Animal Behaviour Toolkit - Opening a Can of Worms

In this award winning teacher toolkit, we will provide some examples of investigation topics, give you some tips on how to support your learners and give you the opportunity to create your own investigations with your pupils.

What is this toolkit for?

Pupils are engaged and motivated when they are involved in planning their own science investigations. This toolkit will support you in using and teaching the scientific method, in a multitude of different ways. Using the kit, you can help support your learners to create and carry out their own unique investigations.

The Animal Behaviour Toolkit includes:

• Pupil Experiment Booklet
• Teaching Guide
• Class Presentation
• A list of experimental materials - all of these materials are easy to source if you wish to gather them yourself

We have also created a “Real-Life Research Fact File”, which can be used to talk about the real-world science that is happening on The University of Edinburgh’s Easter Bush Campus, one of which is included in the pupil investigation booklet.

About this toolkit

The study of animal behaviour is important for many reasons. Animals give us companionship, help us do work, provide us with food and clothes and they help us to study diseases and to make new medicines. There are more than 70 billion farm animals raised for meat and other food products across the world every year, and as the human population continues to rise so does our demand for farm animals. Some of the researchers on the University of Edinburgh’s Easter Bush Campus study the science of farm animal behaviour to help our understanding of what our farmed animals need in order to live comfortable lives. The study of animal behaviour in the classroom also provides opportunities for teaching pupils about the process of doing science using the scientific method.

In this teacher toolkit, we will provide some examples of investigation topics, give you some tips on how to support your learners and give you the opportunity to create your own investigations with your pupils.

If you use this toolkit please show us your work by tweeting @EBSOClab #AnimalBehaviourToolkit.

If you have any questions about this toolkit please email ebsoc@ed.ac.uk.

Download Animal Behaviour Toolkit

Curriculum themes: biological systems, body systems, animal welfare, topical science, hands-on science, scientific method

Age: 9 -14

Scottish curriculum links: SCN 2-12b, SCN 2-12a, SCN 3-12a, SCN 2-20a, SCN 3-20a

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ASE Primary Science Article "opening a can of worms" Click to read

This toolkit won the 2020 Openness Award from Understanding Animal Research, to find out why read more here. 

News story Schools Project Honoured with Animal Research Award Click to read