2. Curriculum-Framing Questions Essential Question: Name different ways we can live longer and explain your answer. Unit Questions: How do we eat right? How do we live healthier lifestyles? What are some of things that happen if we eat better? Content Questions: Name an example of something healthy you could eat. Name one group out of the food pyramid and how many servings you are supposed to have from that group. Name an example of something that is unhealthy to eat.
3. Summary of Unit Every"body" is Alike is a unit on the human body. At the end of this unit, students will better understand specific parts of the human body including: head, neck, shoulders, arms, spine, and legs. Through this project-based learning, students will eventually create a menu for others.
4. Role of the Teacher- That’s Me! As your child’s teacher, I will collect background knowledge from the students to see what they already know about being healthy and also what they would like to know. Once I get this information, I will then incorporate it into my lesson. Next, I will explain to them the directions of the project itself. During the project, I will be interacting with all of the groups and answering questions they may have, assisting them in any way they may need, and engaging group discussions. When the project is finished, I will then appoint grades for each group based on their final presentation of the material they have been working on.
5. Role of the Parent- That’s You! As the parent, you should assist your child in the learning process. Let them figure things out themselves (Don’t make them struggle, but children are smarter and more creative than we think ;)) Also, use their questions to show them that they CAN figure things out on their own. LET THEM EXPERIMENT!!! I know it may sound scary at first, but don’t worry, the enjoyment that you will get from watching a child figure something out for the first time is well worth the mess they go through to get it!
6. Role of the Student- That’s your Child! Students will collaborate with their peers to come up with a menu that incorporates the food pyramid into it. They will have to work with their peers, brainstorm, answer discussion-type questions within their group, and they will have to make a presentation about their project at the end.
7. Benefits of the Unit There are many benefits to this unit. These include: Students will learn how to collaborate with one another. Students will better understand how to be healthy. Students will better understand the food pyramid and how it is used. Students will better understand how to create a meal based on the food pyramid. Students will learn how to prepare for and give a presentation. Students will use critical thinking.
8. Standards Identify parts of the human body, including the head, neck, shoulders, arms, spine, and legs. • Recognizing the importance of a balanced diet for healthy bones. Objectives Students will be able to identify parts of the human body. Students will be able to list healthy foods that will help their bones. 3) Students will create their own skeleton to make up the human body. 4) Students will create a healthy menu for others to demonstrate their knowledge of a balanced diet. Standards and Objectives
9. Project-Based Learning (PBL) PBL (Project-Based Learning) is a wonderful tool in helping children learn what they need to know while using a hands-on approach. PBL is using projects, which require hands-on activity, to apply the knowledge that students need to everyday problems and activities. This way, children are not just reading out of a textbook about what they are learning; instead, they are actually using activities to discover the information they need to gain on their own. Not only is this a more fun way to learn material, but it also helps the children understand what they are learning better because they have actually experienced it and it relates to them. During these activities, the children get to go through the trial and error process, which is another way that they retain the material they are studying. If you tried something on your own and it did not work, so you had to think about what would work, try it, and review the results until you got the results that you wanted, you would be more likely to be more knowledgeable about that subject than one you just read about in a textbook. Many of the subjects that the students are learning about are applicable to everyday scenarios that the students can relate to. This way, the children are not just given random numbers to solve a problem with, they are given numbers that deal with them. Most subjects, if not all, can use information that relates to the students to come up with a problem and a solution that the students must find and that relates to the course of study. I think that Project-based Learning is a great way to teach children the information they need to know while making it fun to learn about this information. I know that when I was in school, I learned a lot more from being able to actually do hands-on activities than I did from just reading a bunch of words (that I might not understand) in my textbooks. This gets children thinking of all of the important questions (how, what if, why, etc..) when it comes to discovering new subjects, and lets them figure out the answers themselves rather than an author telling them the answer. I enjoy doing projects with my students and plan to whenever I get a chance in my classroom, so that not only are they learning, but they are having fun while doing it. I plan to use PBL every time that I possibly can when I see that the students would greatly benefit from using hands-on skills.
10. Contact Information E-mail: sksimms@crimson.ua.edu Phone: (770) 301-2582 Please feel free to contact me with any questions/concerns!
