Health for Life

Healthy Living Unit Plan

Thomas Bentley
tbbentle@lakeheadu.ca
Lakehead University
 Overview

In this unit plan, it will focus on the Healthy living stand from the Ontario Curriculum
guidelines of Grade 9 to 12. This unit will focus on living skills, personal skills, critical and
creative thinking skills, and interpersonal skills. These skills will connect to the understanding of
health concepts, making healthier choices and making connections for healthy living. Each
lesson will have a maximum of 70 minutes with 10 minutes at the beginning of class for quotes
of the day and individual conversations to prepare for the class and 10 minutes at the end of
the class to debrief on the students learning. The final lesson will be a culminating activity
focusing on tying the first two lessons together to evaluate the students learning
The course this unit will focus on will be Health for Life (PPZ3C) which is a college course that
requires no prerequisites. This course can have individuals from grade 9 to grade 12 within the
classroom which will lead to varied skills within the classroom. This unit will allow students to
look at their own health practices and behaviours as well as those factors that contribute to the
development of healthy communities.
The course has three main areas of focus the students will need to complete prior to receiving
the credit while this unit plan will focus on Strand A but all others stands and expectations
listed below.
A. Determinants of Health
B. Wellness
C. Healthy Communities
Overall expectation listed in the curriculum guidelines are:
A1. Explain how personal factors and individual health practices or behaviours influence
personal health
A2. Explain how Social Factors Influence personal health
A3. Demonstrates an understanding of various environmental factors that influence personal
health

B1. Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of personal wellness, the factors that
influence it and ways of maintaining and enhancing it
B2. Demonstrate the ability to develop and implement a personal wellness plan

C1. Demonstrate the ability to assess the quality of health information and use credible health
information to make informed decisions and take appropriate action about matters affecting
their health
C2. Demonstrate an understanding of the components of healthy communities and the factors
that affect and sustain health within them
C3. Demonstrate the ability to influence and support others in making positive health choices
 Day 1- Lesson 1
Personal Factors Affecting Health
Grade: 11
Duration: 70 minutes
Specific Expectations:
A1.1 Explain how heredity influences personal health
Activity: Creating a Word Wall
Required materials:
-Chart Paper
-Pencils/Markers
-Coloured Sticky notes
- Q- Cards
-Tablets (If available in the school)

Description of lesson:
Students will enter the classroom with having the classroom set up in a manner where
students will be in groups of 3-4 people per group. All the materials will already be on the desk
ready for the students to use.
The teachers will introduce the topic of health, race, gender, and mental illness. This could lead
in many directions but the teacher will start by explaining personal information such as:
(15-20 minutes)
-Who he/she identifies as
-What race they identify themselves as
-What race they identify their parents as
This will allow the students to get an understanding of which direction the lesson will take
place.
In the small groups, the students will have a topic on each of their desk with one word. The
different topics will consist of:
-Race
-Gender
-Healthy Living
-Mental Illness
Each group will have to Inquire about the topic on their desk writing down on their Q-Cards 10
different words they find interesting that they would like to learn more about in the future.
(15-20 minutes)
At this point, the teacher will be walking around the classroom facilitating conversation and
helping guide students through their discovery of new learning.
After the students have created a list on their Q-Cards, allow the students to gather with their
group to make a large master list on the chart paper. (10-15 minutes)
Allow the students time to research the definition and meanings for the words they are
inquiring. Students can use the computers or tablets that are available (10- 15 minutes)
After the students have created a list of words allow the students to share to the classroom
what words they inquired about.

The teacher will then facilitate a conversation on the different words that were expressed in
class and relate them back to the idea of factors effecting health. (20 minutes)

Learning Goals: We are Learning to

- Research the understanding of different races
- Inquire about different words in healthy living
- Make connections between gender and race to healthy living

Differentiated learning and adaptation

Within this lesson, pictures can be added to the words to allow students with minimal
English to create visuals of the words being learned.

Guiding Questions
- Can race be a factor in an individual’s health
- Can money be a factor in allowing for a healthy lifestyle
- How can mental illness effect an individual’s health
Safety considerations
OPHEA Safety guidelines – N/A
Assessment
For- Collect the Q-Cards to assess where students are in their learning and which direction they
are headed with their learning.
As- Have the students assess them selves with an exit card asking what they learned and what
they hope to learn for next time.
Of- See if the students were able follow instructions to inquiring about 10 different words.

