Curriculum Connections

10th grade
Indiana Academic Standard Health 10.3.5 – Demonstrate the ability to evaluate a personal health assessment to determine strategies for health enhancement and risk reduction.

AASL Information Literacy Standard 1 – The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.

-As a class, discuss what people do to stay (or become) healthy. Have students brainstorm different diets and workout routines to determine if they are myths or if they might really be beneficial to one’s health. For example, students could research the Atkin’s diet, Pilates, the South Beach Diet, diet pills, organic food, etc.
-Have students pair up and formulate questions about one of these topics.
-Allow students to use library resources and Internet resources to gather information about their topics.
-Students must then create a PowerPoint presentation using the information they have found.
-Students give presentations and learn whether or not the various health strategies are actually healthy.


7th grade
Indiana Academic Standards
Science 7.4.10 Describe how technologies having to do with food production, sanitation, and disease prevention have dramatically changed how people live and work and have resulted in changes in factors that affect the growth of human population.
Science 7.4.14 Explain that the environment may contain dangerous levels of substances that are harmful to human beings. Understand, therefore, that the good health of individuals requires monitoring the soil, air, and water as well as taking steps to keep them safe.
English/L.A. 7.4.5 Identify topics; ask and evaluate questions; and develop ideas leading to inquiry, investigation, and research.

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=804

I found a lesson called “Let It Grow: An Inquiry-based Organic Gardening Research Project.” How perfect! It focuses on combining hands-on activities with research for low level readers. “This project motivates students to learn about organic gardening by developing their own research questions, conducting research, and gardening at their school. They then create signs about their plants and present their research to the class so that other students can learn about each plant.”