Introduction
Scope and Sequence Chart
Classroom Activities
Grades 3-8
Grades K-2
Great Resources
Related Web Sites
Books
Videos
Software
Correlation to National Standards
Introduction
Wendell the Worm, host of The Yuckiest Site on
the Internet, and his cool friend Dora welcome your students to
Your Gross and Cool Body, one of the noisiest -- and most
fun -- sites your kids will ever see! Amid the burps and sneezes, vomit and boogers, there's a
serious message: It's cool to learn how your body works!
The activities in this Teacher's Guide can help you use Your Gross and Cool Body to launch a wide
ranging unit on human anatomy and behavior at any grade level, 3-8. Additional teaching suggestions
for students in grades K-2 are also included. You'll find that many of the activities presented
here are easily adaptable for both younger and older students.
So, when you're ready to start your unit on human anatomy and behavior, make sure to make Your
Gross and Cool Body your first stop. And watch out for the flying ear wax!
Classroom Activities for Grades 3-8
BIOLOGY
Animal Behavior
- Activity Diary
Ask students to keep a one-week diary of their daily activities. At the end of the week, kids
can evaluate their diaries to see if they notice any patterns. See if kids can come up with their
own categories for the types of activities they routinely do, and chart or graph the number of
hours per week spent in each category.
- Ages and Stages
Take a field trip to a local day care center where students can observe babies, toddlers and
preschoolers at play. Find out the exact ages of the various children they'll see, and have your
students observe the language, motor play, and social interaction of the children at each age. Back
at your classroom, discuss what they observed, using a Venn diagram on the chalkboard or overhead
to help kids see the overlap of behaviors in different aged children. For older students, explain
in layman's terms
Piaget's
stages of child development. Did the children they observed seem to mesh with these stages? Do
your students have anecdotes about their own development at particular stages? Your discussion
might launch a lifelong interest in human psychology!
- Negative Reinforcement...Positive Results?
We generally associate positive reinforcement with inspiring good behaviors, but some
psychologists say we can break our own habits by self-administering mild negative reinforcement.
Wear a mildly snug rubber band around the wrist, they suggest, and snap it each time the
undesirable behavior happens. Create a simple record-keeping sheet and ask students to see if the
band-snapping theory works to break nail biting, gum popping, knuckle cracking, hair twisting,
saying "like" or "you know," or other habits they have. Compare notes at the end of two weeks and
see if anyone's been successful. What do the class' results tell us about human behavior?
Human Systems
- Create a Board Game
Give students ample time to explore Your Gross and Cool
Body. After students investigate the major systems of the human body, challenge them to create
their own games, modeled after "Jeopardy" or "Wheel of Fortune," that quiz kids on facts and trivia
that would even stump Wendell. Or search on the Web for
shareware which allows you to make
customizable versions of these games for classroom use.
Digestive System
- The American Diet
One of the most popular parts of Your Gross and Cool Body are the pages dealing with the
"sights and sounds" of human digestion. It's not too soon for students to learn that the typical
American diet is blamed for a host of health problems other societies do not share -- and probably
a preponderance of Yucky stomach gurgles and gas, too. Let kids do research to find out about
common culprit foods and what the recommended dietary guidelines are. They can report their results
to the class in an oral report or a multimedia presentation on HyperStudio. As a follow-up, suggest
they keep personal food diaries and evaluate whether some changes are in order!
- A Walk Through the Gut
Launch your study of the human body with a walk on the wild side! First, click through the
gross digestive sights and sounds at Your Gross and Cool
Body. Then, see how a teacher shares her entertaining and instructive
lesson plan
for simulating what happens to food as it passes through the digestive system. Students rotate
through different stations representing various digestive organs and work cooperatively to
"digest." They could certainly simulate a few sounds, too, courtesy of Dora and Wendell!
- The Body Trap
Anorexia and bulimia are serious eating disorders. Current statistics show that both boys and
girls as young as elementary school age can begin to suffer from a distorted body image and fall
victim to these disorders. It's not too early to launch a discussion about anorexia and bulimia
with your students. There is a wealth of information on the
Web on these
disorders, and a number of books aimed at adolescents, such as Eating Disorders: When Food Turns
Against You by Ben Sonder (Franklin Watts, 1993). Try combining a student research project with
a panel discussion featuring community health care professionals who work with anorexic or bulimic
teens.
Muscular and Skeletal Systems
- A Sturdy Skeleton
When it comes to a growing child's bones, the adage "You are what you eat" couldn't be truer.
