1. Animal Sentience Worksheets (creative writing & drawing) by Faye Leister

These worksheets were created to introduce the concepts of animal sentience to primary school aged children.  They provide a simple, creative and effective way for young students to start thinking about 'farm' animals from the perspective of sentience. 

There are currently 3 sets of worksheets available for download (as pdfs): 

Series 1 (Dec 2006): Pigs are very intelligent, Cows are cool, Animals feel, Life as a ...

Series 2 (March 2007): Where pigs live, Give your opinion, Animal rights, Working with animals, Animals are living beings 

Series 3 (May 2007): "Helping Chickens" including: Chickens are cute, Chickens, Ten million Australian hens, Find out about hens, Imagine a fully grown hen, Eggs, Rage against the cage, How much do you know about chickens?

More worksheets will be added over time, as they are developed.

We hope you will print them out and make use of them.

2. RightsQuest: Chickens, eggs and you

This Ready-to-go student online course RightsQuest: chickens, eggs and you is available through the Learning Place through Education Queensland.  This unit authored by Carmel Loane (a teacher) is designed for students in Years 5 - 8 and should run for one term of 10-11 weeks, with one lesson, (approx. 45 minutes) per week minimum.  By the completion of the four modules of the course, students will come to understand how the bulk of eggs and white meats are produced using factory farming methods. Through a virtual study they will come to have empathy for animals, in particular chickens, and focus on the rights issues. Students learn they can speak out and act in defence of disadvantaged, powerless and voiceless groups, from the aged, the poor and disabled to children and animals.

Extensive teacher resources are provided with the modules including spelling lists and worksheets supporting activities in language and math.   There is a workbook for students to record research notes, either online or by hand. They will also produce a PowerPoint presentation on chickens, eggs and freedom in response to the RightsQuest study. There are clear directions for them to record relevant facts as they examine appropriate web pages.

Information is always at an appropriate level and presented in an appealing format. This early stage of teaching persuasive language is useful. Students also conduct a survey.  For further information please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it directly. (Carmel Loane received a $5,000 grant from Voiceless in 2004 to assist her with the costs of producing this RightsQuest.  Congratulations Carmel on a job very well done.)

3. “Farm Animals & Us in Australia”

FREE DVD for teachers – Most suitable for use in Studies of Society and Environment, English, Science/Biology, Civics and Citizenship, Religious Studies and Geography.

Produced by CIWF Trust (www.ciwf.org), and proudly supported by Voiceless, “Farm Animals & Us in Australia” highlights an emerging ‘values education’ in a changing school curriculum by encouraging children to exercise care, compassion and respect for the lives of sentient creatures and to consider the origins of the food they eat in the context of farm animal welfare and social values.  

It is most suitable for lower secondary school level but will appeal to others.

Narrated by star Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Lord of the Rings) the 22 minute film demonstrates: 

• The intelligence of farm animals in a number of engaging stories;
• Implications for the welfare of intensively farmed pigs and chickens compared with their free range counterparts; and
• How young people can act to bring about change in a democracy

To receive the FREE DVD “Farm Animals & Us in Australia”, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it stating your name, position/subject taught, school/college and, most importantly, full postal address for receipt of the DVD.  Alternatively, fax your request to (03) 9888 5480.

Connecting with Care and Compassion is an article about Values Education written in 2005 by Carole de Fraga of CIWF for Directions in Education, a publication of the Australian Council for Education Leaders.   
 

4. The Humane Education Loan Program (HELP)

HELP is a free loan program to provide students and educators with up to date alternatives to classroom animal dissection and animal experimentation. Please contact the Australian Association for Humane Research Inc. for further information (http://www.aahr.org.au/help/index.php)

5. Humane Education Project 2006

The Humane Education Project 2006 (HEP 2006) is one very simple way of introducing young Australians to some animal-related issues from within a nurturing classroom environment.

It provides young people with information about the many positive roles that animals play within our society, and encourages students to explore their own thoughts and feelings about a wide variety of animal-related issues. As a result of engaging in this four-part series, it is hoped that there will emerge some young people who will subsequently go forth into society and become catalysts for positive change.

