Sunday, March 2, 2008

Human Body Lesson Plan

Goals – This class will introduce the kids to the following body systems: skeletal, muscular, digestive, circulatory and nervous. We will over the weeks build and label a kid-sized paper body for each child. We will also perform many activities that will demonstrate the function of each body system. We’ll watch the Magic School Bus video “Inside Raphie” to discuss the immune system. We’ll Play the Some Body game before and after class and when the kids need more to do.

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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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


  3. 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.)

    • 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

  4. 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)


  5. 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?

  6. 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


  7. 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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.

  12. 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.







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