Exploring Early Childhood/Child Studies Comprehension Task: Button Batteries

Button batteries are one of the most horrible and dangerous objects a child can swallow. They can cause severe damage including death. It is important that anyone who is going to raise or work with children understand the dangers.

This comprehension task explains why and how button batteries are so dangerous and what to do if a child has swallowed one. There is also a short 1 minute video from Queensland Health that shows the damage a button battery can do against a piece of raw chicken to demonstrate exactly what happens inside a child’s oesophagus. Students are given 12 questions to answer based on the information in the article.