Horse sense.

With their beauty, power, and usefulness, horses are an exciting topic for an integrated, cross-curricular unit. As children become immersed in the equine world, they will broaden their vocabulary, participate in hands-on science and math, explore art, become aware of the horse's important role in history, and even learn about good grooming. So saddle up! This unit is sure to finish first with your students.

Explain that horses are mammals because they have hair and give birth to live babies that then drink the mother's milk. They continue to grow for the first 5 years of their lives and, if given proper care, will live for about 30 years. Introduce students to the following definitions:

STALLION - a male horse MARE - a female horse FOAL - a baby horse COLT - a young, male horse FILLY - a young, female horse

SOCIAL STUDIES

A Long Friendship

People have used horses for thousands of years. In the United States, they were once the primary mode of transportation. They helped in hunting, carrying hunters quickly over long distances in search of game. They were employed during wartime to take soldiers into battle. Pioneers used the horse to settle the West, and postal workers in the Pony Express rode them to deliver the mail. Today horses are utilized mainly for recreation and sport, but they are no less loved and needed than they were in the past. Have each student make a chart with two columns, "Past" and "Present," and do research to fill in each column with examples of how people have used horses in the past and today.

LANGUAGE ARTS 

Horse World Web

Along with the class, create an informational web about horses to build on as students progress through the unit. First, make a copy of the reproducible on page 40. Color the horse and cut it out. Then glue it to the center of a piece of 36[inches] x 54[inches] butcher paper designed like the one at right. Display it on a bulletin board in the classroom and invite children to discuss what they know about horses and what they would like to learn. Use the themes that emerge from this discussion to write in various categories around the horse, such as the ones in the illustration here. As students learn new facts, have them write each one under the appropriate category. Add our "Fascinating Facts" (below left) to the web, too!

Fascinating Facts

BODY - The smallest horse is the Falabella, which was originally from Argentina and was bred to be a pet. It grows to only 30 inches high.

FOOD - Horses are herbivores (UR-bih-vores), or plant eaters. They eat such plants as alfalfa and hay.

PEOPLE AND HORSES - Scientists have discovered evidence that more than 5,000 years ago, people were riding horses in Asia. Christopher Columbus brought horses along on his second voyage to America, in 1493, and Spanish explorers brought them from Mexico in 1519.

BABIES - Within 15 minutes of birth, a newborn foal can walk.

HEALTH

Good Grooming

Write the words Tools for Good Grooming on the outside of a paper bag. Place a toothbrush, hairbrush, nail clipper, and a bar of soap inside. Ask children to write down grooming tools that people use to care for their bodies. Pull the items out of the bag one at a time. Discuss why and how humans use each grooming tool.

Next, explain that horses also need frequent grooming. If you know someone who owns a horse, find out whether he or she would be willing to host a class field trip or bring the horse to the school grounds. Ask the owner to demonstrate grooming tools, such as the dandy brush, currycomb, and hoof pick. If a visit with a horse is impossible, get a copy of the book Horses, by Tammy Everts and Bobbie Kalman (Crabtree Publishing Company, 1995). Inside, you'll find excellent pictures and information that explains why grooming is essential for healthy skin and hooves.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Horsing Around

Horses move at different paces, called gaits. The slowest gait is the walk, in which the horse moves at a speed of about 4 miles per hour. A trot is a bouncy, fast walk at about 9 miles per hour. A canter is a slow, rocking run at about 10 miles per hour, and a gallop is a fast run - sometimes more than 37 miles per hour! Children will enjoy learning about gaits by pretending to walk, trot, canter, and gallop like a horse. Take your class outdoors. Ask a volunteer to demonstrate each of the horse gaits, from slow to fast, and have the rest of the children follow. Have the leader call out the name of each gait as children pick up the pace and move along.

SCIENCE

Horse Senses

Horses have keen senses. Read about each sense out loud, then have students try brief experiments.

Eyes

To read to your students:

Horses' large eyes are set in the side of the head and can move independently of each other.

For students to do:

Explain that predators, or hunters, have eyes set in the front of their heads. Creatures that do not hunt, such as horses, have eyes set in the sides of their heads so they can watch for danger from 'all directions. Are humans natural predators? Why?

Ears

To read to your students:

Horses' short, pointed ears can move around to catch sounds of danger coming from different directions.

For students to do:

Ask students to listen to music, then to cup their hands around their ears and "point" them in the music's direction. Does the sound seem louder now that their ears have been "enlarged" and are pointed toward it?

Nose

To read to your students:

Horses have very sensitive noses.

For students to do:

Pour white vinegar and water into two clear plastic cups. Display the cups at the front of the class and ask if students can tell which is which just by scent. Explain that, unlike them, horses can pick up scents over great distances.

SCIENCE/VOCABULARY

Pointing Out the Parts

Distribute the reproducible on page 40. Direct children to cut out the labels naming the various parts of the horse's body and paste them in the appropriate blank boxes. Next, use the poster, after page 40, to introduce common colors and markings. Invite children to select one color and one face marking each to decorate their pictures.

MATH

Morgan Multiplication

The Morgan horse is an American breed known for its strength, endurance, and speed. All Morgans can be traced back to one New England stallion named Justin Morgan, after its owner. This first Morgan horse lived 200 years ago. Justin Morgan became the sire, or father, of an entire breed of horses. Have students size up Morgans by solving these quick problems:

* Horses are measured in a unit of measurement called hands. One hand equals four inches - the average width of a man's hand. A Morgan is about 15 hands from the ground to the top of the shoulder. How many inches tall is a Morgan?

* A Morgan may weigh 10 times more than a 100-pound person. How much does a Morgan weigh?

* Suppose that a Morgan horse sires, or fathers, 12 colts and fillies each year for six years. How many horses has this Morgan fathered?

Resources for Children

Books:

Horse Heroes: True Stories of Amazing Horses, by Kate Perry (DK Publishing, 1999). An informative picture book about great horses in history.

Horses, by Mary Ann McDonald (Child's World, 1998). An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, and life cycle of horses in a question-and-answer format.

The Biggest Horse I Ever Did See, by Susan Arkin Couture (HarperCollins,1997). Lyrical text and watercolor illustrations describe a boy's love of horses through the years.

The Morgan Horse, by Charlotte Wilcox (Capstone Press, 1996). The history of the popular Morgan breed.

Web sites:

* http.//horsefun.com/index.html: Facts, pictures, puzzles, and stories for horse enthusiasts.

* http://www.sushibandit.com/horsechat/index.htm: Horse stories, contests, and more.