Special materials: We will be using a EyeClops (microscope that connects to a tv or computer to look closely at many things), but a microscope will work just as well. We’ll also use the laminated human body parts and felt body that I have somewhere in the garage.
Books: Head to Toe Science by Jim Wiese (HTS) , The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia (KHE), My Body from Teacher Created Resources
Special Considerations – this is designed for a very active group of 5-10 year old co-op kids. They love activities and experiments. They are not very fond of paperwork or paper crafts. The classes are an hour long once a week. The session is fourteen weeks long. I plan for the skeletal and circulatory systems to take two weeks. I may not be able to complete all of the activities for a given week, and sometimes I will probably run out of activities, but that is all okay. The kids will learn a lot and have fun doing it.
- My body
- Our bodies (10-13 KHE)
- Draw outline of body on butcher paper
- Maybe play the SomeBody game to see how well the kids do
- Do the "That's Me" (98 HTS) worksheet and collate data in class. Show how to make and read a bar graph. Hand out copies of the homework worksheet.
- Our bodies (10-13 KHE)
- Skin and Hair –
- Discuss skin (14-17 KHE)
- Do fake blister experiment (103 HTS)
- Look at skin under magicscope
- Put finger prints on body
- Discuss Hair (18-19 KHE)
- Take hair samples and look at under eyeclops and do Hair Ball experiment (104 HTS)
- Put hair on body
- Discuss skin as first layer of immune protection. Hand washing. Use lotion and glitter to demonstrate germ spreading. Then discuss hand washing – when, warm water, soap, at least 30 seconds.
- Key Terms – Epidermis and Dermis
- Bones – two weeks
- Discuss Bones (20-23 KHE)
- 206 bones in body
- Bones are alive
- two main purposes for having a skeleton? (to give you shape and help you move)
- Your ears and nose have a substance inside them that also gives them shape, but it is softer than bone. What is it? (cartilage)
- Your bones need calcium. What are some foods that have calcium in them? (green & leafy vegetables, milk, and cheese)
- What bones protect your heart and lungs? (the ribs)
- What part of your skeleton protects your brain? (skull)
- What is the place where two bones fit together? (joint)
- What holds the bones together at the joints? (ligaments)
- What is made up of 34 bones and allows you to twist and turn? (backbone; Point out that in the song it is called the spine.)
- 206 bones in body
- Make Skeleton Man (82 HTS)
- Do the Bendable Bones (80 HTS) to show bones are porous – this will take a week so we will start one week then examine the results the next week
- Listen to song Dry Bones (on the Wheels on the Bus Scholastic dvd) and Dry Bones book by Bob Barner
- Bones and Joints (24-25 KHE)
- Label 15 Bones on body drawing skull (cranium), spine (backbone), ribs, scapula (shoulder blade), humerus, radius, ulna, phalanges (finger bones), femur, tibia, fibula, patela, phalanges (toe bones), pelvis, and collarbone
- Label bones with markers on the kids (swimsuits) - maybe
- Discuss Bones (20-23 KHE)
- Circulatory System
- Learn about 4 chambers of Heart (56 KHE)
- Measure Pulse
- Use stethescope to listen to heart
- Demonstrate with a meat baster how a heart pumps blood
- Learn about Blood vessels (58 KHE)
- Did you know - Blood vessels in body would stretch over 100,000 miles
- Make sure the kids know the four basic parts of blood and their functions – red blood cells (carry oxygen), white blood cells (fight germs), plasma (the fluid), and platelets (helps blood clot)
- Fake Blood (63 HTS)
- Piping the Blood (66 HTS)
- Draw heart and Arteries and Veins on body (Blue and Red markers) include aorta, vena cava, lungs and heart.
- Things to Know
- How big is your heart? (about the size of your fist)
- Your heart is actually a big muscle Emphasize that the heart is an involuntary muscles because we have no control over it.)
- What is happening when the heart contracts? (It squeezes itself together and blood is pumped out of the heart.)
