Our students are fortunate that New Haven Public Schools had mandated recess in our district. Each school day students from pre-school through eighth grade must have 20 minutes of physical activity in addition to Physical Education class. This additional time for focus on health and exercise will allow me to incorporate my curriculum unit seamlessly into our day. Many school days have inclement weather but students still need opportunities to be active during the day. This unit will help offer variety and fun as students learn physics and engineering through their own actions.
This curriculum unit integrates science and physical activity and blends with a current district requirement for second grade –
The Michigan Model for Health
. I intend to use my curriculum unit to introduce students to the basic structures and functions of the human body and how they relate to personal health. The instructional objectives are: students will learn the major organs in the body and their function; students will learn the major systems of the body; students will learn behaviors that will help protect the body structure. Students will learn that these systems work as a team to support each other to keep our bodies healthy and strong. Specifically, this unit will touch on the circulatory, digestive, immune and musculoskeletal systems to provide a framework for understanding that what we do with our body matters. The culmination of the unit includes projects on our human biology as well as a focus on specific physical activity to take place throughout the school year, using yoga, calisthenics, and aerobics to demonstrate some of the physics of the human body.
