Response #2

After you spend some time exploring the site, or the one below from Facing the Future, please post 2 or 3 lesson ideas from the site you'd like to try with your students or in your school.

I started to look at the Facing the Future website and found myself engulfed in the lessons they had to offer.  There were many lessons I could use in my high school health education classroom. Below are a couple of those lessons as well as an explanation of how I could use them in my classroom: 

1. Apples to Apples: The lesson looks at the differences in "apples" based on where they are grow, how much water they receive, and other differences.  Although they were grown in different areas of the world, the apples are seemingly identical. I would compare this lesson to my students during the discussion of discrimination, stereotypes, and prejudices.  Although we may come from different places and raised in different ways are are alike and should be seen as the same because ultimately, we are all human.
2. Are You Buying This?  In this lesson, students create and present mock television commercials for products linked to unhealthy behaviors. The students first present the information "as seen on TV" and then produce the same commercial with the products negative impacts.  This lesson can be incorporated in both my health and physical education classrooms.  The students can use this lesson in nutrition showcasing different types of foods as well as exercising/diets.  I believe this lesson would be an interesting comparison to what we see on TV and the true message behind the marketing.
3. Bio Poem: My students already create a BIO poem during the first couple days of class.  They create a poster, chimerical, website, as well as various other ideas to portray a message of "who they are".  This lesson is intended to illustrate students strengths, interests, and the factors that have made them who they are today.
4. The Choice is Yours: This lesson could be used in my nutrition unit for both my physical education and health education lessons.  During the lesson, students look at the benefits and consequences of purchasing different foods. I would like to incorporate different countries as well.  As we know, we eat different items based on where we live.  It might be interesting to extend this lesson and give each student a different country and showcase what a typical "entree" would look like at the dinner table. The student's can then compare and contrast the meals from all over the world. Which foods are healthier? Why?
5. Connections All Around Me: Me, My Food and My Environment: Although this lesson is ideally for K-4th graders, I believe my Freshman can benefit from it as well.  In this lesson we would examine various agriculture places such as dairy farms, a produce farm, or a local garden. Based on how the foods are produced, each student develops a short story or video. Unfortunately, many of my students do not have the opportunity to have a garden or see where their food grows.  I think it would be a great lesson to not only have my students witness but also take part in organizing a community garden the whole town can use.  The students can act as the "teachers" and help the community understand how the food grows and where it comes from. We could also take it a step further and can go into the elementary classrooms to help mentor the students on this subject area.

As you can see there are many lessons I could use in my everyday classroom.  Although they are not specific to health and physical education classes, they are great ideas to start with and incorporate global literacy.