- What are the blood vessels called that carry blood away from the heart? (arteries)
- When the heart expands, blood is able to flow into the heart. What blood vessels carry blood to the heart? (veins)
- Where are the arteries and veins in your body? (They travel throughout the entire body.)
- Who has a faster heartbeat, a grown man or a baby? (a baby)
- Does your heart ever stop pumping blood? (no)
- How big is your heart? (about the size of your fist)
- Learn about 4 chambers of Heart (56 KHE)
- Immune System
- Infection (62-63 KHE)
- Learn about White blood cells
- Remind kids of hand washing
- Magic School Bus video
- Maybe take temperature with those disposable temperature strips
- Discuss Lymph glands?
- Infection (62-63 KHE)
- Respiratory System
- Breathing (64-67 KHE)
- Huff and Puff (48 HTS)
- Air Chamber (52 HTS)
- Can’t Keep it in (53 HTS)
- Key Terms – Trachea, bronchial tubes, alveoli, diaphragm
- Breathing (64-67 KHE)
- Muscles
- Muscle Power (26-29 KHE)
- Try to locate pairs of muscles that do each task – ie. bend and straigten arms
- Make sure kids know – difference between voluntary and involuntary muscles.
- Bet You Can’t (72 HTS)
- Stretch it out (75 HTS)
- Muscle Fatigue (76 HTS)
- Add a few muscles to body – bicep, tricep, Achilles tendon, choose some more but we won’t have much time for this
- Digestive System
- All About Teeth (72-72 KHE)
- Tooth Detective (38 HTS)
- Need Styrofoam plates and scissors
- Enchanted Learning has some great printouts and activities for teeth
- Add teeth to body
- Digestion (74-76 KHE)
- Spit (40 HTS)
- timer
- crackers (4 per child)
- a paper plate (1 per child)
- eye dropper
- iodine - CAUTION keep away from KIDS ( reacts with starch in cracker)
- timer
- Moving On (44 HTS)
- scissors
- long thin balloon (1 per child)
- cooking oil
- slice of bread
- Make Whoopie whistle (45 HTS)
- straw
- balloon
- tape
- scissors
- Label digestive system on body
- All About Teeth (72-72 KHE)
- Nutrition and fitness
- Staying Fit (90-91 KHE)
- Healthy Food (92-93 KHE)
- Balancing Apples and Oranges (42 HTS) Assign kids to record what they ate during the week (give as handout the week before) so that we can discuss in class
- Do the Yoga Kids video or other exercise activity
- Staying Fit (90-91 KHE)
- Brain and Learning
- Control Center (32-35 KHE)
- Label parts of the brain and its functions
- Relfexes, Learning and Sleep (36-40 KHE)
- Do reaction time activity (32 KHE)
- Reflex activity (36 KHE)
- Balance Activity (18 HTS)
- Homework – dream diary
- Control Center (32-35 KHE)
- Senses
- Have stations for the activities and information cards at each station.
Sensory Stations
* Hearing: bells, drums, whistles, rice-filled containers, spoons to tap.
* Touch: sandpaper, playdough, clay, ice, finger paint
* Vision: microscope, magnifying glass, colored water, prism
* Olfaction: vanilla, perfume, chocolate, spices
* Taste: jellybeans, cookies, crackers, fruit slices, salty chips, dill pickles - Sight (42-45 KHE)
- Blind spot activity (42 KHE)
- Balance activity (46 KHE)
- Add Eyes and ears to outline
- Taste and Smell (48 KHE)
- Touch (50 KHE)
- Touch activity (50 KHE)
- Touch Activity (34 HTS)
- Add mouth and nose to outline
- Great site for Preschool Activities for the senses.
- Enchanted Learning Five Senses page
- A free printable book on the five senses with some good activities.
- Have stations for the activities and information cards at each station.
- Conclusion
- Review Dem Bones to perform for parents
- Make sure everyone has their body labled to hang at expo and then take home
- Play Some Body
- We also dissected sheep's brain, heart, eye, and kidney.
- Review Dem Bones to perform for parents
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