Science and Health

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article “Story Corner: An Unlikely Friendship.”

The activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Weighing In."

This lesson is the fourth and final in a series called “Family Tapestry.” One goal of these lessons is to help students recognize and accept differences among themselves and within the larger community. Another is to recognize how each student’s unique family contributes to a richer society. As students begin to understand themselves better, learning opportunities to explore biases and prejudices will likely emerge. In this lesson, students will synthesize everything they’ve learned throughout the series to create a quilt that tells the story of their families and how those families contribute to their overall classroom community.

This lesson is the second in the series “Family Tapestry.” One goal of these lessons is to help students recognize and accept differences among themselves and within the larger community. Another is to recognize how each student’s unique family contributes to a richer society. As students begin to understand themselves better, learning opportunities will likely emerge to explore biases and prejudices. In this lesson, students explore how their family’s ethnic and cultural journey contributes to their lives and to their community.

This lesson is the first in the series “Family Tapestry.” One goal of these lessons is to help students recognize and accept differences among themselves and within the larger community. Another is to recognize how each student’s unique family contributes to a richer society. As students begin to understand themselves better, learning opportunities will likely emerge to explore biases and prejudices. In this introductory lesson, students explore the definition of family, learn about different kinds of family structures and explore what makes their own family unique.

Each year in my elementary art classroom, students learn about a diverse group of black men and women in honor of Black History Month (this activity, though, is relevant throughout the year).

Individuals of all ages can find it difficult to identify and express their feelings in a positive way.

In this lesson, students learn about the principles of universal design, analyze examples of it, and develop their own product, communication or environment in accordance with its principles.

In this lesson, students will explore the ways people with a critical health condition or disease might feel, as well as various ways they can support and show compassion toward those who are living with an illness.

This lesson explores the concept of health disparities for socially disadvantaged groups (e.g., youth of color and LGBT youth). Students are encouraged to examine the causes and impact of these disparities and to create possible solutions for overcoming them. 

Unwilling or unable to complain about working conditions, immigrants routinely suffer chronic problems brought about by pesticide use, harsh weather and the lack of proper equipment. Using primary sources, students will learn more about these conditions—from the past and the present.

I teach writing and drama for seventh- through 12th-grade students who are home-schooled, financially secure and white.

Derogatory language is common at the high school where I teach.

Cynthia Delilice’s Under The Same Sky focuses on issues of immigration and migrant workers.

To teach about the importance of kindness, I first choose a story in which children are putting down others— for example, The Only Boy in the Ballet Class, by Denise Gruska, or Oliver Button is a Sissy, by Tomie dePaola.

This activity asks students to read and compare the language of selected Civil Rights legislation.

Here is an activity that is fun and teaches kids to recognize the problems associated with bullying.

Bullied is a documentary film that chronicles one student’s ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and offers an inspiring message of hope to those fighting harassment today. It can become a cornerstone of anti-bullying efforts in middle and high schools.

Building on the common early grades theme of “neighborhood and community,” this lesson uses a free, downloadable children’s book, “The Gift,” to drive home the idea that people—and their diverse interests—are what make our communities special. 

During my career unit with seventh-graders, I take the opportunity to look at gender stereotyping in the work force. After students have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with careers, I challenge their learning with a game similar to the old game show “Password.”

Students produce assertions on slips of paper and “stock” the classroom Assertion Jar. As a daily or occasional activity, students practice refutation skills by pulling an assertion from the jar and refuting it either orally or in writing. Appropriate as a writing prompt or journal activity.

There is no doubt that modern lifestyle changes have contributed to the problems of overweight and obesity among adults and children. Some school health and physical education programs are tackling the challenge of integrating healthier eating and regular exercise into the lives of students. But what about the social challenges that face children who are overweight? And how do media messages reinforce the bias they already experience among many of their peers? In these lessons, students will evaluate both their own biases related to size differences and the ways in which media shape those biases.

Recently, professional football players Brendon Ayanbadejo and Scott Fujita spoke out to support marriage equality. Their advocacy brings to the surface a discussion that has been going on for a long time about homophobia in professional sports. It raises questions about homophobia and gender stereotyping in school sports, too. This lesson asks students to identify and discuss homophobia and gender stereotyping in athletics, and think about how to combat these attitudes and behavior at their own schools.

Who Has Hair? explores one of the things mammals share in common: hair! Our hair may be different—Polar Bear's doesn't look exactly like Orangutan's or like yours— but we all have hair and want it to be clean and pretty.

In this jigsaw activity, students will review information from brochures/websites about local hair care providers, interview a local hair care provider, synthesize the material and teach it to others. Students will identify similarities and differences between the providers and gain a deeper understanding of diverse ways people care for their hair.

Termites, small and overlooked, can knock down forests and turn buildings to powder; intolerance operates in much the same way.

Core samples are fascinating columns of rock and mineral cut from deep below the earth's surface with a drill. They are marbled with shades of color. This activity helps students to identify their own core values, much like core samples.