4-H Veterinary Science Project
What you'll do
Whether you're interested in pets, horse riding, animal training or raising animals for food, learn how to keep them healthy, and how healthy animals and healthy people go together.
Topics
- Basic anatomy
- Health and disease
- Normal and abnormal conditions
- Veterinary careers
Levels of learning
Get started with 4-H'ers in your area
- Find a club near you or contact your local 4-H office for more info.
Get started on your own
- National 4-H veterinary science activity books (for sale)
- Keeping pets healthy keeps people healthy too! (Centers for Disease Control)
- Meet all the animals in the National Zoo
- What does an aquatic animal veterinarian do?
- Watch this and other videos from the American Veterinary Medical Association
Fairs and exhibits
- Research and report: What is a species? What is a breed?
- Create a display about an animal body function, such as pulse or digestion. Dive deep into how it works in that one animal - or compare how it varies from one animal to another.
- Explore an animal disease - its causes, symptoms and treatment.
- Research the effects of pesticides on animals.
- Make a poster about how to give first aid to an animal.
- Make a first aid kit for an animal.
- Make a video about proper hoof care for an animal.
- Interview a veterinarian and report on what they do.
What happens at the fair?
What a judge is looking for (video project evaluation sheet)
Record keeping
Some counties require record keeping for fairs.
Future study and careers
You could study veterinary medicine at the University of Minnesota.
Animal care workers groom or train pets. Veterinarians and vet technicians and vet assistants care for sick cats and other pets. They may also research animal diseases and health. Wildlife biologists and zoologists study animals and their ecosystems.
Reviewed in 2018