Classroom activities

The website materials are intended to be additional material to help with teaching and learning the strand unit Human life. Some points to look out for in the activities are suggested here as well as suggestions for additional related classroom activities:

1. A child could lie down on a very large piece of paper e.g. wallpaper and another child could draw an outline on the wallpaper. What they think is inside the body could then be drawn on this life size outline. It makes the activity more relevant and fun than just drawing on a small piece of paper. Another possibility is for some children to wear white disposable plastic aprons while other children use coloured markers to draw where they think the wearer's heart, lungs, stomach and intestines are.

2. Children could design and make a 3-dimensional body and its insides. Tubing could be used for the gullet and also the intestines. A squeezy bottle, such as an empty washing-up liquid bottle, could be used for the stomach and material such as plasticine could be used for the liver.

3. Pupils could be encouraged to observe the size of their own fist. This would give them an indication of the size of their heart.

4. It can be difficult for children to feel their heartbeat. However if they are trying to feel it they will possibly find a beat if they press hard in the middle of their chest a little below shoulder level. If they are successful in feeling their heartbeat they could compare the rate after they have been sitting quietly with the rate after they have been taking exercise.

5. Children can place their hands on their ribcage and then take a deep breath. They should be able to feel their ribs lifting up and out. Ask them to notice what happens to their ribs when they breathe out. Explain that their lungs inside their ribs get bigger when they breathe in air

6. Discuss the damage that smoking does to your lungs. Children could then design an anti-smoking poster.

1. Paper or card skeletons could be made by tracing the bones in the 'Make a skeleton' activity. These could then be stuck together using paper fasteners.

2. Children could be invited to count the number of bones in their fingers and toes. (The number of bones is two in your big toe and thumb and three in your other toes and fingers).

3. Pictures of skeletons from other animals such as birds, snakes, whales and frogs could be downloaded form the internet. These skeletons could then be compared with the human skeleton.

4. The idea that a hollow tube can be strong is counterintuitive for many children. Paper rolled into a tube could be tested for weight-bearing in two ways: the tube could span a gap between two tables and weights could be added until the tube collapses; the tube could stand like a pillar and weights could be placed on top

5. Joints that are easy to observe are the knee, wrist, ankle and finger joints. Children could be asked to explore the movement they make with their shoulder joint. It rotates and so is called a 'ball and socket joint'. They could compare this movement with their elbow or knee joint. These joints move like a door opening and shutting and so are called 'hinge joints'.

1. As well as examining the muscles on their arms children could also examine the muscles on their legs. The tendon where the muscle joins to the heel bone can be felt quite easily.

2. Pictures of athletes, e.g. weight lifters could be examined. The idea of how very fit and strong people have big strong muscles could be explored.

3. Children could be asked to design and make a squeeze machine. This could consist of a plastic bottle with a tube . The bottle contains colourerd water and it is sealed with plasticine. Children could test whether their left or right hand has stronger muscles by squeezing the bottle and measuring how far up the tube the water goes.

4. Pushing against a weighing scales, the sort that is used to weigh oneself, could also measure how strong are pushing muscles in different children.