What Pet is Right For You

Karen Rainier

Web Drop-in #5

SLM 521

July 13, 2009

Critical Thinking in Action:

What Pet is Right For You?

Essential Question:

How do critical thinkers formulate and use

criteria to answer a question?

Have you been begging your mom for a tiny yorkie puppy or a 5 foot long boa constrictor?

Do you dream about buying toys for a kitten or playing fetch with a dog?

Over the next few days, you will be using your critical thinking skills

to ask questions of yourself to help decide what kind of pet would be best for you.

First, we will read the book I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff as a class. This is a book about a boy who has definitely made up his mind about what kind of pet he wants!

After reading, we will discuss:

· Did the boy pick the right pet for him?

· Did he use his critical thinking skills to make his choice?

· What kinds of questions did the boy ask himself to help him make his decision?

This assignment will have three parts:

Part One: To create a list of at least 10 questions that will help you choose the best pet.

Part Two: To use the questions you formulated and the web resources provided to decide which pet is right for you.

Part Three: To write a paragraph explaining your decision based on the criteria and the information you found on the internet resources.

PART ONE:

Here are some question categories to help you get started (but remember, these are just some suggested categories, you can write down any kind of question you think will help you make your decision):

@ Your health

@ Likes/Dislikes

@ Pet Care

@ Costs of Pet

@ Pets Needs

@ Training

@ Supplies

@ Safety

@ Environmet: Home and Family

Let’s brainstorm as a class to think of a few questions to get us started.

Now, your job is to take some time to think about and record some questions to ask yourself.

Please record your list in your ILA Journal.

PART TWO:

Before browsing the pet websites, narrow your results.

§ First of all, you probably will not have to look at all the sites.

§ Decide if you can rule out any of the types of pets based on your criteria. For instance, maybe one of your questions is: “Am I allergic to the animal?” If you are allergic to pet hair, you would only be able to have a pet that did not have fur- therefore you would only need to look at the information about snakes, turtles, and fish.

§ Then, go to your next question…perhaps it is: “Do I have the money to pay for this pet?” If you don’t have very much money, you might start by looking at the sites for the pets that you think wouldn’t cost as much.

As you browse the websites, here are some things to remember:

§ All pets are a lot of responsibility and all pets have pros and cons….the only perfectly-behaved, easy to take care of animal is a stuffed one! And even stuffed animals cost money!

§ You will need to decide on a specific type of pet, so a breed of dog or cat, a kind of fish, a type of hamster or snake, etc…so look carefully at the site and click on links to see breed information, etc

§ Continue to narrow your search as you go along: your decision will be easier and the activity will go faster if you remember to keep using your criteria to rule out certain pets once you find out information that answers your questions

§ Take notes in your ILA journal on pets you think might be the best for you, so that you will have facts to use to explain why you chose that type of animal. If you are stuck between two or three pets, having these notes will help you look carefully at the pros and cons of each.

§ The more details you can find on your best pet match, the better!!!

Click on the photos to find out more about the pets:

Dogs: