This science unit plan outlines a 2nd grade unit on healthy lifestyles over 5 weeks. Each week covers a different topic: the body, fitness, motor skills, hygiene, and caring for the environment. Lessons include learning objectives, activities, and assessments. Instructional strategies like brainstorming, role playing, and videos are used to engage students. Differentiation and accommodations are made for varying ability levels. The unit aims to teach students key health concepts and life skills to promote physical fitness and environmental conservation.

1. Science Unit Plan
Grade: 2nd Grade
Unit Theme: Healthy Lifestyle
Week 1
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Lesson Title, Brief Summary, and Rationale
(fill in during Topic 1)
The Body
The human body consists of several parts that work together to
support life. The body is made up of the head, hands, trunk, and
legs. The head contains the brain that controls all body
activities. The hands are used for touching and holding objects
while the legs are used for locomotion. The trunk contains
organs such as the heart, liver, and lungs. People need food,
water, and air to survive.
Fitness
Fitness refers to the state in which the body operates in ideal
ways. Physical fitness involves taking good care of the body by
eating a healthy and balanced diet consisting of proteins,
vitamins, and carbohydrates. It is unhealthy to take excess fats
and carbohydrates because they can make the body fat. Eating
excess fats and sugars causes obesity and diabetes. People need
to engage in physical exercises to stay healthy.
Motor Skills
Motor skills refer to the activities in which people use their
muscles for motion in order to accomplish specific tasks. All
activities that people engage in involve motor skills (van der

2. Fels et al., 2015) Examples of motor skills include: writing,
walking, and jumping. People need to exercise in order to
improve the efficiency of their motor skills.
Hygiene
Hygiene refers to the general body cleanliness. People should
take a bath at least once in a day in order to keep the skin clean.
People should also brush their teeth after every meal to protect
the mouth from disease-causing microorganisms. It is important
to wash clothes and keep them in a clean environment. People
must wash their hands before eating, and after visiting the toilet
to avoid infections.
Taking Care of the Environment
The environment refers to things that surround us. It is
important to take care of the environment. We should water
plants and take care of animals. All wastes and dirt should be
thrown in the dust bin. Throwing wastes in the environment is
called pollution. Air pollution causes respiratory diseases such
as asthma.
State-Specific Standards
(fill in during Topic 1)
Students are expected to know different parts of the human body
and their functions
Students should be able to competently classify different types
of foods and their uses. Students should also be able to
understand healthy eating habits and explain different ways of
keeping fit (Florida Department of Education, 2019).
Students should be able to demonstrate their understanding of
motor skills and explain factors that improve or deteriorate
motor skills (FDE, 2019).
Students should competently demonstrate their understanding of
hygiene, and how it applies in the day-to-day activities (FDE,
2019).
Students should competently demonstrate their understanding of
how to care for the environment including plants and animals,
and understand the implications of pollution (FDE, 2019).

3. Learning Objectives
(fill in during Topic 1)
-To learn different parts of the body and name them
-To general functions of different body parts
-To learn different types of foods and their uses in the body.
-To understand the harm of eating excess fats and sugars.
-To understand different ways of keeping the body physically
fit.
-To define and demonstrate motor skills
-To understand the relationship between physical fitness and
motor skills
-To describe factors that hinder and boost motor skills
-To define the meaning of hygiene and how to maintain
cleanliness
-To learn the consequences of poor hygiene
-To learn different ways of taking care of the environment
-To understand the meaning and effects of pollution
Vocabulary
(fill in during Topic 1)
Head, Trunk, hands, limbs, legs, organs
Physical fitness, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, obesity,
diabetes
Motor skills, muscles, movement, physical activity
Hygiene, dirt, microorganisms
Environment, plants, animals, pollution, diseases
Instructional Strategy
(fill in during Topic 2)
Reciprocal teaching, drawing, and writing (Tate, 2015).
Brainstorming, reciprocal teaching, Role play, and audiovisual
equipment (Tate, 2015).
Similes and metaphors, games, and Role play (Tate, 2015).
Brainstorming, reciprocal reaching, and short videos with
illustrations (Tate, 2015).
Brainstorming, reciprocal teaching, videos, and storytelling