Talk about osteoporosis and ask if any students have relatives who suffer from it. Arrange a field
trip to a local grocery store and look for foods that are high in calcium. Bring some back to
school, and plan some class cooking projects that incorporate this important nutrient.
- Body Mass
It's not weight we need to worry about any more.....it's body mass! Special calipers can now
measure the percentage of body fat and muscle we carry around. Your senior high school athletic
department may have some of these on hand. Ask to borrow them so students can test themselves, or
ask a coach or P.E. teacher to do a demonstration. What's the ideal percentage of fat? Why are
there gender differences in what's ideal?
Nervous System
- Nerve Pathways and Neurons
Make available a variety of books, software or Web sites that have good quality diagrams of
the nervous system. Trace the connection between the brain and nerves. Have older students draw a
diagram of a neuron and label its major parts.
- The Big Squeeze
How long does it take to receive an impulse and react in a non-reflexive way? Here's a fun way
to find out. Have the class sit on the floor, cross-legged in a circle. Assign one person to sit
out and use a stop watch or second hand and time the activity. Each person in turn squeezes the
ankle of the person to the right. As soon as that person feels the squeeze, he or she squeezes the
next person's ankle, and so on around the circle. Stop the timer when the first person feels the
squeeze from the last person in the circle. Divide the total time it took for the squeeze to go
around the circle by the number of people in the circle to find the average time it takes for the
impulse to go from the ankle to the brain and be processed into a reaction. Students may wish to
extend the experiment with different impulses to see if the times are consistent.
- Ouch!
The only good thing about pain is getting rid of it! Have students research Western and
Eastern methods of pain prevention and management and present a multimedia report on the pros and
cons of each. Can the two schools of medicine intermingle their offerings to make pain go away?
Circulatory and Endocrine Systems
- Blood: Up Close and Personal
Obtain sets of prepared slides of human blood.
(CAUTION: As a health precaution, do not make fresh slides of human
blood.)
After examining the slides under a microscope, have students draw exactly what they see and write a
description in their science journals. Discuss the functions of red and white blood cells in
keeping the body healthy. Is blood yucky?
- Hormone Homework
Hormones regulate our growth and many essential body functions. Some hormones really begin to
surge in middle schoolers, making this a perfect time to investigate hormone names, associated
glands, and functions. The articles at this
Web
site created by Penn State students provide a good source of information for teachers. Send
students home with a list of terms and challenge them to create a tricky word find or crossword
puzzle. They can exchange these with classmates the following day for a second assignment. At least
if they start experiencing hormonal highs and lows, they'll know why it's happening!
Reproductive System
- From Conception to Birth
Divide students into nine groups and ask each to create a poster depicting the sequence of
development of a baby during its nine-month prenatal period. This is a good opportunity to involve
your school's health care professional to ensure that students use the correct names for anatomical
parts. If any students have an infant sibling, invite mother and baby to class to so they can
observe the baby's behavior after birth.
- Birds, Bees and People
Pair off students to research the reproductive behavior of an animal of their choice,
including courting and mating behavior, how the animal bears its young and the number of offspring
typically produced. Compare with human reproductive behavior and processes. Results can be shared
in a written or oral report or in a computer generated slide show or HyperStudio presentation. Some
students might take a fictionalized approach, pretending to be the creature researched and talking
from its own point of view. The comparisons should spark some lively discussions about the nature
of each species!
Respiratory System
- Breathe Easy
As a class activity, make a "KWL" chart about substances that are known to cause lung disease.
("KWL" stands for What I Know, What I Want to Know; What I Learned.) Most will
know that cigarette smoke and air pollution cause lung disease and cancer, but they may not be
familiar with other substances such as radon or asbestos. Assign research as necessary or have
volunteers from your local Lung Association visit the class so students can talk with them and
complete the chart. As a follow-up activity, have students use word processing software to create
an informational public service brochure or newsletter for your community. If you have access to
audio or video recording equipment, try making a radio or videotape public service announcement.
- A "Model" Breather
Kids are terrific at devising intricate and proportionate models using the most unlikely
materials. See what they come up with when you ask them to construct working models of the lungs
and respiratory system using household objects such as boxes, jars, balloons, tubes, etc. Assign
some students to build healthy lungs and others to replicate the insides of a heavy smoker with
emphysema or lung cancer. The message -- to strive for healthy lungs -- will come through loud and
clear.
