When teaching about environmental birth defects, I like to address a 100% preventable, but 100% irreversible birth defect known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Students learn about FASD by participating in a variety of interactive activities.
Ever notice how many different types of peppers are available in the grocery store? Not only are they vibrant to look at but they also contain different levels of spiciness or pungency depending on the variety. I wanted to expose my students to the characteristics of these unique vegetables giving them an opportunity to learn more about the various species of peppers or chiles, ways to cook with them and challenge themselves to see how the heat level changed the taste of a product as well as how much heat they could take.
Sometimes a teacher needs a variety of lessons and activities to choose from relating to the topics taught in the curriculum for different reasons. Sometimes, it’s because you just want to freshen up your plans or because the amount of time you have to teach something changes. Sometimes, it’s because new resources become available that you “just have to implement”. Sometimes, it’s because you need variety due to the personalities and dynamics of a class. Regardless of the reason, I thought I would share a new little project that I created and did with my Child Development students based on the child abuse topic: shaken baby syndrome.
Whenever I have my students learn about birth defects, I always think that there ought to be a way to actually work with and apply this information in a way other than a test. So, imagine my excitement when Linsey Haywood of Snohomish High School, Washington shared the below Birth Defect Scenarios that she created for her child development class and graciously gave me permission to share them with you to use with your students when teaching about birth defects. What creative ways do you use to teach or reinforce birth defects? Share in the comment section below.
I’ve always viewed sodium as a “Catch 22” flavoring agent! It’s one of those minerals your body needs to function correctly, but if under or over consumed, serious health issues can result. So, when I teach this information to my students I try to get them to understand why it’s good, why it’s bad, where we find it and how to reduce it. Of course it’s always fun to follow it up with a low sodium lab and/or a unit on herbs and spices, teaching them how to prepare foods that taste good, with or without the “Catch 22” flavoring agent. So, encourage your students to put on their detective cap and investigate the amount of sodium in the foods they are consuming!
It was the end of the school year and I had just finished a decorating unit where students had to create a shoe box room applying the elements of design. The art teacher had just finished a Zentangle project with her students. So, we had this idea to use the last couple of school days to merge our classes together to create Zentangle cookies using edible markers. This idea was based on a Michael’s project, but adapted to fit our needs. This was a fun, easy project that students had a good time designing and eating and one I would definitely do again!
