How does your class view themselves? High schoolers explore body image through a series of four activities. Groups collaborate to examine the changes we experience as a part of growing up, how the media influences body image, and healthy...

When choosing what foods to eat, there are a lot of factors to consider. To help make the decision a little easier, young learners work in small groups developing short plays, stories, or advertisements that address the different issues...

What constitutes a healthy diet? In what way is a healthy diet defined and influenced by culture? Groups investigate the community and national resources available in a country, and then design a healthy diet for its citizens.

Collaborative activities teach adolescents to talk comfortably about teen issues. Class members identify eight factors of healthy relationships among friends, family, and boyfriends/girlfriends. These factors are then used to help...

Whether your class members want to learn how to make better sack lunches, gourmet Italian dinners, or regional specials, a set of cooking lesson plans is sure to serve up their interests. As cooks work through the series...

Do you know how much water you have had in the last 24 hours? Do you know how much your body needs? In this hands-on activity, your class members will estimate how much water our bodies lose each day by filling and emptying one-liter...

As part of a unit, this lesson familiarizes youngsters with components of a rain garden. They speculate about the role of an assigned component in contributing to a rain garden, and ultimately, in the health of the local watershed. Each...

Which is worse — drought or flooding? Neither is helpful to the environment, and both are increasing due to climate change. The 16th lesson in a series of 21 covers the average precipitation trends for two different climates within the...

The activities and discussions in this—the ninth in a series of 10 resources on Social, Physical, Emotional, Cognitive and Spiritual (SPECS) health—focuses on helping class members develop appropriate and healthy relationships....

Scholars take part in a grand conversation about the basic needs of living things. Working collaboratively, pupils brainstorm and identify similarities to come to the conclusion that the environment meets the needs of all living...

Learn about defensible space and renewable resources with a lesson plan about forest fires. After exploring the ways that humans have impacted the environment, kids conduct mock interviews about differing points of view in the...

Teach middle schoolers how to develop healthy relationships with activities and lessons designed to create a kind and inclusive classroom. Pupils create guidelines to develop a safe and civil learning environment. They learn how to...

Health is more than measuring your blood pressure and eating nutritious foods. Eighth graders discuss the factors that play into an individual's health, including spirituality, social life and friendships, emotional stability, cognitive...

The first lesson of the unit introduces class members to the social, physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual constituent elements of health and the need for balance among these elements. Class members used the provided assessment...

Two teams—the environmentalists and herons—play four rounds of the game, Oh Heron. Using hand symbols to represent food, shelter, and water, players locate their match to produce more herons while those unmatched decompose. 

Three lessons delve deep into the topic of feelings and the importance of expressing one's emotions. Through grand conversation, hands-on learning experiences, and reflective writing, scholars interpret the ups and downs of everyday...

The focus of the second session in this SPECS unit is on learning how to identify, and then appropriately express and manage feelings.

It may not be possible to have control over all aspects of life, but through the activities and discussions in this lesson class members learn different ways to cope with those areas over which they have little or no control.

The focus of the second in a 10-session course on Social, Physical, Emotional, Cognitive and Spiritual (SPECS) health is on learning to express and manage feelings appropriately. Class members learn different ways of...

Scholars become STAR deputies in a instructional activity that encourages them to be problem-solvers. Small groups gather to complete a worksheet by answering questions. A discussion presents a scenario in which a problem occurs on the...

Have new or soon-to-be voters examine different political parties and their platforms as they figure out which one aligns most with their beliefs. After taking a few online quizzes, students split into pairs to discuss and then...

Off the coast of California lives a wild animal called the Island Fox. Experts discuss the importance of the Island Fox to the Channel Islands and the balance the fox creates within its ecosystem. The lesson concludes with a reading of...

School lunches are the focus of two learning activities. Activity one challenges small groups to create a lunch menu for an imaginary cafe. Activity two sheds light on one's afternoon eating habits. Asking scholars to record what they...

Teenagers could use a little help with their decision-making process. Guide them through the steps of mature choices, outside influences, and expected consequences with a lesson about making decisions.