Links to RSPCA Education lesson resources

You can find further resources on our RSPCA Education website. They are all linked to the English and Welsh curricula. You may find the following resources particularly relevant for this topic.

Caged at what cost?

This session examines the role of consumers in farm animal welfare and demonstrates how what we buy can make a difference to farmed animals. It uses egg-laying hens to illustrate different farming methods and standards of animal welfare.

Do they suffer?

In this activity students will examine the welfare and ethical issues concerned with rearing chickens for meat as an example of selective breeding and intensive farming. It should ideally be followed by Investigating suffering.

Investigating suffering

In this session students will examine the reasons for selective breeding of chickens for meat and learn how extreme selection for specific traits can cause unnecessary suffering to the chicken. Ideally, they should have completed Do they suffer? beforehand.

Food for thought

This is an extension activity, building upon the ideas introduced in Caged at what cost? and looking specifically at the role of labelling and the power of the consumer.

The transportation game

This activity will help students to understand some of the animal welfare problems that may occur during live animal transportation and the role of enforcement officers in ensuring the well-being of animals during transportation. You may find the sessions Caged at what cost? and Food for thought useful for introducing where our food comes from.

For what it’s worth

In this activity, students will consider the effects of selective breeding and different production/management systems on farm animals and the resulting ethical and moral implications. This lesson could be followed by Animal engineering.

Animal engineering

In this activity, students will consider the impact that new advances in the field of genetic engineering, cloning and selective breeding have on animals and the consequences for animal welfare. This includes looking at the impact on farm animals.