Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.1B Grade 4 CPI 2

 

Standard: 2.1 - Wellness

 

Strand: B - Growth and Development

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 2 - The student will describe each human life stage and the physical changes that occur at each stage.

 

Grade: 4

 

Sample Activities:         

 

·        CHANGE: IT JUST HAPPENS - Pose this question: “What is one thing you know now that you didn’t know last year?” After discussion, explain that in each stage of life people learn new things and grow physically, socially, and emotionally. Discuss new things learned this year. Provide each student with a human growth and development chart similar to the one below. Divide the class into several small groups to complete the chart. Each group shares its chart and discusses the results. After discussion, students predict (in writing) “What I Will be Like in 2 Years, 5 Years and 10 Years.”

 

 

·        LIFE AND DEATH -  Draw a time line on the board representing birth to death. Explain that many people today live longer than in previous decades. Brainstorm and note the reasons and share some examples from local newspapers and magazines. Discuss how everyone is faced with the death of someone close to them and that when this happens, people rely on family, friends, religion, and culture to feel better. Define death as a loss, except that unlike losing a favorite toy, a person cannot go to a store and buy a new grandpa or pet. Read a story such as Aarvy Aardvark Finds Hope or The Fall of Freddie the Leaf and discuss. Explain that even adults need help when someone close to them dies but that having a strong family and friends can help.

 

      Variation: Use a video such as The Lion King to explain the “Circle of Life.” What does this mean?

Variation: Show the video It Must Hurt A Lot (or read the story). Discuss how people feel when they lose a pet. Students discuss and list ways to deal with those feelings.

 

·        GROWING OLD - For this activity, you need several sets of ear plugs (to represent hearing loss); glasses smeared with petroleum jelly (vision loss); thick gloves or mittens (arthritis); gum balls or jaw breakers (dental problems); and unflavored seltzer water with unsalted pretzels or crackers (loss of taste). Set up five stations. At each station, students complete a series of simple tasks while experiencing one of the results of aging. Students keep an informal journal of the activity. At the conclusion, students write a reaction to the exercise. Discuss ways to help older citizens who may be experiencing the problems of aging.

Variation: Take students on a field trip to a senior center, nursing home or assisted living center to talk to senior citizens about their activities.

 

·        DEVELOPMENTAL TOYS - Bring in toys and products used at different developmental stages (e.g., pacifier, training pants, stuffed animals, makeup, deodorant). Students arrange the items as part of an object time line around the classroom, discuss the use of the items, and correlate each to the appropriate age and stage of development.

Variation: Students discuss toys used when they were younger. How have students grown or matured since they used the toys? How have their choices changed?

Variation: Why are toys designed for specific age groups? Students examine the warnings on various toys and food items and explain why the warnings and age requirements are needed.

Variation: Students interview a grandparent or older person about the toys and games of his/her youth and report to the class. Invite the interviewees to teach the game to the class.

 

·        I'M GROWING - Students measure each other’s height and shoe size and graph the results. (Invite the school nurse to be a part of this project.) Repeat the measurements two more times during the school year to plot each student’s growth. Explain why some students have had a growth spurt while others have not (e.g., heredity, endocrine changes). Reassure students that everyone grows at his/her own rate.