Content Area: Health and Physical Education

 

Index: 2.1D Grade 8 CPI 2

 

Standard: 2.1 - Wellness

 

Strand: D - Diseases and Health Conditions

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 2 - The student will classify diseases and health conditions as communicable, noncommunicable, acute, chronic, or inherited.

 

Grade: 8

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        WHERE DID THAT DISEASE COME FROM? - Give students a list of common diseases and health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, sickle cell anemia, epilepsy, arthritis, allergies, or tuberculosis. Students research the disease or condition and develop a booklet that traces the history of the disease and the current status of treatment and prevention. Students indicate if heredity, behavior, or environmental factors cause or influence the condition. The booklet should contain resources for more information. Students summarize the information and present as a two-minute oral presentation.

Variation: Invite a panel of speakers from organizations such as the American Lung Association, the March of Dimes, and other nonprofit organizations. Presenters discuss the health conditions most closely associated with their organization and offer tips on the prevention of the conditions.

 

·        IT'S GETTING KIND OF CROWDED - Use masking tape to outline a three foot square on the floor. Instruct each student to write on a sheet of paper one way that crowded living conditions may affect one’s health. Without further explanation, ask one student to take his/her paper and stand inside the square and then read what is on the paper. Have another student join the first student in the square and read his/her answer. Continue to add students until the square is crowded. Stop and ask the students in the square how they feel. Some students will express evidence of increased stress. Explain that living in crowded conditions does increase stress. Allow the students to return to their seats, and continue the discussion of ways that crowding impacts health.

Variation: Students develop a chart or web that focuses on specific issues related to overcrowded conditions (e.g., diseases that are more common in an overcrowded area, the incidence of violence). Students use the Internet to locate state, national, and international organizations that provide information and assistance (e.g., New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services [NJDHSS], CDC, Red Cross, World Health Organization [WHO]).

Variation: Students identify countries or areas of the world that have been significantly hindered by overcrowded and unhealthy conditions. Students research the country’s health statistics and examine issues such as health facilities, education, economic status, and job opportunities in this area.

 

      Variation: Brainstorm a definition of quality of life. Ask: “What factors influence the quality of life in a community? How does quality of life impact health?”