WES Health- Human Body and Substances

In health class, we've been learning about the human body and the effects that substances can have on it. Our younger students enjoyed building a puzzle showing the organs of the human body. They learned how the heart moves blood and ways to keep their heart healthy like moving their body and getting enough sleep. Our older students delved into how genetics can effect our health and how our genes make each one of us uniquely ourselves.

All students spent a class practicing relaxation techniques like yoga, progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery. Click the links if you want to listen along and try it at home. We discussed how just as it is important for our bodies to have movement, it is also important for our bodies to relax. Older students consider what techniques they might turn to instead of turning to drugs if they are feeling overwhelmed.

K-2 students are learning the basics about substances, including how to be safe by staying away from household chemicals like bleach, and only using bug spray with an adult's help. 3rd-6th graders are learning more specifics about drugs like tobacco and alcohol and reasons that kids should avoid them. Some questions came up around Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) like steroids in the upper grades, so we did a lesson from True Sport and the US Anti-Doping Agency. I encourage you to check out their resources for parents here https://truesport.org/teach-learn/parents/

We will continue our unit on substance abuse in early May before delving into topics related to the reproductive system and human development (names of private parts and why they are private for our younger students; puberty and body changes for our older students). In June, we'll wrap up the year by learning about nutrition.