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Pre-K through Grade 2
Grade 3 through Grade 6
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Grade Levels Grades 5 and 6
Estimated Teaching Time
- Introduction: 40 minutes
- Research and planning presentations: two 40-minute sessions
- Presentations: five minutes each
- Wrap up and assessment: 20 minutes
Interdisciplinary Connections
- Working cooperatively (Social Skills)
- Scripting and presenting information (Language Arts)
- Drawing or collage (Art)
- Reading for comprehension and synthesis of information (Language
Arts)
Objectives
Students will:
- Understand the structures and functions of their skin.
- Recognize various skin problems.
What Students Do
Students will research and study the causes, prevention and treatment
of problem skin. In groups, they will then explain the skin complaint
of their choice to the class.
Materials Required
Advanced Preparation
- Duplicate blackline master
2.1 PDF, one per student
- Collect appropriate research materials on common skin problems, such
as skin cancer, psoriasis, dermatitis/ eczema, acne and pimples.
Suggested Sequence
- Ask the class what skin does for them. List their responses.
- Now ask them to list some things that can go wrong with skin. Lead
them toward the conditions you’ve planned for activity.
- Have pairs of students decide which condition they want to study.
Guide them toward sources of additional information. Many drug stores
and dermatologists’ offices have a selection of free pamphlets
on skin conditions. The American Association of Dermatology has a web
site (www.aad.org) on the internet, as does Medicine Net (www.medicinenet.com).
- Distribute copies of cross-section illustration of skin. Students
will use this diagram as a visual aid to help explain their topic. They
can also choose to draw their own diagram. Discuss with students the
structure and function of normal skin.
- Ask one group to focus their project on how germy hands can aggravate
skin conditions. They should explore how blemishes get infected, possible
results of infection, and how clean hands and a “hands off”
policy can help keep skin problems from getting worse.
- Have students present their findings to the class, focusing on these
points:
- Symptoms of the skin condition, illustrated on their diagram
- Causes of the condition
- Prevention and ways of coping with the condition
- Effects this condition is likely to have on the sufferer and
what other people can do to make them feel better about themselves
- Give them time to rehearse and to make cue cards or overheads. Some
groups may want to assign themselves roles as part of the presentation,
such as doctor, nurse and patient. Encourage creativity and accuracy.
Check for Understanding
- Have students write about the functions of the skin, based on what
they have learned about skin diseases.
- Ask them to label the components of the skin, using the cross-section
illustration of skin worksheet and skin function call-outs from Lesson
2.4, “Skin Jigsaw Puzzle.”
Extensions
- For a more in-depth look at skin problems, you might want to ask
a local dermatologist to visit your classroom or answer students’
questions by e-mail or phone.
- Suggest to students that they write a story about a person with a
skin problem. The story should include things they learned in this lesson
and some imaginative material about the person. How is he or she affected
by the skin condition? How do other people react? How does the person
take care of it?
Words to Share
- Acne
- Dandruff
- Dermatitis
- Eczema
- Pimple
- Psoriasis
- Skin cancer
- Zit
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