This Game Teaches Children the True Costs of Companion Animal Care
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FROM
NHES National Humane
Education Society
May 2017
There is no such thing as a free companion animal!
Even after you bring an animal into your home, expenses include far more
than just food. In this activity, students will improve their understanding
of the ongoing expenses necessary to care for two common species of
companion animal, a dog and a cat.
Goal: Students will learn how to calculate general costs associated with cat
or dog ownership.
Grade Levels: 4th–8th grade
Time: 20 minutes
Audience Size: 5–20 students
Objectives:
- Students learn the full range of expenses associated with caring for a dog or
cat.
- Students will examine how their estimations compare with actual costs of animal
care.
Materials:
- Sticky notes
- Price Is Right Game Board (pictured below)
- Pencils
- Calculator (optional)
- Laminated pictures of 10 cat or dog-related items
Introduction:
There is no such thing as a free companion animal! Even after you bring an
animal into your home, expenses include far more than just food. In this
activity, students will improve their understanding of the ongoing expenses
necessary to care for two common species of companion animal, a dog and a
cat.
Procedure:
- Create a “Price is Right” game board. The game board could be designed
for a cat or dog. See photo.
- Record a typical price for each of the 10 pet items (example: brush, flea
and tick preventative, etc.) Keep this list secret for now.
- Give your students laminated photos of the pet items they will need to care
for their cat or dog.
- Ask the students to put a sticky note on each laminated picture.
Ask the students to guess the price of each pet item and write their guess
on the sticky note.
- Once students have guessed the price of each item, they should arrange their
items on the board.
- The students should then use a calculator or scratch pad to tally up the
total cost of all the items.
- After all the pictures are post their guessed prices, reveal how much each
item actually costs.
- Reveal the the total cost of all the necessary pet supplies.*Alternative: Do
you have a group of more than 20 students? Make two boards and divide your
students into two teams. Award a prize to the team whose estimated total
cost of all the items is the closest to the true total cost.
Summary:
Review all the items needed to care for a pet and discuss the importance
of financially planning for a companion animal.
Price Is Right Game Board
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