Standard of Learning

7.4 The student will describe how family and community priorities influence an individual's ability to reduce diseases and other health problems. Key concepts/skills include:

1. the relationship of social and environmental factors to individual and community health;
2. the financial resources in the community dedicated to promoting health;
3. the community's support of health services and partnerships;
4. availability of emergency response systems and services;
5. the community's support of recreational and leisure activities.

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Understanding the Standard

The student will identify how social and environmental factors affect community health, how community health programs are funded, and how the community supports health services partnerships and recreational and leisure activities.

Essential Knowledge and Skills

The student will:

• define social factors that affect community health:
  • violence (actions or words that hurt people or things they care about)
  • violent behaviors (acting in a way that hurts others)
  • forms of violence (media, family, random)
• identify environmental factors that affect community health:
  • any negative change in the environment affects the health of all living things;
  • increase in the human population places more demands on the earth's resources;
  • natural events, such as tornados, blizzards, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, drought, and floods can disturb the balance of the environment;
  • pollution; (harmful wastes in the air, land, or water) and
  • poverty and war.
• identify financial resources in the community dedicated to benefiting health programs.
• list the community's support of health services and partnerships.
• identify the community's support of recreational and leisure activities.

Sample Lessons

Just in Time for Valentine's Day - Have a Healthy Heart
Grade(s): 6-8
In this activity, students will watch their pulse rate while exercising.  After doing this, the students will figure out how regular exercise affects their heart beat.
http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/health/fitness/healthyheart.html
Free

Walk Across the Country
Grade(s): 6-12
This lesson plan insists on starting a physical fitness plan after hearing about the FDA  approving a fat substitute for cooking.
http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/health/fitness/walkamerica.html
Free

 

Additional Instructional Resources

• Health Textbooks
• Local Community Agencies
• Virginia Department of Health - http://www.vdh.state.va.us
• Virginia Department of Social Services - http://www.dss.state.va.us

Assessment Ideas

The student will:

• create a brochure that encourages the community to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
• compile a list of community agencies that provide health services.
• list community agencies that provide recreational and leisure activities.

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