“Up to 64,000 badgers are likely to be killed this Autumn as the badger cull in England is extended to an unimaginable scale.”
Damian Carrington, Environmental Editor at The Guardian, (11.9.19)
I didn’t tell the kindergarten students this of course. But I did want them to know more about badgers and to understand how fantastic they are.
We read The Disgusting Sandwich by Gareth Edwards and Hannah Shaw and spoke a lot about badger habitats, what they liked to eat and how charities like The Badger Trust look after them when they get sick.
This story is a lot of fun and follows badger as he tries to eat a sandwich that has fallen onto the floor. The problem is so many other animals would also like to eat it! What starts off as a yummy peanut butter sandwich is soon covered in sand, slime, feathers, ants and finally slugs! No-one wants to eat such a disgusting sandwich, but the slugs? Well, they are the perfect food for our friend badger.
A useful book for introducing habitats, food chains, senses (yuck!) and a current kindergarten/grade 1 PYP unit on food.
As usual, I like to show the students a short video on the behaviour of the real animal. This one, from Wildlife Aid Foundation, showed us badger cubs being looked after by the charity. It is a gentle start to caring for animals and showing us their funny, playful personalities.
If you are working with older students there is a fantastic resource called ‘Badgers in the classroom’ which is ideal for International Baccaulareate Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and Environmental Systems and Societies) ESS lessons and also English and citizenship (UK) lessons.