4. (Tate, 2015).
Summary of Instruction and Activities for the Lesson
(fill in during Topic 2)
Summary
Can you ask your friends the name and functions of their body
parts? All body parts have a definite function and work together
in coordination to accomplish different activities.
Activities
Students will discuss and show different parts of the body and
state their functions. They will then draw and name the body
Summary
Fitness is the condition in which all the body parts especially
muscles are healthy and work effectively. What do can you do
to keep fit? We can stay fit by exercising and eating healthy
foods.
Activities
Students will demonstrate some of the activities that they
usually engage in to keep fit
Summary
Motor skills determine the degree to which we can accurately
accomplish different tasks. When sit and walk with our backs
straight like vertical lines, we will experience no back
complications, which makes us physically fit.
Activities
Students will demonstrate and play short games that reflect
effective motor skills.
Summary
Hygiene refers to bodily and environmental cleanliness. Can
you ask your friend to name some behaviors that improve
hygiene?
Activities
Students will discuss and describe different actions that

5. contribute to general body and environmental hygiene. They
will also watch videos that illustrate poor and good hygiene.
Summary
Care for the environment means keeping the environment clean,
tidy, and improving its productivity. In what ways do you care
for your school and home environment?
Activities
Students will name different methods that they have cared for
the environment and discuss ways of conserving the
environment. They will then tell stories both positive and
negative related to care for the environment.
Differentiation and Accommodations
(fill in during Topic 3)
You have talked about the activities that you will use with the
students. I want you to add the headings in yellow each day.
You have to be very specific in your planning in this section.
Use the link below to further your understanding
Differentiation
https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/18-teacher-tested-
strategies-differentiated-instruction
Accommodations
smartkidswithld.org/getting-help/the-abcs-of-ieps/examples-of-
accommodations-modifications/
Below grade level
Above grade level

6. ELL and or Special Need students
Instructors are tasked with the responsibility of meeting the
standards of their respective districts and states. By using
differentiated learning and instructional strategies, teachers can
effectively meet the needs of all students and support them to
exceed the established standards and expectations. The primary
objective of differentiated learning is attained by choosing
relevant teaching methods to meet each individual student’s
needs.
Any learner is expected to demonstrate considerable variation in
their learning characteristics and behaviors. As such, when a
group incorporates students that have learning disabilities or
deficiencies, the amount of variations in learning is
significantly increased (Blaz, 2016).
Providing diverse learning characteristics that are showcased by
students in the contemporary learning environment make it
essential for instructors to implement a broad range of activities
within their classroom environments. As classes get more
culturally diverse, it becomes more imperative to design
differentiated instructional models. Differentiated instruction is
necessary for virtually all general education classes.
Differentiated learning will be comprised of efforts of
instructors channeled towards responding to variances among
students in the classroom environment. In situations where the
teacher reaches out to individuals or small groups to vary their
teaching to establish the best learning experience possible, such
instructors are offering differentiated teaching.
Differentiated learning will be met in levels such as content,
processes, products, as well as learning environment. Contents
refer to what the learners require to gain knowledge or how the
student will gain access to informative data (Blaz, 2016).
Materials, Resources, and Technology
(fill in during Topic 4)

7. Formative Assessment
(fill in during Topic 5)
Summative Assessment
(fill in during Topic 5)
Reflection Topic 1:
While preparing the unit plan, I had ensured that I
introduce different concepts within each lesson so that students
can have a broad understanding of the topic covered in each
lesson, and to relate the concepts with their environment. The
ability to relate what is taught in class with the environment is
not only important for students to succeed in developing a
strong foundation for their future professions but also to
empower them with the ability to apply their knowledge in their
day-to-day activities. During the early development stages,
children need to develop strong cognitive abilities by relating
the stimuli that they pick from the environment using different
senses with what they are taught (Akfirat & Kezer, 2016). In
view of these reasons, the objective of integrating the concepts
of life science with the environment, and to be able to
understand why conservation of the environment is important is
meant to set foundation for future lessons in which the concepts
are discussed in detail.
The most important key concepts in the plan are essential life
skills, and relationship between people and the environment.

