Stop Animal Cruelty

Stop Animal Cruelty lesson plan

Your "Be Kind to Animals!" message jumps out with this colorful pop-up card!

  • 1.

    Are you an animal lover? What are some ways animals are mistreated? Everyday, laboratory animals are used to test products. Some pets are not walked or fed enough. Which kinds of cruelty to animals would you like to erase?

  • 2.

    <STRONG>Cut your card</STRONG>. Keeping it folded, cut a file folder with Crayola® Scissors. Make it large enough for a pop-up inside. Across the fold in the center of the card, make two parallel cuts. Open the card and push on the tab created by the slits. The tab will stand out at right angles from the card. Fold and close the card, with the tab sticking up inside.

  • 3.

    <STRONG>Make a pop-up animal.</STRONG> On leftover file folder, draw a pet or other animal with Crayola Markers. Cut out your animal. Glue it to the tab inside the card with Crayola School Glue.

  • 4.

    <STRONG>Speak up!</STRONG> Imagine you are a mistreated animal. Write a message on the card from the animal’s viewpoint. Ask for better treatment.

  • 5.

    <STRONG> Share your animal advocacy message!</STRONG> Display cards where others can see them. Then send the cards to an appropriate address.

Benefits

  • Students familiarize themselves with the issues of animal cruelty from a local to a global level.
  • Students internalize their findings through the personification of an animal that could be treated cruelly by humans.
  • Students construct a pop-up card to dramatize their advocacy message.

Adaptations

  • As with most issues, there are several sides to using animals for experimentation. Divide the class so several groups can research and debate different viewpoints. Do you think that some advocacy groups go too far? How should testing for medicines and hum
  • If you don’t want animals to be harmed in testing, how do you feel about farms that confine animals? What about wearing furs and hides? Design a questionnaire. Would people stop eating fast food fried chicken or hamburgers and wearing leather shoes to pre
  • Assessment: How accurately do students describe their animals’ viewpoints? How convincing are their arguments against animal cruelty? How striking are the cards’ designs?