The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig is a spin on the traditional story of the three little pigs. There once lived three little wolves. One was black. The second was gray. The third was white. Mother wolf called her children in and told them it was time to go out into the world. The three little wolves built a house of bricks. The next day, the big bad pig saw the brick house and demanded he be let in. He tried to blow the house down, but failed. Instead, he grabbed his sledgehammer and knocked the house down. The three little wolves decide to build their next house out of concrete, so that it would be stronger than the first house. Unfortunately, the big bad pig was able to smash the house down with his drill. The three little wolves find barbed wire, iron bars, armor plates, and metal padlocks. They build the strongest, securest house imaginable. It didn’t take long for the big bad pig to try to huff and puff his way into the house. When he couldn’t blow the house down, he brought dynamite. BOOM! The house blew up. The three little wolves had to try something different. They decide to build a house out of flowers. The next day, the big bad pig showed up. He took a deep breath to blow the house down, but the scent was so lovely that the big bad pig began to sniff. His heart grew tender, and he decided to become a good pig. The three little wolves and the pig became friends and lived happily together ever after.
I could potentially use this book as a read aloud to begin a science/engineering lesson. I did something similar to this last semester. The teacher can read this book to students, and talk about building structure. The lesson can develop into a discussion on building materials and the purposes they serve. Children can experiment with different building materials (Legos, stones, modeling clay, etc.) and determine which houses would be best suited for weather conditions (wind, earthquakes, etc.). The teacher can even simulate these conditions and test the houses. This lesson could potentially extend into a social studies unit. Students can examine how different cultures in different areas of the world build their houses and why they choose to use certain materials.
