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Quests For Better HealthQuests-For-Better-Health

  • Subject: Physical Health
  • |
  • Grade(s): 6-12
  • |
  • Duration: One to Two class periods

Lesson Plan Sections

Objectives


1. use the Internet to investigate a selected health quest;
2. research and discover insights about health and the human body; and
3. evaluate and apply the information they have gained to create a chart, solve a puzzle, or design an ad.

Materials


• Computer and Internet access
• Other print resources related to health
• One of three health quests:

Procedures


1. In this activity, students use the Web to research and learn more about three favorite health topics: hormones, sweat, and nutrition. You can assign a specific Web quest or have the students choose the one that interests them most. Each quest provides links to appropriate sites on each topic, followed by questions for students to investigate. The final project for each quest is different. For sweat, students answer questions to solve a puzzle; for hormones, students choose their candidates for the top five hormones in the body; for healthy foods, they will create an advertising campaign for their favorite healthy foods.
2. Establish a time frame for students to complete their Web quest and submit the related final project.
3. Assist students as needed to facilitate the completion of the quest.
4. To begin, direct students to our Health Quest Home Page.
 

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Adaptations


Challenge older students to create a word puzzle health quest of their own—like “No Sweat!” Their topics may include the dangers of cigarette smoking, eating disorders, skin problems, or peer pressure. Next, have them research the best sites on their topic. They could begin by browsing the suggested sites atB.J. Pinchbeck’s Homework Helper. For each site they choose, ask students to write one or two questions. They can either provide a word jumble and riddle, as in “No Sweat!” or they can use their words to create their own crossword puzzle or word search usingPuzzlemaker.
 

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Discussion Questions


1. Why is good health so important?
2. What makes some foods more nutritional than others?
3. What foods and behaviors help promote good health?
4. How do hormones affect the body’s functions?
5. What is the purpose of sweat?
 

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Evaluation


Each quest has a project or puzzle for the student to complete.

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Extensions


Write Your Own Health Quest!
Invite your students to develop their own health quests. First, generate a list of health-related topics students would like to learn more about, such as eating disorders, tobacco use, hormones, or violence. Then assign, or have students select, topics to research online. Working in groups, have them find the best Web sites on their topic. For each Web site, they should note the site name, URL, and a list of interesting facts for each site. Using the information they find online, challenge them to create a fun “health quest,” such as a fill-in-the-blank quiz, word find, or puzzle. (Discovery School’s Puzzlemaker is a great tool for creating word puzzles.)

Health News
Continue your class quest for helpful health information by creating a regular opportunity for students to share health-related current articles that they have found in the newspaper, on the Internet, or in news and science magazines. A possible starting point is theDiscovery Health Web site. This site offers daily highlights related to health issues. Have students regularly submit health-related articles they have found along with their sources, a three-to-five-sentence summary on the article, and a one-to-two-sentence personal reflection on why they chose the article they did. Students can share their information and hold related discussions as time permits. Although the discussion might occur as often as once a week, students may be assigned to collect and participate on a rotating basis once a month.

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Academic Standards


Grade level:6-8
Subject area:Health
Standard:
Understands essential concepts about nutrition and diet.
Benchmarks:
Understands how eating properly can help to reduce health risks in terms of such conditions as anemia, dental health, osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, and malnutrition.

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Credit


Tish Raff, elementary assistant principal, member of the associate faculty of the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, educational consultant, and freelance writer. 

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