To view and/or print the HEP 2006 fact sheets (including student worksheets & homework suggestions) please click on any of the links below to download the PDF files (you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them):

• A Message for Teachers    
• Introduction & Part 1 - Sentience, Politics, Law and Religion    
• Part 2 - Agriculture, Entertainment and Wildlife Issues    
• Part 3 - Vivisection, Education and Cruelty    
• Part 4 - Social Justice, Emotive Connections & the Future   

Warning: Animal Club is not the author of the HEP 2006 material and therefore does not necessarily endorse the entirety of its contents. We encourage you to make your own decision about the accuracy and reliability of the information provided. Use of this material is subject to our Website Terms & Conditions.

Check out the links below for additional Humane Education Resources:

• A Teen Activists Guide to Factory Farms was created to show you some of the many ways you can make a difference by promoting environmentally sound farming practices and opposing factory farms (http://www.factoryfarm.org/teenguide/)

• Animalearn, based in the USA, provides resources to facilitate the replacement of animal experiments in schools and universities. (http://www.animalearn.org/)

• Animal Liberation Queensland has humane education resources available to schools. (http://www.animalliberationqld.org.au/About_Humane_Education.htm)

• Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) has an area of their website devoted to humane education. (http://www.ciwf.org/education/humane_ed.html)

• Farm Sanctuary Humane Education Programs - Farm Sanctuary's Cultivating Compassion program offers teachers materials that have been designed to encourage respect and kindness toward all living beings and the environment. (http://www.farmsanctuary.org/media/pr_teach.htm)

• Humane student, a part of Animalearn (above) is especially designed to empower students to challenge the use of animals in learning.  (http://www.humanestudent.org/)

• Humaneteen.org, an initiative of the youth arm of the Humane Society of the United States, provides teenagers with comprehensive, age appropriate resources in a style that is sure to keep them interested and get them active. (http://www.humaneteen.org/)
  

• Interniche, based in the UK, provides resources to science teachers and students in order to facilitate the replacement of animal experiments. (http://www.interniche.org/)

• PETAKIDS is the kids' arm of US based organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Free copies of their magazine, Grrr! are available on their website. (http://www.petakids.com/) and (http://www.petakids.com/grrrindex.html)

• PETA2 is a very cool website aimed at high school students with animal rights resources for classroom projects with information ranging from health and environment to philosophy. (http://www.peta2.com/)

• Share the World is a free educational program designed to help students better understand and appreciate the animals with whom we share our world. (http://www.sharetheworld.org/)

• Teachkind is a USA based website with many classroom and other resources for teachers. (http://www.teachkind.org/index.asp)

• The Humane Education Loan Program (HELP) through the Australian Association for Humane Research (AAHR), provides students and educators with alternatives to classroom animal dissection and animal experimentation. (http://www.aahr.org.au/help/index.php)

• The International Institute for Humane Education is a US based organisation providing information and further study in this field. (http://www.iihed.org/)

• The International Animal Welfare Education (IN AWE) programme, founded by WSPA, focuses on children in the 5-16 age range.  The aim of the IN AWE programme is to embed animal welfare education into the school curriculum globally by: listing quality animal welfare education resources available from WSPA and other organisations in the animal welfare education database (AWED), establishing standards of good professional practice, promoting the professional development and training of classroom teachers and promoting and developing animal welfare education internationally through partnerships.  For further information, please visit: http://animal-education.org/default.asp

Humane education can also be easily incorporated into religious study...

• For information on the relationship between Judaism and vegetarianism take a look at http://www.jewishveg.com/
  and for Christianity and vegetarianism see http://www.christianveg.com/
  and PETA site http://www.jesusveg.com

• To find out how both Judaism and Islam is based on compassion towards animals see http://chaiisrael.org/en/compassion/judaism/heritage_judaism.htm and http://chaiisrael.org/en/compassion/islam/heritage_islam_i.htm

• Return to Eden Part II by Itamar Marcus (this article was first published in The Jerusalem Post Newspaper on 27th February 1998)