Germs+-+7th+Grade+Unit

Standards
This unit may address many standards, but it was created especially to address the following Indiana State Educational Standard for seventh grade:

HEALTH AND WELLNESS: Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family and community health 7.8 Advocacy skills help students promote healthy norms and healthy behaviors. This standard helps students develop important skills to target their health enhancing messages and to encourage others to adopt healthy behaviors. Students assess valid information and opinions about health issues. Students demonstrate skills to encourage others to adopt health-enhancing behaviors.

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Unit overview
I recommend the teacher collaborate with their media specialist on this project, since it will require some research on the student’s part. This unit on germs begins with a teacher led activity. Then, the students will go to the library and choose two resources to review and take notes on. Their third resource will be a personal interview of their own. The students will use the information they have gathered to create either a comic, public service assessment, or a set of informational fliers that will be presented to the school to assist in illness prevention efforts.

1. Teacher led introductory activity - Who are the professionals? What do they say?
Establish who the experts on flu prevention are and review the current information about the H1N1 virus and introduce examples of the final products the students will create.
 * Objective:**


 * Materials:**
 * Computer
 * Internet Connection
 * Projector


 * Lesson Plan:**
 * 1) The night before this lesson the students should be assigned homework to bring in a newspaper, magazine, or journal article on the H1N1 virus.
 * 2) There is a lot of information circulating about the flu and this particular virus. Ask the kids what they learned from their articles and what they already know about the virus.
 * 3) Next, ask the students who the experts are on the flu. If they were a news reporter where would they go first for information? That is a good question to ask when starting out any type of information inquiry. As a class try to find some of those experts on the internet using the overhead projector so the whole class can see. The most comprehensive site I’ve found so far is [|www.flu.gov]
 * 4) Explain to the students that their task over the next few days is to create a comic, series of factsheets and posters, or a public service announcement on the H1N1 virus or flu prevention. Show them a few examples.
 * Comic - [] Or []
 * Factsheets - [] Or []
 * PSA - []

**2. Inquiry and Interview Activity**
Collect information on the H1N1 virus and flu prevention and interview someone who has personally had an experience with the H1N1 virus. It could be the school nurse, someone who had the virus, someone who knows someone who had the virus or someone who has been vaccinated.
 * Objective:**


 * Materials:**
 * [[file:Interview.docx]]
 * [[file:Note Cards 7th.docx]]
 * Access to media center


 * Lesson Plan:**
 * 1) Explain to the students that just how a GPS system has to have at least three satellites to pinpoint a position on earth, they need to use at least three different resources to pinpoint facts about the flu. Most of the resources can be found in the library, but at least one must be a personal interview. The flu affects humans and we want to add a human aspect to the research.
 * 2) Pass out the Interview worksheet and note cards. Then line the students up for a trip to the media center.
 * 3) Once there have the media specialist show the students where the germ, cold, flu, illness prevention books are 614 – 616s. and explain any access to journals or databases are available that might be helpful.
 * 4) Each student should choose at least two resources and fill out at least four note cards for each.
 * 5) After sufficient time at the media center return to the classroom and the students can begin work on their rough draft of their poster.

3. Final Activity - Collaboration
To take all the information on germs and illness prevention and present it in a way that will be helpful to the whole school.
 * Objective:**


 * Materials:**
 * Art and Craft materials
 * Comic making software such as Comic Life - []
 * Access to the computer lab
 * Access to a few camcorders


 * Lesson Plan:**
 * 1) Students may work individually or in groups on a comic, public service announcement, or factsheets and posters about the H1N1 virus and/or flu prevention appropriate to hang around the school.
 * 2) Provide time for the students to complete their final projects in class. Allow plenty of overnight time to work and collect additional materials if need be.
 * 3) After assessing the projects the students may present them to the principal to get permission to display them around the school.

4. Assessment Rubric
Give the students an opportunity to grade their own work using the rubric and then meet with the student to go over their grade and finalize the teacher rubric.