The toolkit has been downloaded and used by thousands of young people across the globe.

Project supports scientific education through animal behaviour experiments

An animal behaviour toolkit developed at the University of Edinburgh's Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies has received an Openness Award from Understanding Animal Research.

The project was created by the School's Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre Public Engagement Team. It can be downloaded for free to use in classrooms of pupils aged nine to fourteen.

The toolkit is linked to the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence and provides a series of simple experiments involving earthworms along with a fact file and a guide for teachers and adults.

It encourages pupils to explore the scientific method by making discoveries through research and highlights the importance of studying animal behaviour by giving them hands-on experience of designing their own animal behaviour investigation.

It also includes an activity which prompts pupils to think about the use of animals in research as well as the principles of reducing, refining and replacing animals in scientific studies – or the 3Rs.

The toolkit has been used by more than 1,000 school pupils as part of the Great Science Share for Schools and a further 12,000 people from across the globe have accessed the free-to-download version.

When the COVID-19 pandemic left millions of children having to carry out school work at home, the Public Engagement team simplified the toolkit to make it accessible to families.

The adapted toolkit, called Wonder with Worms, has since been downloaded for use with more than 5,000 young people across the country.

Principal of the University of Edinburgh Professor Peter Mathieson said: “These awards recognise the commitment of staff and students across our University over a period of many years to make research involving animals transparent and better understood.”