Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.1B Grade 8 CPI 2

 

Standard: 2.1 - Wellness

 

Strand: B - Growth and Development

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 2 - The student will investigate the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual changes that occur at each life stage and how those changes impact wellness.

 

Grade: 8

 

Sample Activities:

 

·       MOVING TOWARDS ADOLESCENCE - Write the word adolescence on the chalkboard. Use a whip-around, pass-option activity to elicit words related to adolescence. Develop a web using the students’ suggestions. Explain that the word adolescence is based on the Latin root esso which means “becoming.” (Write the Latin word on the board.) Use a transparency or chart to display the three stages of adolescence (early, middle, and late adolescence which ends between ages 19 and 21). Write three categories on the chalkboard: “Physical,” “Social,” and “Emotional.” Divide the class into three groups and assign each group one of the categories. Each group develops a time line outlining the changes that occur during each of the three phases of adolescence. Allow each group to present their time line. Conclude by having each student write a brief journal entry entitled “I Am Becoming...”

 

·       OBSERVATIONS - Students observe a 12 to 15-month-old child and then observe a 4 to 5-year-old child. Based on their observations, students develop a comparison/contrast map focusing on the children’s physical, social, and emotional similarities and differences. Students use the map and teacher-provided materials on child development (e.g., articles, textbooks, Web sites) to analyze their findings and write a summary of the experience.

 

·       LIFE STAGES - Students interview one person in each of six different life stages (toddler, child, teen, young adult, adult, senior citizen). The class develops a list of questions to be asked regardless of the person’s age. Organize the interviews into a booklet, summarizing the similarities and differences. Include, if possible, pictures of the subjects. Sample questions might include:
-       What is the best thing you’ve ever done?
-       What do you think is the best age and why?
-       What do you see in your future?
-       What makes you happiest?
-       What makes you angry?

 

·       TEEN PANEL - Invite a panel of high school students to address the physical, social, and emotional changes that occur during the transition from middle school to high school. The teens should focus on strategies to cope with peer pressure, parents, and the rapid changes that occur in body and mood. Students write a reaction to the presentation.

 

      Variation: Invite a panel of senior citizens to speak about the significant events and milestones of their lives. The panel should stress ways to keep young at heart and healthy. Students plan a social event for the senior citizens, such as a dance or luncheon, to thank them for their participation.