As a teacher, it is your job to guide your students throughout their academic careers and instill in them the knowledge to succeed in their tests and apply these transferrable skills to different aspects of life.
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Animal facts
As a teacher, it is your job to guide your students throughout their academic careers and instill in them the knowledge to succeed in their tests and apply these transferrable skills to different aspects of life.
As adults, we often don’t recall where and when we learned something that seems general and less academic—the little bits of trivia everyone has and the facts that seem to exist as common knowledge. But more often than not, we learned them in the classroom.
Teaching is often the career of the unsung heroes, a thankless vocation. But regardless of that, it’s one of the world’s most valuable and necessary jobs. These little bits of information that may not seem academic or critical have created a more comprehensive understanding of the world. They offer us insight into our world, which adds to our general knowledge. So if you’re a teacher and branching out your curriculum topics, you may look at animals.
You may be shaping the future zoologists of the world, or perhaps you’re giving them the gift of general knowledge, which will lead to more knowledge and shape their minds into inquisitive, engaged, and aware people. If so, read this article for animal facts you may want to bring into the classroom and how you can do it.
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What are the benefits of teaching animal facts?
It may seem unnecessary to your lesson plans, but animal facts matter more than you think. Everyone tends to know certain pieces of knowledge as a general rule. For example, most adults could tell you the fastest land animal is the cheetah. It’s common knowledge. But where did we get that from? We weren’t born knowing it. We learned it from somewhere, and that somewhere is school. By teaching your students these animal facts, you offer them the rounded set of knowledge that we’ve been given. Share the gift, share the facts.
Another benefit is that it may spark a specialized interest in some students. They may realize they like learning about animals and want to know more. Making your student’s education as broad as possible is crucial as it allows you to cover all genres and reach as many potential interests as possible. This will keep as many students engaged with your class as possible. The students interested in your animal facts may consider a career in caring for animals or finding out more and studying them. They may want to improve their lives and help them or fight for their homes to be preserved so the facts can remain. These facts may ignite an interest that could spiral into a career. Give them as much knowledge as possible so you can open as many doors for them.
Animal facts, particularly ones about animals that may feel worlds away that we don’t encounter regularly, are a great and easy step into drawing the bridge between humanity and the animal kingdom. There’s often a disconnect between ourselves and the things we don’t understand. The amazement of animals is often overlooked due to this disconnect, so your students would benefit from feeling closer to the animal kingdom. It will teach them their value as well as compassion. To make a better future, we want leaders that care for the environment and animals. As a teacher, you’re inspiring a generation, so inspire them to care about animals.
Finally, by introducing them to more facts, you encourage insightful thinking. This increases their likeliness to question things, which is how as a society, we grow. We want the minds of our future to question things. That’s how change happens. By encouraging them to widen their knowledge, we encourage them to want to learn, to question things, and to search for more. This is a transferrable skill they will benefit from greatly in school and later life.
Animal facts to tell your students
You can share many animal facts with your students that will bring in these benefits. Some of these are:
- The regal horned lizard repels attackers by squirting blood out of its eyes.
- There are over 410 million dogs worldwide, which is 1 dog for every 16 people.
- Polar bears are not white. Their fur is transparent.
- An ostrich’s eyes are more significant than its brain.
- Bats are the only mammals that can fly.
- Bats have thumbs.
- Gorillas burp when they’re happy.
- A giraffe has seven bones on its neck, the same as a human. However, a giraffe’s neck bones are much more significant.
- Sharks lay enormous eggs in the world.
- Cheetahs only need to drink once every three to four days.
- You can tell the age of a whale by looking at the wax plug in its ear.
- Gorilla nose prints are as unique as human fingerprints.
- Male rhinos are called bulls, and female elephants are called cows.
- A tiger’s roar can be heard as far as three kilometers away.
- Walruses can sleep in the water. And they sleep around 19 – 20 hours a day.
- Giant anteaters can eat over 30,000 insects a day.
- Starfish have no brain or blood. They’re also not fish!
- Baby elephants can stand within 20 minutes of being born.
- Reindeer grow new antlers every year.
- Rats laugh when being tickled.
- Some hummingbirds weigh less than a penny.
- Dragonflies can see in all directions at the same time.
If you want to find more facts for your students, below is a list of insightful videos with more facts for you to explore and use:
How to implement these facts into your learning plans
There are many creative ways that you can introduce these animal facts into your studies and bring them into your classroom. One of these is through ‘character profiles. This is where your students are assigned a ‘character’ – an animal on which they will have to do a profile. It’s a fact file that includes short, accessible, exciting facts about their selected animal. This can be done in many fun ways and as different exercises. For example, they can structure it like a resume for the animal or a police report. This will allow them to look for information and present it in a fun and unique way.
Another way is through quizzes. Quizzes are fun because they are engaging and the sense of competition motivates and drives students to try and learn so they can win. These quizzes will allow you to see what they already know and teach them new things they may not know when you read the answers. This is engaging and fun for the students and gives you a benchmark from which you can work. You can see what they already know before building on their knowledge and noting their progression. It also helps with their memory and retention skills, which are helpful to apply to other topics.
You can also teach your students these animal facts through different games. Games and activities are fun for the students and allow them to learn while being engaged and excited for your class and, therefore, to learn. One of these is with puzzles. Puzzles can be done to reveal the answers and are a great way to keep your students engaged and actively pursuing knowledge.
Revealing the answer to the fact in these game-like activities is a great way to teach them. It’s memorable, it’s engaging, and it’s fun! You can reveal the answer through word searches, scavenger hunts, riddles, and clues. Let your kids work together on the facts and encourage interactive learning.
Another way is through pairing activities. Provide your class with the animals and the facts, but don’t tell them which goes with who. Let them unleash their inner detectives and try to figure out which animal fact goes with which animal. This is interactive and fun for the kids and is most likely to make a memorable impact which will help them to retain the facts and the knowledge better.
As teachers, you are pioneering the education system of our future leaders. This is why it’s important to shape it the way you think is necessary. Broaden their knowledge and give them more interests to pursue while also helping them develop the transferrable skills that will aid them in other topics throughout their education and life.
