„Wolves and dogs” – angol nyelvű projekt az állatokról szóló ismeretek oktatásba való integrálására

írta: Csizmazia Katalin

Ezúttal három, farkasokkal és kutyákkal kapcsolatos játékos feladatot osztunk meg a Rogers Alapítvány ELENA projektjéből. Ez egy 2013-tól 2016-ig tartó, 9 szervezet közreműködésében megszületett projekt volt, ami az állatokról szóló ismeretek oktatásba való integrálásával foglalkozott.

A tudás elmélyítésében sokat jelent, ha élő állatok is vannak a gyerekek közelében, ők is részt vesznek az ilyen (és ehhez hasonló) foglalkozásokon – ahogy ebben a projektben kutyák is jelen voltak. Sőt, bár csak videón, de farkasokat is megfigyeltünk szakavatott farkasszakértő támogató magyarázatával.

A feladatok angol nyelven készültek.

Proverb, saying

Age	any
Number of students	any
Period	30 minutes
Level of expertise about dogs	beginner
Way of work	individual or pairs
Environment	inside
Aims	warm up, collect characteristic features about dogs
Competency	science, social, interpersonal, informatics
Standards	Science: behaviour of animals, look for info
Materials	cards, internet,

Task 1: Collect proverbs
There are a lot of sayings and proverbs with dogs or wolves in them. Give kids time to collect some.

Task 2: Match the cards
First shift the cards, and then make kids match the cards.  All cards contain a part of a proverb or sayings. 

Students’ sheet:

Proverb, saying	What it means

Teachers’ sheet:

Proverb, saying	What it means
Barking dogs seldom bite.	A person who often threatens rarely carries out his threats.
To cry wolf.	To cry wolf is to call for help when you are not really in danger.  As a result, nobody believes you when you really need help.
A hungry wolf is fixed to no place.	A desperate person will go from place to place when they need to satisfy their needs.
Lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.	You will become like your company.
An old dog will learn no tricks.	It is impossible, or almost impossible, to change people’s habits or traits or mindset.
It’s raining cats and dogs.	If it’s raining cats and dogs, it is raining very heavily.
The tail wagging the dog.	This expression refers to a situation where there is a reversal of roles, with the small or minor element having a controlling influence on the most important element.
Top dog	To say that a person, group or country is top dog means that they are better or more powerful than others.
A wolf in sheep’s clothing.	To describe someone as a wolf in sheep’s clothing means that although they look harmless, they are really very dangerous.

What do dogs do for us?

Age	grade 9 – 10
Number of students	any
Period	2 x 30 minutes
Level of expertise about dogs	beginner
Way of work	individual, small or whole group
Environment	inside
Aims	see how much we can thank for dogs
Competency	science, social,
Standards	Science: ecological thinking, diversity Social: living in community
Materials	list of dog jobs, butcher’s paper, felt pen

Task 1: Dogs do a lot for us
Dedicate a short time to collect these functions.

Task 2: Functions and features
Have a look at the following list. Think over what characteristic features the different jobs need.  Match the characteristics with the jobs. Kids will understand that dog breeds have different characters, just like humans.

1. Service and Assistance Work 

• Mobility Assistance
• Hearing Dogs
• Guide Dogs (for blind people)
• Psychiatric Service (to distract attention when someone starts feeling agitated)
• Autism Dogs (for autists)
• Medical detection dogs (cancer cells, seizure alert, heart attack, allergies…)
• Carting (pull carts)

2. Therapy Work: comforters, providing a calming presence to individuals in hospitals, nursing homes and in other stressful situations.

3. Search and Rescue and Water Rescue:  detect the scent of missing individuals, track the air as well as the ground, and locate people, both living and dead. 

4. Herding: driving various kinds of livestock including cattle, sheep, reindeer and fowl.

5. Sled Dogs: explore impassable terrains; deliver medications and supplies to isolated places.

6. Mascots:  theyallowed the public to have a personal connection with the institution. 

7. Hunting and Flushing

8. Guarding/Watchdog

9. Fighting and Racing

10. Detection: smell to detect everything – bombs, bedbugs to contraband in prisons (such as cell phones!), truffle sniffing.   

11. Police Work

12. War Dogs: running messages, guarding perimeters, attack, detection, and of course boosting moral!   

13. Rat Extermination: help keep the land free from pests.

14. Entertainment and Show: movies, shows, agility competition.

15. Pets at home

Characteristics:
speedy, patient, loyal, persistent, powerful, skillful, adventurous, generous, active, creative, caring, humble, daring, original, brave, determined, serious, planning, sporting, honest, affectionate, helpful, strong, sensitive, calm, agitated, energetic, slow, effective, excitable, dependable, hard-working, clever, imaginative, charming, ambitious, supportive, trustworthy, inspiring, accurate, well-organized, beautiful, proud, obedient, sensitive, understanding, well – trained, good swimmer, aggressive…

What do dogs need?

Age	grade 9-10
Number of students	pairs or groups of 3
Period	2-3 x 45 minutes
Level  of expertise about dogs	advanced
Way of work	pair work, groups not more that three people
Environment	outside
Aims	to know more about dogs, especially does in trouble
Competency	science, social, values
Standards	Social: responsibility Science: observation, taking notes, thinking skills
Materials	observation sheet, pen

There are dog shelters in each city where volunteers are always welcome. These people can take dogs for a walk, prepare their food or clean their kennels. A good task could be to undertake some work in a shelter. It could be an individual work, or young people can go with their family or friends.

If someone is afraid of dogs or for any other reason does not want to do some work there, they can make a survey about the needs of dogs living in a shelter. An observation sheet may help collects these needs.

Students’ sheet:

Observation	Needs	Remarks

Teachers’ sheet:

Observations	Needs	Remarks
	Water	Fundamental needs; essential to the dogs overall health and well-being.
	Food
	Shelter
	Companionship	Dogs (and wolfs) are social creatures (as wolves live in packs); they need to spend the majority of their time in the company of others.
	Rules	Rules set behavioral limits and social boundaries. They constitute the dominant-subordinate dimension of the human-canine bond.
	Leadership	Most dogs are natural born followers. Leadership provides the basis for social cooperation and interactive harmony. It is a person’s ability to successfully direct and manage a dog (or dogs) for the mutual benefit of both parties. It constitutes the leader-follower dimension of the human-canine bond.
	Attention	Attention: being included in daily activities, being given social boundaries, leadership, regular playful interaction, and having its basic, physical needs recognized and catered for.
	Affection	Affection: companionship, respect, teamwork and trust, as well as affectionate fuss. It constitutes the nurturance-dependence dimension of the human-canine bond.
	Physical exercise	Daily physical exercise directly and beneficially affects the dog’s brain chemistry, counteracting the adverse effects of stress, enhancing the dog’s general mood, raising tolerance levels, and controlling impulses. Walking together is an ideal opportunity to strengthen the human-canine bond whilst fulfilling the dog’s need to travel and explore.
	Psychological challenge	Psychological challenge is a structured, mental activity that teaches the dog self-control and willingness to work or problem-solve through positive reinforcement. E.g.: obedience, teaching new tricks, finding his favourite toy…
	Rest and sleep	Rest and relaxation is important to the management of biological and emotional stress as it allows the body to recover from releases of ‘stress’ hormones. Most dogs require about 17 hours of resting.