Skin
- Skin Deep
For a mini-unit on human skin, assign several students to research and draw posters of
sections of healthy skin, clearly showing all layers. Ask others to look at medical brochures,
textbooks, or Web sites that show pictures of various types of skins lesions and cancers. Scan the
pictures and have students integrate the unhealthy skin pictures into a second set of posters.
Students can informally share what they've learned as they familiarize themselves with the ABC's of
skin cancer.
- Zits are the Pits!
Just about everyone gets pimples at some time or another, but that's small consolation to a
kid on the adolescent rollercoaster of life who gets a zit smack in the middle of his or her face.
Contemporary thinking on what causes adolescent acne flare-ups has changed in the last generation
or so. Invite a dermatologist to visit the class to find out the latest trends in treatment. In
preparation for the visit, ask students to generate a list of their toughest questions about where
pimples come from, why they affect some kids more than others, what can be done to minimize and
treat outbreaks, and which over-the-counter preparations really do work better than plain old soap
and water.
Life Cycles
- How Old Is Old?
Using an almanac, students can research changes in human male and female life expectancy over
the last 100 years. How has life expectancy changed? Have gender differences remained constant? Ask
students to hypothesize why these changes have occurred over time. For an extra challenge, ask them
to find out whether other mammals have experienced similar changes in the same time period. Older
students can add a fascinating dimension to this activity by debating the pros and cons of a
lengthier life expectancy and interviewing senior citizens to get their take on the subject.
EVOLUTION AND NATURAL HISTORY
SCIENCE CAREERS
- Interview a Professional
Use the Internet and your community contacts to line up medical professionals who'd be willing
to let students conduct short interviews with them. Seek out doctors and nurses, of course, but
don't forget about psychologists, dentists and hygienists, pathologists, microbiologists, emergency
medical technicians, dietitians and nutritionists, rheumatologists, physical
therapists...brainstorm with your students to expand the list. Work with your class to create a
universal five-question interview sheet so you can role play in class to rehearse phone and
Internet etiquette and interview techniques. Then, after the interviews have been conducted,
compare and contrast the information gathered. Or, for a different slant, see if your school or
community center can arrange mentorships for students to work with health practitioners in the field.
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
- Human Cloning: Fact and Fantasy
Few scientific developments have captured our collective imagination they way the advent of
cloning has. Students this age just need to know the basic facts, which they can find at NOVA's
site, The Mammal Copiers:
Advances in Cloning. Then let their imaginations run loose with a creative writing assignment.
Short stories, poetry, skits, even songs and chants could be creative vehicles forstudents to
wrestle with the pragmatics and the ethics of permitting cloning technology to develop.
- Ethics of Medical Technology
Should machines keep the terminally ill alive if they are suffering? Should human females
literally be "stretched to the limit" with multiple births resulting from fertility drugs? Will we
live to regret it if we allow scientists to clone human body parts and even whole babies? Most
technology is developed with humanitarian motives, but the outcomes aren't always what we expect.
Invite several local research scientists and medical professionals to visit your class to share
their views. Have students photograph the discussion and write an article or opinion piece for the
school newspaper.
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Classroom Activities for Grades K-2
BIOLOGY
Animal Behavior
- Feelings and Emotions
Read Feelings, by Aliki, and other books which deal with the range of human emotions.
Cut out life-size face shapes from skin-tone construction paper in various shades -- black, brown,
tan, pink, yellow, etc. and let students make a series of "feelings faces" using crayons, buttons,
fabric scraps and glue. Display in the classroom.
Human Systems
- Explore Your Gross & Cool Body
Kids exploring Your Gross and Cool Body will love being
grossed out by the cool approach our host Wendell and his friend Dora take towards body functions
from A to Z...ankle sprains to zits, that is! Introduce the home page on an overhead projection
screen or in small groups at a desktop computer, with plenty of time to find all the cool and yucky
sights and sounds.
- Life-Size Body Drawings
After kids have rolled the mouse over Dora's
body and discovered all her secret body words, let them cut up with this classic activity that
never goes out of style. Student pairs take turns laying on the floor and tracing each other's
bodies on butcher paper. Then they cut out their bodies and use crayon or marker to draw in as many
internal organs as they can. Opens up a lot of dialog about just where your heart and liver are!
The bodies make a nice wall display, too. As they do additional human body activities and learn
more, they can add to these pictures or do another more detailed self-portrait at the end of the unit.
