Paws, Science, and Snuggles: The "Doggone" Best Science Lesson Ever

At the end of January, class 6a had a special kind of Natural Sciences lesson — a "Dog Lesson!" During the last two periods of the day, four students brought their dogs to school.

Here’s how the lesson went:
First, the four dog owners went to pick up their pets from the parking lot. Meanwhile, the rest of the class stayed in the science room, where Ms. Colopy handed out observation sheets and explained how we should behave around the dogs.

Once everything was clear, we were divided into five groups and headed outside, where the dog owners and their furry companions were already waiting.

Each of the five dogs (with their owner) was in a different corner of the green top. Each group joined one dog and listened to the owner’s presentation. While listening and observing, we filled out our observation sheets. Some answers were easy to find by simply listening carefully or watching the dog closely, but for other questions — like the dog’s character traits — we had to ask the owner.

The dog I observed was named Loki, a Whippet. I learned that Loki is friendly, obedient, curious — but also a little impatient. Bela B. told us that Loki is a sight hound, which is something special in dogs. He can also run up to 50 km/h, but only for a short time.

After we completed our observation sheets, we were allowed to visit the other dogs — and then came the best part: we got to pet them and do tricks with them! Loki knows commands like “sit,” “down,” and “paw” — and at the end, he even gave me a “high-five”!

It was an amazing class!

Fede M. (6a)