Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.1B Grade 6 CPI 3

 

Standard: 2.1 - Wellness

 

Strand: B - Growth and Development

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 3 - The student will discuss how heredity and physiological changes contribute to an individual's uniqueness.

 

Grade: 6

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        IS IT HEREDITARY? -  Brainstorm the various influences of environment and heredity on wellness and write on the board. Explain that some people in certain cultural or ethnic groups have very distinctive features and characteristics that are handed down from generation to generation. Are those characteristics the result of genetics or the environment? Students research genetic traits as eye color.

 

      Variation: Students investigate health conditions that may be related to hereditary factors (e.g., sickle cell disease, Tay-Sachs disease, diabetes, cystic fibrosis). Why are some health conditions limited to certain ethnic populations?

Variation: Provide students with a list of diseases and other health conditions. Students organize the list into communicable and noncommunicable conditions. Using the list as a starting point, students create a second list of conditions that are genetically related. Ask: “Do some conditions have
multiple causes? What can you do to reduce your risk if your family has a history of one of these conditions?”

Variation: Students develop a cause/effect graphic organizer for various diseases and health conditions.