What If My High School Learner Is Interested in Animal-Related Sciences?
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As we work with families, animals continue to be a common area of interest. Honestly, little learners tend to carry the same interest. Animals are fascinating. They’re part of our world, in our lives, and they’re real and make learners curious…sometimes continuing well into the high school years.
What to do?
Parents usually ask, “Can we put together a course with the niche interests of our learner in mind?”
First, check what your state homeschool laws require.
Second, if your animal-loving leaner is also an athlete with sights set on college athletics, double-check the NCAA eligibility guidelines.
Third, if there’s a hint of what post-secondary plans may look like down the road, consider those (and realize they change).
With that knowledge in mind, move forward.
Pull Resources
If you’re a proponent of unit study learning, think unit study. That’s really what designing (or allowing the young adult to create while completing an independent study) a high school course is all about—gathering ideas and resources. If you haven’t used unit studies or heard of them, don’t worry! You (and your learner) will get hang of it. It’s really about following in interest.
Determine the possibilities for content. Often, when one of my learners has a working knowledge of a topic, we build on that foundation to get the brainstorming ball rolling. From that starting point, we can list other topics toward which the learner wants to devote time. Sometimes ideas will come from past studies, related textbooks, or nonfiction resources. In the case of animal-related sciences, those topics might include
Veterinary terminology
Anatomy & physiology (body systems of specific animals)
Animal nutrition
Animal behavior
Service animal training and care
Proper exercise of companion animals
Animal grooming
Care and cleaning of animal facilities
First aid for animals
Disease control
Animal reproduction (including genetics and gestation)
Clinical examination procedures and related lab equipment
Lab techniques
Veterinary mathematics (dosage and concentration, calculations and conversions)
Animal welfare and legislation
Careers in animal-related sciences
We make note of those and begin to keep our eyes and ears open for related educational opportunities.
We’ve experienced the fruit and rewards of this kind of learning. Often, when we get to the end of a season and I step back and reflect, the results are more amazing than I could have planned or imagined. And, (BONUS) the learner is motivated and engaged, and content is retained. WINS all the way around!
Capitalize on Experiential Learning
We have found experiential learning (job shadowing, volunteering, apprenticing, part-time employment in the area) extremely beneficial. Not only are content areas interwoven, but the experience can foster important relationships which may lead to future employment.
In the area of animal science, think about the options
Volunteer at a zoo or aquarium
Volunteer at a science center
Volunteer at an AKC event
Participate on a research team or in a study
Apprentice with a dog agility trainer
Visit service dog training facility or train a service animal
Work as a pet grooming assistant
Serve as a vet helper
Volunteer with the local Audubon Society
Participate in Citizen Science project
Work in a pet store
Work with a breeder
Serve as a canine foster or rescue caregiver
Work or volunteer at a horse barn
Visit and observe venues were animal care and training, office procedures, and professional practices can be observed, for example
Wildlife conservation center
Visit colleges and universities offering majors being considered and tour their animal science buildings
Don’t forget about 4H! There are offerings for animal science topics and resources.
Interview Professionals
We’ve also learned from our experience that field trips are extremely beneficial, especially if there is time to interview or talk with professionals in the field. Talking with professionals has been advantageous for our children and teens as they were able to gather insights into the field or learn about the job market outlook. In addition, our learners gained nuggets of content we wouldn’t have known to incorporate. Learning from professionals in the field is beneficial in many ways.
If you don’t have a wide selection of local animal care or service opportunities, consider learning from and about famous vets or others who work with animals. The internet affords plentiful tutorials and professional interviews.
Use Nonfiction/Primary Source Documents/Professional Resources
Online resources—within parameters—offers the ability to learn from primary source documents and professional resources. These can be used to enhance and independent study or reinforce and build on what is being learned experientially through volunteering, job shadowing, apprenticing, or part-time employment. Curriculum guides, course descriptions, textbook table of contents, and materials recommended by professionals in the field can guide and build a course. As you gather helpful nonfiction, primary source, or professional resources, consider these (and more—as your learner digs into content).
Alternative or integrative pet care
American Journal of Veterinary Research
Journal of Animal Science
The Animal Welfare Act, Retail Pet Store Regulations, and more
The Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock
Charles Darwin’s On the Origins of Species and other related literature pieces
Look for ways your high schooler can learn about possible careers in areas of animal care and service. Give them space to think outside the box to things like wildlife conservation veterinarians, zoo veterinarians, and animal nutritionist.
Keep in mind, several typical high school courses (biology, marine science and human anatomy and physiology) are beneficial to animal care and health sciences. The content of these classes is related and relevant, often foundational. In addition, some universities require these traditional core course options for admission. Should your learner be considering vet medicine, marine biology, or another animal-related career, be knowledgeable about what universities are requiring (but don’t let those requirements overshadow the richness and depth experiential learning—hands-on—offers learners). Both book knowledge and experience are important.
College and university admission requirements will vary as will the courses each institution requires for degrees. Be informed about these differences as well as be familiar with the professors who teach at schools of interest. What is taught in courses varies professor to professor. If a student has niche area of interest and an influencer in that field teaches at a particular university, take note.
Oregon State offers these suggestions.
Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Science
University of California - Davis recommendations for high school students
Read Biographies
When we build a course, we often add biographies of people in the field of interest. For starters in animal care and study fields consider James Herriot, Steve Irwin, James Audubon, and Temple Grandin.
Investigate the History
Every topic has a history, a story of how that industry or field changed over time. Animal-related sciences are not different. Adding this aspect to the course can be a fascinating journey.
Tie in English
Parents often ask how to tie in English to niche areas of interest. I encourage them to think real-life. What writing may be a natural part of the career or field. Consider
Note the study skills. Reading, researching, skimming, note taking, retelling what was learned in a day’s time are all important language arts skills. Often these go unnoticed, yet the repetition of using these important study skills allows the student to become a more efficient learner, not to mention time manager.
Have the learner write a paper on something or someone of interest.
Learn the stylistic form for the academic discipline. Does the content area format in MLA or APA? Learn that format when writing papers for this course.
Keep a running list of vocabulary and terminology related to the subject—new words which are foundational to further learning.
Write thank you letters for interview, job shadowing, or volunteer opportunities.
Write resume entries for an volunteer experience or employment opportunity.
Add animal-related literature: Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot, and Watership Down by Richard Adams.
Record: Tips for Independent Learning
What do I love about this type of learning (from what we've experienced)? Our children become very knowledgeable about the field and often its niche areas and they run with the learning. If they are learning something independently, based on something they wanted to dive into and are managing their study time, I ask them to bullet point the content they learn (animal behavior, medicines for bacterial infections, etc) and copy any URLs in a Word document. I also ask them to record author and title of any books or online resources they use. In doing so, I have what I need for state records or for documents which might be needed for college admission.
This general format can be used with any topic of interest.
This post is not intended as legal advice or educational counsel. The content is based on the author’s experience. It is the parent’s sole discretion to use this information as he or she sees fit as they fulfill their responsibility as parent overseeing the education of his or her child.
