Unit: Caring for Livestock
Subject: Large Animal Husbandry
Description: Your family currently owns one cow. You have the opportunity to purchase two more cows, and would like to do so, if you will be able to take care of them. Determine the needs for caring for these three animals.
Situation
How do needs change if the animals are pigs, not cows? Horses?
How do needs change if the animals are a combination of different species?
Animal needs can be dynamic. While some factors may be as simple as a need multiplied by the number of animals, other factors may be more complex. Some factors could be compounded by number of animals, while others are shared needs and thus do not increase with the number of animals within a small range.
Time Limit: This challenge should take approximately two hours to complete.
Competencies
Core Competencies
- Consider the basic needs of each animal.
- Consider the dynamics of adding multiple animals to a single habitat.
Cross-Curricular Competencies
- Math
- Data Collection
Content
This question may be answered by using the following:
Animal:
Number of anminals:
Need:
- Food (Set amount per day? Multiply by number of animals).
- Water (Filled trough, trough size for number of animals).
- Habitat (Square footage, shared space/separate pens for multiple animals?)
- Waste (Square footage, soil treatment. Compounding factor?)
- Hygiene/grooming (Do social animals help groom each other when kept in groups, or become less clean?)
- Other (Consider other symbiotic or collusive relationships).
Each need lists considerations students should make in determining the quantified needs for each factor.
Open Educational Resources
- Internet
- Species-specific textbooks
