Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Ninth Grade Health

I am finishing up with my plans for health for next year.  I posted a list of resources earlier, but have now obtained the books I want to use and have fleshed out what I plan to do each week for the study. 
Here is the earlier post listing various websites to use with this study:

http://greenapplesblush.blogspot.com/2011/07/notes-on-ninth-grade-health-class.html

My primary "text" or "spine" for the study will be The Way We Work, Macaulay.  I love the way it presents information on the human body and provides a jumping off point for talking about health topics related to those body systems.  It is very teen boy oriented (for younger teens, at least) and will also supplement our biology studies for the year quite well....

Other reference works I've found that will be useful for labeling parts of various body systems, etc. include:

National Geographic's The Complete Human: How it Grows, How it Works, and How to Keep it Healthy and Strong, Richard Restak, and The Human Body Identification Manual: Your Body and How it Works, Ken Ashwell, et al.  I absolutely love the visuals on this last one and think it is better than my Gray's Anatomy, which I've had for years and years....


Week 1:

Review the working parts of the human body first, in order to then talk about things affecting the body, such as mental health, first aid, tobacco, drugs, parasites and disease, sex ed, AIDs, and nutrition, etc.

Use:  David Macaulay’s The Way We Work, Chapter 1 - Cells

Memory Work:  Parts of an animal cell; phases of mitosis

Try to look at different types of human tissue/cells and blood cells

Build DNA Model

Enchanted Learning has labeling diagrams for this; also:


http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/cellcolor.html  (although this is not a type of cell found in the human body)

http://biologycorner.com/worksheets/cellcycle_labelme.html

Many of these sites include answer keys, too….  And there are lots of others on the web, too!  There are also now tons of online, interactive labeling games for most body systems.  McGraw Hill especially has a lot up online….


Week 2 and 3:

The Way We Work, Chapter 2 – Respiratory and Circulatory Systems

Memory Work:  Parts of the Respiratory and Circulatory Systems

Sketch and label both systems

Use tobacco websites from resource page

Some websites with labeling and worksheets (check Enchanted Learning):

http://www.health-lesson-plans-teacher.com/circulatorysystem.html (and she has a complete website that you could use for all your health lessons, too….)

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/teachersguides/pdf/lifescience/ul/hbs_respiratoty_system_tg.pdf (an entire unit on the respiratory system – calls for a video but includes the entire transcript of the video, so it’s not really necessary….)


Week 4:

The Way We Work, Chapter 3 – Digestive System

Memory Work:  Parts of the Digestive System

Sketch and label this system, including organs that produce hormones, cleanse the system, etc.

Websites with worksheets (check Enchanted Learning):



Week 5 and 6:

Read: Nutrition: What’s in the Foods We Eat?  Library


Use lesson plans to go with movie:  http://www.lessonplanspage.com/PEODo...rSizeMe912.htm
and http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/te...nutrition.html


Week 7, 8, and 9:

Read Michael Pollan’s book(s) and discuss


Week 10 and 11:

Watch:  The Future of Food

Read:  Seeds of Deception and discuss


Week 12:

Read books on Vitamins and Minerals; Diet and Nutrition from library

Work with food pyramid

Check Enchanted Learning for worksheets.  I also used some of the level 3 worksheets from this site: 


http://www.choosemyplate.gov/myplate/index.aspx  (calculate how many calories a day you need)

Alternative healthy eating pyramid (some scientists say the latest put out by the government is still too high in carbs):


Healthy Eating Plate:


Differences between this and the gov. version:


How to Build a Healthier Plate:


…and there’s loads more at this Harvard site!


Week 13 and 14:

The Way We Work, Chapter 4 - Central Nervous System

Memory Work:  Major parts of the brain, eye, and inner ear

Sketch and label above systems

Some websites with labeling:

Enchanted Learning





Week 15:

Mental Health – use web site from resource pages


Week 16:

The Way We Work, Chapter 5 - Immune System

Website from resource pages on parasites and diseases, also:


Immune system memory work and labeling

Check Enchanted Learning for labeling, also:


(This is an entire website:  Kids Health.org, which includes sections for parents, educators, children, and teens.  It could be used as a complete health curriculum on its own.)


Week 17:

AIDS website from resource page; drug pamphlets from home


Week 18:

The Way We Work, Chapter 6 - Skeletal System

Memory Work:  Know the major bones of the human body

Sketch/label these

One labeling page other than Enchanted Learning:



Week 19:

The Way We Work, Chapter 7 - Reproductive/Endocrine Systems

Endocrine system memory work/labeling

Websites that provide labeling:


And here’s an entire unit, labeled for fifth grade, but don’t let that fool you as to how rigorous it is:  http://www.ckcolorado.org/units/5th_grade/5_TheEndocrineSystem.pdf


Week 20:

Sex Ed websites from resource page

Book on Sex Ed from home


Week 21:

From resource list, other health related topics; first aid; sexual harassment; health occupations

The other 15 weeks’ worth of work during the school year will be comprised of taking first aid and CPR courses.  There is certainly enough material here, though, to make it through a full 36 weeks, even without outside coursework….

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great outline! We always love using first aid and CPR classes as add-ons to health. =) I am enjoying perusing your blog; lovely job here.
~Sheri

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...