Lesson Plans : Middle School
Applying “Project Citizen” to Let’s Get Healthy!
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Estimated Lesson Duration: Varies with level and resolution. Students focusing on identifying an individual goal and writing it up as a S.M.A.R.T. Goal will take about 45 minutes. Project Citizen will require a more extended commitment of time to complete all six steps and to present final portfolio(s) to a governing body whether that is a school's administration, school board, local city council or state legislative committee. Overview: Project Citizen, a program co-sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, is a curriculum where students learn how to influence public policy by studying problems in their own community. It is designed…
Grade Levels: High School, Middle School
Subjects: Health, Language Arts, Math, Physical Education, Science, Social Studies, Technology
Key Concepts: Advocacy, Healthy Choices, Using Data
Student Advocacy for Healthy Schools
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Students explore how various health factors affect their ability to learn. Then, discuss changes to school policy and how those proposed changes would affect various stakeholders in an educational community as part of simulated public meetings. Student Advocacy for Healthy Schools Estimated Lesson Duration: 5 classes Overview Students will learn how health factors, such as sleep and diet, affect their ability to learn. Students will compare general information with specific data from their age set and assess the degree to which their school supports student health. Using this information, students will consider changes to school policy and determine…
Grade Levels: High School, Middle School
Subjects: Health, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
Key Concepts: Advocacy, Healthy Choices, Using Data
Who did it? – John Doe vs Coronary Heart Disease
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Estimated Lesson Duration: 90 minutes Overview: This role play begins with the premise that John Doe died from a heart attack brought on by coronary heart disease. Who and/or what was responsible for this heart attack? This is the question students confront as they evaluate the major risk factors. Key Concepts and Standards: Key Concepts: Unhealthy choices can negatively impact our health and result in disease later in life. Key terms: Unhealthy diet, overweight, high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, coronary, heart disease, coronary artery disease, heart muscle, heart attack, mock trial, saturated fat, trans fat, LDL, sodium, obesity…
Grade Levels: Middle School
Subjects: Health, Social Studies
Key Concepts: Healthy Choices
Interpreting Maps – An Exploration of Health Trends in the United States
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Estimated Lesson Duration: 90 minutes Overview: Students will use their powers of observation to analyze data from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The data will be in the form of maps and tables. Students learn to interpret maps to discover the rate of change of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases. They can play the role of detective to detect similar trends among health issues. Key Concepts and Standards: Key Concepts: Analyze, data, center for disease control, map, inferences, thesis Standards: OR.SS.8.27 Examine the various characteristics, causes, and effects of an event, issue, or problem. OR.SS.8.28 Investigate a…
Grade Levels: High School, Middle School
Subjects: Health, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
Key Concepts: Healthy Choices, Using Data
Traffic Light Meal and Activity Plans – Red, Yellow and Green choices
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Estimated Lesson Duration: 45 min Overview: Students can use these quick and easy scoring guides to estimate their diet and physical activity (one page each) before or after the Let’s Get Healthy! fair. Serves as an extension activity to get students thinking about their health and answering survey questions. Key Concepts and Standards: Key Concepts: Not all foods and activities are created equal! Standards: National Health Education Standards (NHES) Grades 6-8 • 8.1 Analyze the relationship between healthy behaviors and personal health. • 1.8.6 Explain how appropriate health care can promote personal health. • 1.8.7 Describe the benefits of…
Grade Levels: Elementary, High School, Middle School
Subjects: Health, Physical Education
Key Concepts: Fair Preparation, Healthy Choices, Research Methods
Healthy Habits- Pre-activity for Let’s Get Healthy! fair
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Estimated Lesson Duration: 20-40 min Overview: This pre-fair activity helps students orient to what to expect at the fair. The lesson consists of a power point showing the students what to expect at the Let’s Get Healthy! fair, notes embedded in the powerpoint to give the teacher some background on the various stations, a worksheet for the students to fill out during the power point, and worksheet for them to summarize what they learned at the Let’s Get Healthy! fair. Key Concepts and Standards: Key Concepts: To prepare students for the Let’s Get Healthy! fair so they can gain…
Grade Levels: Elementary, High School, Middle School
Subjects: Art, Health, Language Arts, Math, Physical Education, Science, Social Studies, Statistics, Technology
Key Concepts: Fair Preparation, Research Methods
Physical activity – How healthy are you?
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Estimated Lesson Duration: Five 45 minute lessons Overview: Students will analyze their own physical activity level, present their data, and compare it to the suggested activity level for adolescents. This lesson is a unit consisting of five smaller lessons. It can be used for physical education or health classes or as part of math, statistics or science classes related to how to collect data and administer surveys. Lesson 1: Gathering information – taking an activity survey Lesson 2: What the Experts Say – Wed-based article review in a “Jigsaw” fashion Lesson 3: Making data make sense – creating an organized…
Grade Levels: Elementary, Middle School
Subjects: Health, Math, Physical Education, Science, Statistics
Key Concepts: Advocacy, Fair Preparation, Healthy Choices, Research Methods, Using Data
Trans-Generational Nutrition
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Estimated Lesson Duration: 1 or 2 class periods Overview: Did you know that what you’re eating not only affects your kids, but your grandkids? Students play a modified game of go-fish to learn how our history affects our future. Students will learn about trans-generational nutrition through the metaphor of playing Go Fish. Students will understand the impact of trans-generational nutrition on their long-term health as well as the future health of their children and grandchildren. Students will conduct interviews of their mothers in order to begin investigating the effects of nutrition within their own family. Finally, by writing a letter…
Grade Levels: Middle School
Subjects: Health, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies
Key Concepts: Advocacy, Epigenetics and Development, Healthy Choices
Impulsive Choices – How is my health and how do I improve it?
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Estimated Lesson Duration: 2 class periods; Day 1: 10 min; Day 2: 45-55 min Overview: The choices you make in middle school can affect your health now and when you are older. How impulsive you are affects these choices you make. This lesson helps students understand impulsive behavior and their own impulsivity so that they can identify tempting choices and take steps make good choices for their future and not just their present. People with high impulsivity have a higher caloric intake than people with low impulsivity and may have more difficulty in achieving goals. High impulsivity is also associated with addiction. People with…
Grade Levels: High School, Middle School
Subjects: Health, Science
Key Concepts: Healthy Choices, Using Data
Graph Literacy
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
Estimated Lesson Duration: Three stand-alone lessons, each one class period Overview: This lesson includes three graphing lessons that can be taught independently or as a unit to help students analyze and explain graphs. Includes lessons on 1) using graphs to infer relationships between variables; 2) common mistakes and intentional distortions in graphs; and 3) interpreting a graph and writing a narrative summary. The lessons are intended to help students analyze and explain graphs and are not intended to help students make their own graphs. Key Concepts and Standards: Key Concepts: How to read and explain a line graph, pie…
Grade Levels: Middle School
Subjects: Math, Science, Social Studies
Key Concepts: Research Methods, Using Data
