BACKGROUND:
A child's body grows every day and unless someone points
out the changes, it is difficult for that child to understand what is happening.
The human body is difficult to teach because it is an integrated and complicated
machine. The organs that make up the human body work with the
other various systems of the body. If one part of the body is discussed
it is important to emphasize what part it plays in the entire body's functions.
Students need to build a vocabulary by visually using a
"correct" picture and emphasizing how the organs work together to create
a living, breathing human body. Children do not understand their
body, but they feel and sense its presence. When vocabulary is associated
with their own body, they are reminded every day of the wonder of the human
machine.
PROCEDURE:
- A good introduction to the internal
body structure is the recommended book Look Inside Your Body. This
is a visual book that allows a student to look at the skeleton, stomach,
heart, lungs, muscles, and sensory organs. The pictures and text
together weave a human body story, but the pictures are subtle and can
be used to create stories.
- Student should look at the Human Body Placemat and have them
look at the different parts of the body as you discuss each one.
You can play a game with the students by giving them a body part and in
a group find it on the placemat and then the winning group is when all
students are pointing to the correct site on their own body. Make
sure that students not only locate organs on the placemat, but on their
own body.
- Important to state that a body part like a hand or head
is different from internal organs like the heart or stomach. A hand
for instance, contains bones, nerves, blood, and muscle. An organ
has a specific function. For example the lungs are used to breathe
or the heart is used to pump blood. The organs help make the
entire body work together.
|
