What is Pets in the Classroom? 

Pets in the Classroom is an educational grant program that provides financial support to teachers to purchase and maintain small animals in the classroom. The program was established by the Pet Care Trust to provide children with an opportunity to interact with pets—an experience that can help to shape their lives for years to come. The Pet Care Trust also established the Dogs in the Classroom program, which provides teachers with the opportunity to bring animal-assisted therapy to their classroom – an experience that also can help shape the lives of children for years to come.

Benefits of Classroom Animals

There are many benefits to having pets in your child's classroom, such as...

• Learning stimulation
• New ways to learn Math, Science, Geography, and Language Arts 
• Classroom Enrichment

Fluker's believes that supporting pets and biology science in the classroom is crucial for fostering a deeper understanding of life sciences among students. Hands-on experiences with living organisms, such as classroom pets, or insect kits help to bring abstract biological concepts to life, making learning more engaging and memorable. 

These interactions encourage students to develop empathy, responsibility, and respect for living things. Additionally, integrating biology into the curriculum through practical experiments and observations helps to cultivate critical thinking and scientific inquiry skills. Our goal is to give back to our educators by offering free insect kits, discounts on products for your classroom pets, and free teaching aids that will set up your students for success. 

Fluker's Perfect Back-to-School Class Project!

The entire project lasts approximately 3-4 weeks, depending on the maturity of the larva. Six different activities are included in the kit. Students will practice observation, hypothesis and conclusion, measurement and plotting, compare and contrast, creative writing, and illustration. 

Also included are the standards and objectives of the 4th Grade Louisiana Science Level Expectations and Common Core State Standards that are covered using Fluker's Mealworm Biology Guide and Observation Kit activities and assessment. 

Next included, is an overview of the growth and development of the mealworm. Lastly, an end of project assessment recommendation incorporates questions to supplement your assessments on the mealworm unit. 

We hope you sign up to receive more information on how you, or a teacher you know, can receive more information on the Pets in the Classroom grant program or sign up to receive your free mealworm kit for your classroom.