8. Essential life skills discussed has been supported by discussions
about motor skills in which people make coordinated
movements. The skills can be applied when engaging in
physical fitness exercises to ensure that exercises are done in
safe and beneficial ways. After understanding the concepts of
essential life skills, students will be endowed with the ability to
perform important activities such as washing their hands after
visiting the toilet and engage in environment conservation
exercises such as planting trees. These concepts are important
because they enhance students’ understanding of how human
health is affected or influenced by the environment, and
enabling students develop basic skills for good health (Akfirat
& Kezer, 2016). Furthermore, students will be able to have
foundational knowledge of the activities that they will engage in
upon completion of their studies. With an elaborate knowledge
of life skills, students can live lives in which they take
precaution that reduce diseases, conserve the environment, and
relate their knowledge with environmental ecosystems. The unit
plan can be used in future professional practice to demonstrate
to students the importance of physical fitness in the dimension
of disease prevention, and long-term sustainability of
environmental resources. Students will then be able to
understand the importance of physical fitness and a healthy diet
regarding disease prevention. The theme will be applied to
endow students with basic life skills for a healthy life and safe
environment.
Reflection Topic 2:
The process of continuing with the unit plan development got to
the point in which appropriate instructional strategies were
carefully chosen to suit the topic, and smooth transition from
and connection to the concepts of the past and future lessons
respectively. The main instructional strategies include but not
limited to: brainstorming, reciprocal learning, use of graphics,

9. role modeling, games, and storytelling. Brainstorming and
graphics support independent study and active inquiry since
students actively think of different ways that the concepts
taught are connected with other concepts that they are familiar
with, which in turn enhances their critical thinking capacities.
Reciprocal learning, storytelling, and role modeling increases
the rates of collaborative knowledge transfer among students
(Sharafi-Nejad, Raftari, Ismail & Eng, 2016). When students
learn from one another, they freely engage in active inquiry and
supportive interactions (Lee et al., 2016). As a result, the
degree of reciprocity will increase, which in turn increases
collaborative learning thus increasing the rate of knowledge
acquisition and transfer among students.
In my future professional practice, I will apply brainstorming
and audiovisual graphics to help students remember or connect
the current concepts with concepts from previous lessons.
Brainstorming helps students to review their knowledge and
make connections with present concepts, which increases their
creativity and critical thinking skills (Sharafi-Nejad, Raftari,
Ismail & Eng, 2016). In order to increase students’
collaborative learning and interdependence, I will apply the
strategy of role modeling and storytelling. Role-modeling
involves selecting one student to demonstrate to others in a
group or the whole class different aspects of lesson contents to
increase collective understanding (Tate, 2015). When role-
modeling is combined with storytelling and short academic-
oriented games, students will engage in supportive interactions
that in turn will promote their critical thinking, which in turn
will improve their ease of understanding the content. As such,
the overall time taken for teaching the concepts will reduce,
which will save time for reviewing the concepts as a way of
reinforcing students’ understanding of the content areas.
Reflection Topic 3:

10. Your discussion was good but remember to meet the in citation
required in this section each week, You needed a min of 2 of
them
Instructors are tasked with the responsibility of meeting the
standards of their respective districts and states. By using
differentiated learning and instructional strategies, teachers can
effectively meet the needs of all students and support them to
exceed the established standards and expectations. The primary
objective of differentiated learning is attained by choosing
relevant teaching methods to meet each individual student’s
needs. Any learner is expected to demonstrate considerable
variation in their learning characteristics and behaviors. As
such, when a group incorporates students that have learning
disabilities or deficiencies, the amount of variations in learning
is significantly increased (Blaz, 2016). Therefore, the diverse
learning characteristics that are showcased by students in the
contemporary learning environment make it essential for
instructors to implement a broad range of activities within their
classroom environments. As classes get more culturally diverse,
it becomes more imperative to design differentiated
instructional models. Differentiated instruction is necessary for
virtually all general education classes. This is especially true
when it comes to students who have a long array of learning
challenges.
At its most essential levels, differentiated learning is
comprised of efforts of instructors channeled towards
responding to variances among students in the classroom
environment. In situations where the teacher reaches out to
individuals or small groups to vary their teaching to establish
the best learning experience possible, such instructors are
offering differentiated teaching. Differentiated learning can be
met in levels such as content, processes, products, as well as
learning environment. Contents refer to what the learners
require to gain knowledge or how the student will gain access to
informative data (Blaz, 2016). On the other hand, processes
include activities that the students engage in to make sense of

