Teacher Hub
Lesson plans built around the pages on this site. Each one has objectives, vocabulary, activities and discussion questions you can lift straight into a lesson.
What do animals need?
Learning objectives
- Name the five basic needs shared by all animals
- Compare what different species need to be well
- Explain why a good home matches an animal's natural behaviour
Key vocabulary: need, habitat, behaviour, welfare, shelter
Activities
- Sorting cards: match animals to the homes they need
- Draw a perfect home for one farmed animal
- Class walk: list what the animals around school need
Discussion questions
- What do you need every day to feel well?
- Which of those things do animals need too?
- How could we find out what an animal prefers?
References: Farm animal welfare standards (RSPCA, 2023)
Seeing the world through animal senses
Learning objectives
- Describe how sight, smell and hearing differ between species
- Explain why an animal's senses suit their way of life
- Design a simple test of a sense
Key vocabulary: sense, ultraviolet, echolocation, adaptation, predator, prey
Activities
- Blindfold sound-location game to model echolocation
- UV torch demo: what bees and birds might see
- Build a class table of animal senses vs human senses
Discussion questions
- Why do prey animals often have eyes on the sides of their heads?
- What would change about your day if you smelled like a dog?
How do scientists know what animals feel?
Learning objectives
- Explain what sentience means
- Describe two methods scientists use to study animal feelings
- Distinguish evidence from assumption
Key vocabulary: sentience, evidence, cognition, judgement bias, anthropomorphism
Activities
- Read three study summaries and rank them by strength of evidence
- Design an experiment to test whether an animal enjoys something
- Debate: 'We can never really know what an animal feels'
Discussion questions
- What would convince you an animal feels something?
- What's the risk of assuming animals feel exactly what we feel?
- What's the risk of assuming they feel nothing?
References: Scientific Opinion on the welfare of animals: sentience and affective states (European Food Safety Authority, 2022); Thinking Pigs: A Comparative Review of Cognition, Emotion and Personality in Sus domesticus (International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 2015); Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken (Animal Cognition, 2017)
Where does our food come from?
Learning objectives
- Map the stages between a farm and a plate
- Compare the journeys of a plant food and an animal food
- Identify who is involved at each stage
Key vocabulary: supply chain, processing, distribution, producer, consumer
Activities
- Build a physical timeline across the classroom for one food
- Label a world map with where five classroom foods grew
- Interview a family member about food shopping choices
Discussion questions
- Which stage surprised you most?
- Who makes decisions along the chain?
Protein without animals
Learning objectives
- Explain what protein does in the body
- Identify plant sources of protein
- Plan a balanced plant-based meal
Key vocabulary: protein, amino acid, legume, fortified, balanced diet
Activities
- Protein card-sorting: rank foods by protein per 100g, then reveal the answers
- Design a lunchbox meeting agreed criteria
- Read a food label and find the protein line
Discussion questions
- Why do people believe protein only comes from meat?
- What would you need to check when planning meals for a whole week?
References: Plant-based diets: food fact sheet (British Dietetic Association, 2021); Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Vegetarian Diets (Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2016)
Farming systems compared
Learning objectives
- Describe intensive and extensive farming systems
- Evaluate trade-offs between cost, welfare and environment
- Use evidence to support an argument
Key vocabulary: intensive, extensive, welfare standard, stocking density, trade-off
Activities
- Structured comparison table of three systems
- Role-play: farmer, shopper, vet, campaigner, scientist
- Research task: welfare labels in your country and what they actually require
Discussion questions
- Who pays for higher welfare, and who benefits?
- What information would shoppers need to choose well?
References: Farm animal welfare standards (RSPCA, 2023); Tackling climate change through livestock (UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 2013)
Food and the climate
Learning objectives
- Explain how food production causes greenhouse gas emissions
- Interpret a footprint chart
- Identify why footprints vary between farms
Key vocabulary: greenhouse gas, methane, carbon footprint, land use change, variability
Activities
- Graph reading: footprints of ten foods
- Calculate the class's weekly food footprint (estimate)
- Design a school menu change and estimate its effect
Discussion questions
- Why do two beef burgers have different footprints?
- What can't a footprint number tell us?
References: Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers (Science (University of Oxford), 2018); Tackling climate change through livestock (UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 2013)
Animals and the law
Learning objectives
- Describe how laws protect animals in your country
- Explain what legal sentience recognition means
- Compare protections between species
Key vocabulary: legislation, sentience, welfare code, enforcement, exemption
Activities
- Timeline of animal protection laws
- Compare the legal protection of a dog and a farmed chicken
- Write a short proposal to an elected representative
Discussion questions
- Why are some species protected more than others?
- What makes a law effective rather than just symbolic?
References: Scientific Opinion on the welfare of animals: sentience and affective states (European Food Safety Authority, 2022); Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans (London School of Economics, 2021)
Checking a claim
Learning objectives
- Identify the source behind a claim
- Tell strong evidence from weak evidence
- Rewrite a claim to match the evidence
Key vocabulary: source, peer review, correlation, sample size, bias
Activities
- Sort ten food and animal claims into strong / weak / can't tell
- Trace a viral claim back to its original study
- Rewrite three headlines accurately
Discussion questions
- Why do surprising claims spread fastest?
- How would you check a claim made by someone you agree with?
Biodiversity on your doorstep
Learning objectives
- Survey species in a small area
- Record data accurately
- Suggest one improvement for local wildlife
Key vocabulary: biodiversity, species, survey, quadrat, habitat
Activities
- Quadrat survey of the school grounds
- Bug hotel building
- Before-and-after survey six weeks after a planting change
Discussion questions
- Which areas had the most life, and why?
- What one change would help most?
References: Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, 2019)
Classroom activities and experiments
Every experiment in the Science Lab includes materials, method, expected observations, the science behind it and safety notes.