For grades 4th through 12th we offer presentations that match PA Academic Standards such as History, Science & Technology, Arts & Humanities, Family & Consumer Science and Civics & Governments.  To find out if one of our programs is appropriate for your group please call Janice at 215-750-3100, extension 34.

Grades 4-9: Family and Consumer Science (11.1.6 & 11.1.9)

Grades 4-12: Civic and Government (5.1.6 through 5.1.12)

Grades 5-12: Science and Technology (9.1.5, 9.1.8 and 9.1.12)

Grades 5-12: Arts and Humanities (3.6.7 through 3.6.12)

Grades 7-9: History (8.2.9 A-C)

Grades 4-9: Family and Consumer Science

11.1.9 D “Explain how consumer rights and responsibilities are protected (e.g., government agencies, consumer protection agencies, consumer action groups.)”

      Puppy mills sell low-quality dogs to the unsuspecting public. Puppies were becoming sick or dying after being purchased. Something had to be done! The Dog Purchaser Protection Plan was introduced to the legislature. NINE YEARS LATER it was passed. Why so long? What was the problem behind protecting the consumer?

      Humane Societies and Dog Clubs worked together to create a “Puppy Lemon Law.” It wasn’t an easy road. Learn why.

11.1.6 D “Analyze information in care instructions, safety precautions and the use of consumable goods as a demonstration of understanding of consumer rights and responsibilities”

      Should dogs come with care instructions and safety precautions? If “no,” then why do we have cruelty investigators enforcing the proper care of pets, and why are most people bitten by their own dog? Students learn dog behavior, care and perform a group writing activity.

11.1.6 G “Identify the public and nonpublic services that are available to serve families within the community.”

11.1.9 G “Analyze how public, nonpublic and for-profit service providers serve the family.”

      What would the community be like without an animal shelter? Is it really needed? Historical and present day perspectives give the answers. 

      Learn about the animal welfare movement and how the Victorian Era brought in the concept of kindness toward animals, how PA women created the first animal shelter in the US, how the first electric car was used in 1911, how laws were passed to protect the transportation of horses and cattle.

      Today it is no different, the Women’s Humane Society is a nonprofit agency that helps the community by providing needed services such as lobbying for animal welfare, cruelty investigations, a low-cost veterinary hospital, caring for unwanted animals and, of course, the adoption of our many pets.

Grades 4 — 12^th: Civic and Government

5.1.6-12 J “Explain (Analyze) how law protects individual rights and the common good.”

      What is Animal Cruelty? What is or isn’t cruel may surprise the students and the teachers. The students will learn about existing animal laws and some legal terminology. They will discover how improper care (small collars, poor grooming) can lead to an arrest, how just watching an animal fight (pit bull/cock) is a felony, and what a cruelty investigator does. Also, the students learn how they can prevent cruelty in their own community.   

      If time, the “puppy mill” problem will also be addressed.

      If requested, we will include information on how the public, including children, have a say in creating laws. This concept reinforces the idea that students can inspire change in our laws and communities.

Grades 5-12: Arts and Humanities

9.1.5 & 9.1.8 E “Know and demonstrate how arts can communicate experiences, stories or emotions through the production of works of art” and Communicate a unifying theme or point of view through the production of works of art.”

And 9.1.12 F “Analyze works of arts influenced by experiences or historical and cultural events through production, performance or exhibition.”

      What is art without animals? 

      From cave drawing to Kings and Queens to modern day, animals have been and are an inspiration for all forms of art. 

      By looking at various artistic images students analyze the stories artists are trying to tell. Students learn how animals were viewed by different cultures and in various eras.

      This is followed by the students writing a sentence or two about what they would like people to know about animals. And, most important, they have the opportunity to create a sketch of their own, which illustrates the very sentence they created about animals.

      There is no right or wrong, even the artistically challenged will enjoy this presentation.

Grades 5-12^th:  Science & Technology

3.6.7-12 A“Explain (Apply) biotechnologies that relate to related technologies of propagating, growing, maintaining, adapting, treating, and converting.”

      Since when is a dog a biotechnology? 

      Answer: Ever since people designed dogs for specific purposes.

      Unlike the cat, the size and shape of the dog has been manipulated by humans, from the long and low Dachshund, which was used to hunt badgers, to the high and wide Mastiff, which was used as a war dog. Dogs have served humans for centuries by guarding, protecting, herding, pulling, searching, hunting, warming and more.

      We’ll talk about how Intentional Artificial Selection and Mutation came into play. Also, about how the determination to design a better dog led to health and mental imperfections. And, how puppy mills have destroyed the quality of these breeds even further. 

      In today’s world of high technology and mass production farming, where does the dog belong? Are they still needed? Have they become misused such as with pit bull fighting or by high-profit puppy mills? 

      Finally, we ask the students what kind of dog they would design for today’s world? What would its purpose be, and what would it look like to fulfill that purpose?

Grades 7-9^th: History

8.2.9 A-C “Analyze the importance of individuals who made a difference in Pennsylvania from 1787 to 1914.”    (“Women’s History Month” in March.)

      In the late 1800s through the early 1900s Caroline Earle White changed the social and political attitude toward the treatment and care of animals in Pennsylvania. 

      Inspired by the ASPCA in New York, C. E. White set out to create the first animal welfare agency in Pennsylvania. She did that with the Pennsylvania SPCA and followed that with her own agency in 1869.

      C. E. White opened the first animal shelter in the United States in Philadelphia and the first veterinary clinic to be associated with a shelter.

      C. E. White fought for the legal protection of animals whether it was proper care or transportation. Her many cruelty investigators stopped the abuse or neglect of pets, farm animals, and overworked horses. And, being ahead of her time, her agency used an electric car in 1911 to bring water to thirsty working horses.

      Today, C. E. White’s agency lives on as the Women’s Humane Society. Since 1869, the WHS has fulfilled C. E. White’s mission to prevent cruelty to animals by teaching kindness and by protecting unwanted, neglected or abused animals.

      Actual photos from our archives are used to illustrate the reality of the era and how some things, sadly, have not changed such as pet over population and cruelty to animals.

      This program is an eye-opener for students who thought all women were powerless in the 1800s. 

Program Fees:  At school $35 per class (up to 35 students) Fees vary for larger groups.  At the Society $25 per session (including a shelter tour).  Groups not to exceed 40 students.