- The Cross-Curricular Body
Primary students need to absorb new information through many modalities. One way is by
clicking on the computer screen, as Dora explores gross body sounds, yucky body details, along with
all the cool science that makes humans tick. Here's a terrific
lesson
plan to reinforce what kids will pick-up at Yucky about the skin, bones, skeleton, joints,
muscles, heart, blood, oxygen, stomach and teeth, integrating activities from every corner of the curriculum!
Digestive System
- Digestive Tract Flips Out!
Review the phrases large intestine, mouth, small intestine, esophagus and stomach and discuss
the sequence in which food passes through these organs. On the chalkboard or overhead projector,
show students how to draw a very simplified picture of the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. Give
each student a strip of white drawing paper about 2 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches long, divided into
five equal panels. Ask students to draw the digestive tract, following your model, in each panel.
Then, they'll draw a piece of "food" and show its progression through the digestive system in each
panel. Finally, they'll cut to separate the panels, stack them in order, and staple the ends to
make a digestion flip book! Just thumb the edge of the book to see the action.
Muscular and Skeletal Systems
- Beginning Research Project
As students explore Your Gross and Cool Body, they'll find out a lot about muscles and the
skeletal system. As a follow-up, have students use library resources to find out what kinds of
foods promote the growth of healthy bones and teeth. Then ask them to find pictures in discarded
magazines of as many of these foods as possible and use them to make a chart called "You Are What
You Eat."
- Build Strong Muscles...Right in the Classroom!
For each group working on this activity, you'll need two rulers, one oblong balloon, masking
tape and some string to create a working muscle model. Students use the masking tape to securely
hinge the rulers at the short ends. They then blow into the balloon just a little bit and tie it
shut. Next, they use string to tie one end of the balloon to one ruler and the other end to the
other ruler. Have students open and close the rulers to simulate the way muscles contract and
relax. In which position does the model simulate your biceps, long and lean when your arm is
stretched out to your side? In which position does the model simulate your biceps, rounder and
fuller, like when you strike a muscle pose? Discuss the fact that this depicts just one muscle in
isolation, but that in the body, muscles cooperate in a group effort.
Nervous System
- Come to Your Senses!
The senses of sight and hearing get quite a workout with Dora and Wendell. Take time to
discuss all of the five senses. Ask students to improvise short skits depicting situations in which
one sense is extremely important. This can be a springboard to a deeper discussion about which
sense - if any -- is the most important one of all. Kids can have fun drawing pictures or cartoons
on this subject, too.
Circulatory and Endocrine Systems
- Walk for Health!
Kids want to be healthy, even if they like Yucky stuff! More and more schools across the
country are organizing walking programs to give students a push onto the road to cardiovascular
fitness. Ask for student volunteers to work with you on organizing a schoolwide effort. There's
lots to do to make it successful. Some student jobs include researching and writing a
school-to-home newsletter, designing and printing posters and personal record cards, and asking
local merchants to donate incentive prizes. Pick a faraway "destination" (Timbuktu? Mt.
Kilimanjaro?) and see how long it takes you, as a school, to cumulatively walk that many miles.
Remind the kids that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!
Respiratory System
- Breathe In, Breathe Out
Create a simple record keeping chart so students can work in pairs with a measuring tape to
measure each other's rib cages when they inhale and exhale. Graph your findings as a class and
interpret what the results mean.
As a follow-up activity, students may wish to add a 3-D respiratory system to their
Life-Size Body Drawings. By connecting two drinking straws
together, then cutting the end of one straw into a "V" shape, they'll have a "windpipe" that can be
connected to two "lungs." After taping the windpipe in place on the body drawing, the lungs can be
constructed from two plastic sandwich bags filled with cotton balls to resemble the spongy tissue
of real lungs. Tie the bags at top, and attach each one to one end of the windpipe.
Life Cycles
- Growth Chart and Time Line
Make different kinds of charts to show the rapid growth and physical change your students are
experiencing. Measure height, make a pictograph of baby teeth lost each month; keep a birthday
chart in full view. For a fun reflective activity, ask students to make a personal time line by
bringing in an item from home that reflects each of the periods they've experienced so far: infant,
toddler, preschooler, school-age child.
SCIENCE CAREERS
- Meet Your Health Professional!
Invite your school nurse or health aide to visit your classroom for an informal question and
answer session about the ins and outs of the job. Students can ask about their health concerns,
too. Or, they might want to gross her out by showing off Your Gross and Cool Body! It's a good
opportunity to build a foundation of trust and familiarity with this important member of the school community.
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