contribution in the future.
Preparing to play an active role as citizens.
2. Pupils should be taught:
d) that there are different kinds of responsibilities, rights and duties at home, at school and in the community, and that these can sometimes conflict with each other.
Developing a healthy, safer lifestyle.
3. Pupils should be taught:
a) what makes a healthy lifestyle, including the benefits of exercise and healthy eating, what affects mental health, and how to make informed choices.
e) to recognise the different risks in different situations and then decide how to behave responsibly, including sensible road use, and judging what kind of physical contact is acceptable or unacceptable.
Links to the Scottish Guidelines
Subject
Social Science: Level A (5-14 curriculum)
Syllabus Link
Knowledge, understanding, skills developing informed attitudes.
Developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities.
1. Pupils should be taught:
a) to appreciate the different ways in which social subjects contributes to pupils' understanding of the environment and their place within it.
b) to be aware of their rights and responsibilities in caring for others and respecting cultural and social diversity.
c) to recognise their role as young citizens, aware of their heritage and the need for conservation of the environment.
d) to be aware of people and needs in society.
e) to be aware of rules, rights and responsibilities in society.
Respect and care for self and others.
2. Pupils should be taught:
a) to take responsibility for their own health and safety.
b) to participate in the safe and responsible care of living things and the environment.
c) to think through the various consequences for living things and for the environment of different choices, decisions and courses of action.
Interaction of living things with their environment.
3. Pupils should be taught:
a) to recognise and name some common plants and animals found in the local environment.
b) give examples of how to care for living things and the environment.
Keywords
Responsibility, hygiene, pet care, pet needs, healthy/unhealthy, balanced diet, feeding, safety, exercise, movement, activity, teamwork, decision making, living space.
Resources
- Computer and data projector
- PDSA pet care tips
- Pet Charter (for extension activity) (see next section)
Lesson Structure
Introduction and warm up (Timing: 10 mins)
Show the PDSA Introductory PowerPoint. It will describe in simple terms what PDSA does, the importance of pet care, the Five Freedoms enshrined in the Animals Act and the lesson to follow.
Ask children about their pets. Ask them to describe how the pet joined them, why they like having a pet and what they believe are their responsibilities.
Introduce the theme of teamwork - how the class works as a team and how vets and nurses must also work as a team
Main (Timing: 25 mins)
Take the children through the online games and video PetCasts involving them in decision making as much as possible.
At the end of each part of the game ask children to confirm what they have learnt and what action they will take to improve the care of their pets.
The video PetCasts are a very important learning tool in this game. They contain interviews with PDSA vets and nurses who show and explain, very clearly, some of the key learning points.
Plenary (Timing : 10 mins)
Confirm learning and introduce the extension activity (if required)
Encourage children to revisit the games online and to find out more about responsible pet care from the Young PDSA website
Extension Activity
There are a number of ways to help children to discuss how they feel about pet care. Having played the games and taken part in the single lesson, you may wish to extend the lesson into a shorter series of conversations with a group or individual pupils. Let the children speak up and give their opinions.
If your school has a pet club or similar, the discussion would be very suitable for that environment.
Preparation for discussion is vital as quite often this brings up a lot of dangerous myths (feeding dogs chocolate as a reward, for example) and the additional PetCasts found in the PDSA PetCasts area will help you understand the most common errors before engaging with the children.
Role play is a fun way of leading a discussion exploring the difficult concept of responsibility. Divide the class into three groups - dog, cat and rabbit.
Children in each group should 'play' different roles - animals, carers, owners, vets, for example. Each role should review the online game and video clips and then prepare a short presentation to the class where they describe how they fit into the pet-care team, what their responsibilities are and what they would NOT like should others in the team not help them.
For example, the dog character would not like being left to run around the streets and get knocked over; the vet would not like it if the nurse had her tea break just as the injured dog was bought in, and so on.
A further extension activity, especially for gifted and talented students, is the creation of a Pet Charter similar to the model we have provided. Working in groups, children can plan out what should be in the charter and consider perhaps some of the different roles animals take on - not just as pets but as working animals.
Competency Standards
As a result of these sessions children should be able to demonstrate a better understanding of how animals, especially pets, should be cared for - and the responsibilities and risks they will have to take on should they accept to care for a pet.
Children will also be able to show a greater understanding of teamwork within a 'real world' context.