11. or master the contents. Examples of processes may include
making tiered activities through which all learners work with
the same important understanding and skills, but proceed with
varying levels of support, challenges, or complexities.
Reflection Topic 4:
Reflection Topic 5:
References
You have several citations here but only the first word should
be capitalized
Akfirat, O. N., & Kezer, F. (2016). A program implementation
for the development of life skills of primary school 4th Grade
Students. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(35), 9-
16.
Blaz, D. (2016). Differentiated Instruction: A Guide for World
Language Teachers. London:
Routledge.
Gentry, R., Sallie, A. P., & Sanders, C. A. (2013).
Differentiated Instructional Strategies to
Accommodate Students with Varying Needs and Learning
Styles. Online Submission.
Lee, H., Parsons, D., Kwon, G., Kim, J., Petrova, K., Jeong, E.,
& Ryu, H. (2016). Cooperation begins: Encouraging critical
thinking skills through cooperative reciprocity using a mobile
learning game. Computers & Education, 97, 97-115.

12. New York State Education Department. (2019). New York State
P-12 Science Learning Standards. NYSED. Retrieved from
http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/curric
ulum-instruction/p-12-science-learning-standards.pdf
Tate, M. L. (Ed.). (2015). Worksheets don't grow dendrites: 20
instructional strategies that engage the brain. Instructional
Leader, 26(2), 1-12.
Sharafi-Nejad, M., Raftari, S., Ismail, S. A. M. M., & Eng, L. S.
(2016). Prior knowledge activation through brainstorming to
enhance Malaysian EFL learners’ reading
comprehension. International Journal of Linguistics, 8(2), 187-
198.
van der Fels, I. M., te Wierike, S. C., Hartman, E., Elferink-
Gemser, M. T., Smith, J., & Visscher, C. (2015). The
relationship between motor skills and cognitive skills in 4–
16 year old typically developing children: A systematic
review. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 18(6), 697-
703.
Self-discovery Influences Maturation
Maturation is a process that has no exact destination. We
become more mature as we grow up, however, we can be mature
on one thing but immature on the other. We are at different
levels when we become mature at the age of 25. Self-discover
is an important element that causes the different level of
maturation. In Michael Chabon, who is an American novelist
and holds an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of
California, Irvine, wrote in his article My Son, the Prince of
Fashion that how he wants his son to self-discover and grow
even though he felt sad about it because he found the gap
between them, and he is also scared to let him go. Robin
Marants Henig, who is a journalist and author whose work is
focusing on science, mentioned in her article What is it about
20-Somethings? about 5 milestones people established that

13. represent adulthood. And that people nowadays are finishing
those milestones later and later due to the result of self-
discovery. The value of self- discovery during the process of
maturation is that we will find the strengths and weaknesses of
ourselves. At this period of time, we are more flexible, it is
faster for us to improve our strengths or accept the failure then
learn from it. Also, it’s easier to alter the characteristics that we
discovered during this process to make us a better person.
Self- discovery during the period of maturation can help us find
what we are good at and not, and make some changes due to
what we found. When we are not mature, we have people around
us, such as our parents, that can help us determine the right
thing to do. And when we find our interests or strengths, we can
improve it faster and easier when we are not mature yet.
Because it is easier to absorb the stress that comes from what
we are choosing to be in. Also, when we meet barriers, in our
mental state, we can accept the flaws quicker than when we are
already mature. According to Chabon, “It was always Abe's rare
gift not just to stand out, and bear up, but to do those things
with panache. And the way in which he expressed his difference
most reliably, and with the greatest panache, was through
dressing up” (Chabon 65). Abe has heard and faced bad things
when he was developing his strengths and discovering the world
of fashion, he overcome the difficulty and insist, and also found
a good way to make him a happier boy. The younger you are,
the easier you can find the right way to react when you face
negative messages. When we are still in the process of
maturation, we do not think as deeply as we do after the
process. Which means that we can digest the stress faster and
improve from there. In Henig’s article, she said “Or is
adulthood now so malleable, with marriage and employment
options constantly being reassessed, that young people would be
better off just getting started on something, or else they’ll never
catch up” (Henig 204). We have more time to discover what we
want when we are still young, and choose what we like and are
willing to do before it is too late to be done. Finding things we

