Activity Ideas | Related Resources
Find Below: PBS Web Sites, Other Recommended Links, Recommended Books
Children's Hospital
Find lesson plans on medical breakthroughs and the pioneers who made them possible.
DNA
Lesson plans, historical information and interactive features about the birth of genetics and the discovery of DNA can be found on this Web site.
The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's
Learn more about the disease that afflicts almost 3 million Americans.
Health Care Crisis
Examine the many challenges facing the U.S. health care system and possible solutions.
It's My Life: Body
Explore resources for middle school students on body and health issues.
Livelyhood
Learn how citizens across the country are working to make their towns a safer and more healthy community.
NewsHour Extra: Health and Fitness
Find a variety of articles for students and lesson plans about public health issues.
NOW: Science and Health
Explore health issues from a global and domestic perspective.
Frontline: The Alternative Fix
Do alternative medical treatments really work?
Stop Spots
http://www.stopspots.org/index.html
Almost everyone gets them, especially in the teen years. Acne, Pimples,
Blackheads. Spots are a milder term than the common US term - zits. The
site is sponsored by an acne support group in the UK and they offer
health tips on attending to acne, debunks the old myths of pimples
being caused by chocolate or fried food, and provides some advice on
how to deal with the emotional and social effects of acne
Subject: Health & Fitness
More Recommended Health & Fitness Links
National Academy of Social Insurance Sourcebook
http://www.nasi.org/publications3901/publications.htm
The National Academy of Social Insurance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization whose mission is to promote understanding and informed
policymaking on social insurance. Social insurance describes the
methods of "insuring workers and their families against economic
insecurity caused by loss of income from work and the cost of health
care." Examples are: Social Security, Medicare, workers' compensation,
unemployment insurance, public assistance, and private employee
benefits. This Sourcebook can serve as an introduction to social
insurance and provides updated facts about the above topics. Other
publications at the site are fact sheets, reports, working papers, most
in PDF format.
Subject: Health & Fitness
More Recommended Health & Fitness Links
Health Insurance Data
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/hlthins.html
The U.S. Census Bureau provides access to two surveys of health
insurance. Read the differences in strengths between the two surveys in
the Overview to ascertain which meets your own needs. Topics include children
without health insurance, health insurance coverage by year over the
past ten years, and dynamics of economic well-being as related to
health insurance. Read the Coverage section to see definitions of the
many private and government insurance programs.
Subject: Health & Fitness
More Recommended Health & Fitness Links
The President's Challenge
http://www.presidentschallenge.org/
Keep track of your activity and earn points based on the amount of
energy each activity burns. Your goal is to see how many points you can
earn by being active. The challenge is to see if you can reach the
Bronze, Silver or Gold Award. Other aspects of the site include a Body
Mass Index Calculator, and a set of criteria for the 5 events in the
Presidential Physical Fitness Test. Different sections for kids, teens,
adults, and educators are presented as well as short entries for home
schools and students with disabilities. PDF files of active lifestyle
programs, a get-fit handbook for youth, and a youth active lifestyle
log can be downloaded.
Subject: Health & Fitness
More Recommended Health & Fitness Links
Rotten Truth (About Garbage)
http://www.astc.org/exhibitions/rotten/rthome.htm
Did you know that Americans create approximately 5 pounds of garbage a
day? This site from the Association of Science Technology Centers and
the Smithsonian Institution talk trash.about trash at your home, your
school, and your community. You'll explore issues surrounding municipal
solid waste and see recommendations for businesses and consumers on how
to cut down on garbage. You'll find out more about how nature recycles
and that there really is no "away", that burying, burning, and
recycling garbage doesn't really get rid of it. There are lots of
activities scattered throughout this site for students to at home or in
class.
Subject: Science & Technology
More Recommended Science & Technology Links
The How Rude! Handbook of Family Manners for Teens: Avoiding Strife in
Family Life
By Alex J. Packer
Published October 2004
Grades: 6-8
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Sharing a house can seem like mission impossible, but the advice
in this book can help make it easier. Teens and parents will find
suggestions for basic harmony, dinner time, fighting, sleepovers,
sharing a room, and more. The ideas are sound and often funny. When you
finish this book, don't forget the School Manners for Teens and
Friendship & Dating Manners for Teens.
More Recommended Health & Fitness Books
The Last Best League: One Summer, One Season, One Dream
By Jim Collins
Published April 2004
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness
A knee injury ended the author's dream of a baseball career, but
twenty years later a trip to cape Cod and a Chatham A's game rekindled
his passion. The next summer he moved to the Cape with his family to
watch the Cape Cod Baseball League, the best amateur league in the
world. Focusing on the Chatham A's, Collins followed the fortunes of
talented players trying to realize their baseball dreams.
More Recommended Health & Fitness Books
Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big
Business--and Bad Medicine
By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele
Published October 2004
Grades: 6-8
Subjects: Social Studies
We pride ourselves for having first rate health care, but a WHO
global ranking of health care placed the U.S. at 37, between Costa Rica
and Slovenia. How can this be when we spend two and three times what
other countries spend? The authors argue that the world-class, high
tech surgery and space age medical procedures benefit 2 to 3% of
Americans-that Americans pay for a Hummer but get a Ford Escort.
More Recommended Social Studies Books