Wednesday, March 31, 2010

High School Health Projects

Health projects bring awareness to high school students.


In high school, students go through a variety of health, biology and human anatomy classes, taking notes and memorizing information. Teachers can create a fun project for students to make learning easier and help them retain information. Health projects might make high school students more aware of their choices, such as eating better, getting more exercise and improving body image.


Eating Habits Project


For high school students, eating nutritious food might be the last thing on their minds. LessonsPlansPage.com suggests making a project in which students track their nutritional intake, in addition to learning how obesity affects those around them. Have each student write down who makes meals in the family, what type of food or snacks are eaten and how often the student goes out to eat fast food. Next, have the students survey the class and combine results to determine the overall eating habits of the group. To finish the project, have students share how they will try to incorporate nutritious choices into their daily meals, instead of eating junk or fast food.


Go Green


One way to make students more aware of their health is by creating a project to offer the school or community a place to garden or get exercise. If you are able to set aside a small area for a garden, have the students come up with nutritious and easy-to-care-for vegetables to sell for a school-sponsored farmers' market. For all portions of the garden, have students research nutritional information for each vegetable, and also create a pamphlet or brochure to hand out to students and parents who purchase the goods. If you are unable to plant a garden, have the students turn a small area of the school into an exercise location where classmates can do sit-ups, push-ups or other exercises. Let the class monitor other students and then ask for a short report on what they think the fitness levels of fellow students are and how fitness can improve in the school.


Preventing Eating Disorders


Eating disorders are not uncommon in high school. To help high school students understand how eating disorders are harmful to the body, have them watch an educational video on the condition. Review the video as a class. Use this opportunity to explain body image. To help students understand body image, have each student draw what they feel they look like, along with writing a brief paragraph about what they drew. Have students pair up and explain drawings if they are comfortable, and if not, have them evaluate how they can improve a low body image.







Tags: high school, high school students, school students, body image, have students, garden have, garden have students