14. like or dislike is a way of self-discovery. In this progress, we
might find something that we used to love but not anymore, or
we love it but not good at it. In the process of maturation, we
can choose to develop, or give up on it easier because we have a
better ability to accept the change. This is the value of self-
discovery during the process of maturation.
We can discover our own characteristics during the process of
self-discovery, and we are more easily to alter them when we
are not mature yet, so that we can become a better and happier
self. “It’s easy to see the advantages to the delay. There is time
enough for adulthood and its attendant obligations; maybe if
kids take longer to choose their mates and their careers, they’ll
make fewer mistakes and live happier lives. But it’s just as easy
to see the drawbacks” (Henig 214). When we are exploring on
our own, we sometimes find some new things that we might not
know before. Sometimes it’s a good thing, and sometimes it can
be bad. That is the value of self-discovery. And we need to alter
our thoughts or beliefs to make us happier. When we are still
maturing, our mind is not settled down, we are more likely to
change the idea of what we used to believe in, so that we do not
make bigger mistakes in the future. “Abe had not been dressing
up, styling himself, for all these years because he was trying to
prove how different he was from everyone else. He did it in the
hope of attracting the attention of somebody else—somewhere,
someday—who was the same” (Chabon 70). When we figure out
our own characteristics, and we have more time to explore and
try to fit in the group that we want to be in at a young age. In
the progress of maturation, we are learning all the time about
things that are happening around us, because we are still young
and not mature, we are more willing to and easily to alter what
we discovered about ourselves that we do not like to become the
person we want to be.
The value of self- discovery during the process of maturation is
that we will find the strengths and weaknesses of ourselves. At
this period of time, we are more flexible, it is faster for us to
improve our strengths or accept the failure then learn from it.

15. Also, it’s easier to alter the characteristics that we discovered
during this process to make us a better person.
PAPER #3
Paul Hufker| EAD II, Fall 2019
Readings: *Michael Chabon, My Son, the Prince of
Fashion (Emerging)
*Robin Marantz Henig, What is it about 20-somethings?
(Emerging)
In his article, Chabon writes, “You are born into a family and
those are your people, and they know you and they love you,
and if you are lucky they even, on occasion, manage to
understand you. And that ought to be enough. But it is never
enough.” This quote seems to imply that there is a desire in the
self to go beyond the support system you’re born with (your
family), and move toward those people you choose, who help
you grow into the person you want to become.
In her article, Henig writes, “The whole idea of milestones, of
course, is something of an anachronism; it implies a lockstep
march toward adulthood that is rare these days. Kids don’t
shuffle along in unison on the road to maturity.” This quote
seems to imply that while we are aging and maturing, we are not
doing so at the exact same rate as those around us. Both
articles, then, discuss the idea that in order to mature, one must
engage in a period of self-discovery.
Reread both texts, formulate an independent answer, find
relevant quotes to support you (don’t summarize!) and answer
the following question: What is the value of self-discovery
during the process of maturation?
You may want to consider the following questions/prompts
while preparing for and writing Paper 3. You do not need to
answer all of them! They are simply designed to help you
generate ideas.

16. * Push further with your logic -- if you’re tempted to write
something like “Self-discovery helps you know who you are,” I
will immediately ask you the value of self-understanding. Push
past these surface-level considerations, instead finding and
discussing the most fundamental ideas available.
* Consider Henig’s discussion of maturation of the brain – it
does not stop developing until after we are 25 years old. How
might that affect the value of self-discovery?
*Rough Draft Due (3-page minimum):As a hard copy in class on
Thursday, October 31st. Please upload (as an attachment) to
Paper 3 on our Canvas site by 9:00 AM on Thursday, October
31st.
*Final Draft Due (4-page minimum): Due,Tuesday, November
12th. Please upload (as an attachment) to Paper #3 on our
Canvas site by 9:00 AM on Tuesday, November 12th.
Late rough drafts will result in a half-letter grade deduction
from the final draft of Paper 3. Late final drafts will result in a
full-letter grade deduction from the final draft of Paper 3.
Required formatting: stapled, double-spaced, 1-inch margins,
12-pt. font (Times New Roman), MLA format (Your headers,
page numbers, and quotations should be formatted properly. See
The PocketWadsworth Handbook.)