Nemours KidsHealth
Food Allergies: Grades 9-12
Imagine life without PB&J's! For some, it isn't a question of want but a question of life and death. High schoolers investigate food allergies and develop presentations that inform others about symptoms of allergic reactions...
Nemours KidsHealth
Eating Disorders: Grades 9-12
After gathering information about various eating disorders, high schoolers create a poster or infographic that presents both unhealthy and healthy appearances and eating habits. A second activity asks pupils to craft letters of advice to...
Nemours KidsHealth
HIV and AIDS: Grades 9-12
Two activities help high schoolers learn about HIV and AIDS. First, groups read and discuss articles that provide information about sexually transmitted diseases and conduct further research to gather current information. They then...
Nemours KidsHealth
Obesity: Grades 9-12
High schoolers take on the role of the nation's first Teen Nutrition and Fitness Czars and create tips that can be texted to other teens to remind them about healthy eating and exercising. Groups read articles to gather background...
Health Smart Virginia
Surviving High School Awareness Campaign
To demonstrate what they have learned in the Health Smart unit, sophomores design a resource for incoming ninth-graders that includes what they consider the most important information they gleaned from one of the eight topics studied.
Health Smart Virginia
Shark Tank - Mental Illnesses
Young entrepreneurs research and develop a Shark Tank-style pitch for a solution to help people who have a mental illness. After the presentations, research groups complete a rubric for each product and vote for the one product they feel...
Health Smart Virginia
Mental Health Journals
Eight prompts, designed to accompany the Health Smart series of lessons, provide high schoolers an opportunity to reflect on and learn from the issues raised by the various activities.
Health Smart Virginia
Building Self-Esteem and Self-Image
The ninth lesson in the Health Smart series is designed to get high schoolers to understand the factors that make them feel the way they do about themselves, their bodies, and their self-worth. Pupils watch a video about teens and body...
Health Smart Virginia
Suicide Prevention: Finding the Words
Provide young people with the information they need to identify the warning signs for depression and the risk factors for suicide. The lesson helps high schoolers learn positive coping skills, role-play how to support friends who may be...
Health Smart Virginia
Be Smart with Smartphones (and Screens)
Would you rather have a broken phone or a broken bone? This very engaging question launches a discussion about the smart use of smartphones and screens. Young scholars watch a series of videos, complete worksheets, and engage in...
Nemours KidsHealth
Stress: Grades 3-5
Two activities focus on stress—common stressors and coping strategies. In the first activity, scholars identify stressors and explore ways to keep stress away. To aid the process, learners create a poster and complete a handout...
Department of Education (Ireland)
Assertive Communication
Assertive communication is an acquired skill. Teaching young people to ask for what they need and to believe that they have a right to ask is at the core of a unit on assertive communication. Over the course of the unit, middle and high...
Department of Education (Ireland)
Decision Making
Think it through! That's the big takeaway from a series of lessons about decision-making. Young scholars engage in a series of exercises and activities designed to urge them to look at options, the pros, and cons of a course of action,...
Nemours KidsHealth
Feeling Sad: Grades 3-5
Everyone feels sad sometimes—aide in the coping process with two activities. In the first activity, scholars discuss sadness then complete a worksheet detailing ways four peers can identify their feelings and ways to feel better. The...
Department of Education (Ireland)
Consequences
11 lessons, designed to be used in consecutive order, ask middle and high school scholars to consider the effects of various drugs and the consequences of taking them for themselves and their families. They also develop the communication...
Department of Education (Ireland)
Understanding Influences
"Understanding Influences," a richly detailed, carefully scaffolded unit, asks middle and high school scholars to examine how internal and external factors like friends, media, and society influence their attitudes and behaviors.
Nemours KidsHealth
Bullying: Grades 3-5
Two activities spotlight the concept of bullying. The first activity begins with defining and identifying characteristics of bullying. Small groups then role-play scenarios in which they practice techniques to handle a bully. The second...
Nemours KidsHealth
Stress: Grades K-2
Two activities focus on stress—its triggers and tools to manage it. The first activity asks pupils to identify personal stress triggers then practice stress management techniques. The second activity gets scholars up and moving with yoga...
Health Smart Virginia
Face of Mental Illness
There are a lot of myths and misinformation out there about mental illness. Help set the record straight with a resource that debunks the falsehoods and provides high schoolers with accurate and important information about the various...
Nemours KidsHealth
Bullying: Grades K-2
Two activities for young scholars explore the concept of bullying. The first activity examines scenarios to point out bullying behavior. The second activity encourages positive peer relationships by identifying kind and respectful...
Health Smart Virginia
Mental Health/Social Emotional Skills
Looking for social-emotional resources? Check out this seven-page packet that includes activity and lesson ideas, as well as links to information resources that support the social and emotional development of tenth graders.
Exploratorium
Skin Shield - Explore the Body’s First Line of Defense Against Pathogens
Make pathogens and the body's defense systems come alive for young biologists in a hands-on activity. Investigators model the skin's protection against infection by observing and comparing changes in a punctured tomato and an intact...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "My Skeleton" by Jane Hirshfield
Jane Hirshfield's poem "My Skeleton" asks readers to pause and think about the amazing, often taken-for-granted structure that protects and gives form to human bodies. After observing the human skeleton's image, class members read the...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Heart to Heart" by Rita Dove
Take heart! Here's a lesson plan that will encourage learners to notice details. After listening to Sarah Vaughan singing "My Funny Valentine" and noting how the word heart relates to Valentine's Day, scholars observe a human heart...