An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; person, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.

Central Idea: Survival relies on interconnected systems

Lines of Inquiry:

• The workings of systems
• The consequences of interrupting a system
• The interconnected and interdependent nature of systems

Learner Profile:

• Balanced
• Caring
• Inquirers

Concepts:

• Function
• Causation
• Connection

Provocation:

To begin this unit, students watched a Ted Talk about mindfulness before reflecting on what it means to be healthy. It raised several issues about the mind and how it is a powerful organ in the body that controls how we feel. The students collaborated together to respond to the talk and reflected on this with a tool called Answergarden.

Survival Relies on Interconnected Systems:

In class groups, we explored the central idea “survival relies on interconnected systems”. Students completed a Word Inquiry on each of the words which included finding the meaning of each word and looking at the word origin. 

Expert Groups:

The students worked through Expert Groups where they participated in a lesson with a different 3/4 teacher for each topic. In these expert groups students explored the topics of Mental Health, Spiritual Health, Physical Health and Nutrition. They reflected on these topics before learning further about how they can maintain their health in each of these areas. 

Physical Health: 

Students worked with Mr Davis to explore Physical Health. During the Physical Health session students initially participated in some intense physical exercise to raise their heart rates. Heart rates were compared when sedentary vs when physically active. Students then discussed why their heart rate increases substantially during exercise. This then led to students uncovering the role of our Cardiovascular System in order to understand the role of the heart, veins and arteries during physical exercise. Students left feeling encouraged to increase their physical output and strengthen their heart- in order to be their best ‘physical self’.

Nutrition:

Students worked with Mrs Lee and Miss Caputo to explore Nutrition. They considered the impact of different foods on our body systems, such as the importance of fibre for our digestive health, protein for muscular health and calcium for our skeletal system. The students considered their lunchboxes and looked at the nutritional value of the foods included. They used nutrition labels (where present) and researched the nutritional content for various whole foods. We learned that often a tube yoghurt and a muesli bar can contain all the sugar children should eat in one day! We also explored how marketing can be confusing when considering healthy options for our lunch boxes. 

Mental Health:

Students worked with Mrs BW and Mr Pye to explore Mental Health. The Expert Group session started with what the students knew about Mental Health (what it looks like, sounds like, feels like). We then brainstormed as a class what is good mental health. We also discussed what we are like when we have bad mental health. We talked about the brain and the nervous system and keeping our brain healthy by caring for our mental health. This included mindfulness activities like blowing a feather, the breath ball and taking deep breaths. Our emotions and resilience was also discussed.

Spiritual Health:

Students worked with Miss Meany to explore Spiritual Health. Students began the session by participating in a Christian Mediation. Students identified how they felt in their body and their mind immediately following the meditation, and how this could positively impact their health. We then brainstormed ways we can connect with God in our faith, for example, through reading the Bible, mediating, contemplative prayer, compassion, action, and known prayers. Students also began a reflection on the gifts in their own lives, in the form of an artwork of a secret garden. Every one’s garden is unique, filled with their own gifts such as family, friends, pets, teachers, school and hobbies. 

Following on from participating in these expert groups, students made connections between each of the areas of health and the body systems. Students discovered the interconnected and interdependent nature of each of the areas of health, and each of the body systems. 

I Wonder Questions:

How much sugar does an apple have? Maddie

I wonder if your brain functions if you are stressed? Amelia B

How fast does your nervous system tell your brain something? Aminda

Can you get back into shape after being obese? Mary

I wonder what happens when your heart pumps 2x faster? Aimee

How does your brain remember all the things we learn? Carrie

I wonder where your blood is made in your body? Georgia

Literacy:

The students explored their body systems, and the way these systems interact with the domains of health investigated during their expert groups. They found ways to maintain the health of their body systems (such as through healthy nutrition or not sitting for too long!) and discussed how these systems are interconnected and interrelated, such as the link between the muscular system and the skeletal system. The students created Picture Information Books with a ‘Year 1’ audience in mind to explore 2 body systems and discuss what happens if they are not working effectively.

Visual Arts:

Students explored the proportions of the body through a ‘sausage and egg’ task. This task involved students creating a person using shapes. The length of arms, legs and torso were discussed.

Daily Health Rubric:

At the beginning of our unit, students were presented with a daily/weekly self-assessment rubric. This rubric was broken into four sections:

1. Exercise
2. Mental Health
3. Spiritual Health
4. Diet

Each day, students participated in exercise, Christian meditation and a range of gratitude questions. Each week, students reflected on their week, filled in their rubric and watched their progress grow in these four areas over the course of a five week period.

Science and Incursion:

Science was an important part of this unit and students took part in a human body incursion led by Fizzics. Through this workshop students learnt to appreciate the complexities of the human body. They looked at major body systems and how the five senses worked. They discussed where heat was conserved in the body, how lungs worked and what happens to food when they swallow. They learnt how their actions can affect their body.

In the classroom, students took part in experiments that linked up with the functions of the body such as the taste buds. 3/4Blue enjoyed exploring how the taste buds worked by predicting and then testing their results.

Homework:

Linking in with our Daily rubric and Expert Groups - students had to create a nutritious meal at home, provide photo evidence with recipes and analyse the food groups involved. These were then shared on Seesaw.