References/ Resources
1. Ontario Health and Physical curriculum
2. Ontario Think Literacy Cross curricular approaches

Day 2- Lesson 2

Grade: 11
Duration: 70 Minutes
Specific Expectation:
A1.2 Demonstrate an understanding of resilience and its impact on personal health and
explain how personal factors contribute to the development of resilience
Activity: Overcoming fear and addiction
Required materials:
-Pennies (Three colours) enough for all students
-Gymnasium/ soccer field/ Open space
-Students will be required to have appropriate running shoes and clothing

Description of lesson:
This lesson will take place either in a gymnasium, on a soccer field or a large open space.
This lesson will focus on getting the students to understand the idea of resilience and the
effects personal factors have on an individual to leading to mental health or depression.
Begin the class with a warm up activity of stretching to prepare the students for the physical
activity they are about to undergo. (10 minutes)

Step 1:
After the students are stretched and ready to go the teacher will give 4 students a yellow
penny and give the rest of the students a red penny. The teacher will then explain the rules
of the game.
The activity will require the yellow pennies to run away from the red pennies and attempt
to not get tagged. (5 minutes)
After the yellow pennies have been tagged bring the students back in and allow the
students to change pennies with each other to have 4 new students be the yellow penny.
This cycle can be done two or three times to allow everyone the ability to have been the
yellow penny and red penny. (15 minutes)
Insure the students have a water bottle or the ability to get a drink after each activity or
insure that the students are healthy enough to continue. (5 minutes)
After the students have stopped for a drink or water, ask the students what they think the
two shirts represent. (5 minutes of discussion)
Yellow shirt represents a healthy individual
Red shirt represents addiction, mental health, pressure, bad eating habits.
After the teacher has explain the different shirts, add in 5 green shirts. The green shirts can
tag the yellow shirts to allow them to move again, the green shirts can tag the red shirts to
freeze them. The Red shirt can not tag the green shirt.
The green shirt will represent resilience and support staff.
 The students will continue to do the activity until all yellow shirts are tagged.
The teacher will allow the students to change their shirts around to facilitate different roles.
(15 minutes)

After the activity is finished, the teacher will facilitate a conversation with the students on
their experience and what they learned. (5 minutes)
Allow students time to shower and get changed out of their gym clothes prior to class
finishing (10 minutes).

Guiding Questions
- What are factors that can effect an individual’s health
- How can an individual overcome addiction
- What are ways an individual could become more resilient to social factors

Learning Goals: We are learning to

- Understand the different factors that effects and individual’s mental health
- Understand where we can find support
- Become more resilient in pushing addiction and fear away

Differentiated learning and Adaption

This activity can be modified with individuals will various moving abilities by allowing for
partners to work with each other. Add factors such as various exercises each time an individual
gets tagged.

Safety Considerations:
OPHEA Safety guidelines:

Outdoor Running
Holes, hazards (e.g. glass, rocks), and severely uneven surfaces must be identified. The
conditions must be made safe or the activity must be modified or moved to a safe location.

Hazards which cannot be removed must be brought to the attention of the participating
students. Teacher must notify principal/designate of unsafe field conditions.

Prior to initial use of route or course, teachers must do a safety check ‘walk through’ in order to
identify potential problems.

Before initial use, teachers must outline to students the route or course (e.g., notice of areas to
approach with caution).

Special considerations
Be aware of students whose medical conditions (e.g., asthma, anaphylaxis, cast, previous
concussion, orthopaedic device) may affect their participation (consult the Generic Section).
Assessment
For- Focused Conversation with the students
As- Must Complete the Stop Light Exit Card
Of- Performance task of playing the different roles
References/ Resources
1. OPHEA Safety Guidelines
2. Ontario Health and Physical curriculum
3. YouTube clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcbTmw1Y48I

Day 3- Lesson 3
Grade: 11
Duration 1 period
Specific Expectations:
C2.2 Connections between substance use, addictive behavior and physical and mental
health; making safer choices
Activity: Substance use and abuse (Water Consumption)
Required Materials
-Case of water
-Plastic baseball bat
-Mats
-Area with padded floors and walls
Description of lesson:

Connecting to the previous lesson about factors affecting an individual’s health and wellbeing,
students will be completing an activity of the dangers of overconsumption of alcohol.
Students will be given time to warm up and stretch prior to the activity. (10 minutes)

With the water bottles the students will be asked to grab one water bottle from the case of
water. The teacher will mark one bottle with a black line on one bottle (This bottle will
represent a drug in the bottle -Hypothetical drug)
The teacher will divide the classroom with girls on one side, boys on the other.
The lesson will be done as a relay race where one student runs to one end of the room, does an
activity then runs back. After all the students have done the first activity, the students will then
drink water from their bottle.
The students will then run to one end of the room do a different but slightly more difficult
activity and then run back until all students have completed the activity. The students will then
drink more water.
This can be done 3 to 5 relays, depending on the student’s physical fitness level. (30 minutes)
Exercises that can be used will be:
-Head nods (Head aches/Hangover)
-Sit ups (Stomach pains/ Vomiting
-Burpees (Up and down movement)
-Spinning around with the plastic bat (The Spins/ Disoriented)
Have the females start with more difficult exercises due to the likelihood of size and alcohol
resilience of the female body.

After the activity allow for 15- 20 minutes of discussion on the topic of alcohol and the negative
effects the students potentially felt.
Discussion points:
-Hangovers
-Vomiting
-Moderation of drinking alcohol
-The unknown of the potential for Date Rape Drugs
-What can be done to protect yourself and others
-Alcohol Abuse
-Drinking and driving

Guiding Questions
-What are effects of over consumption of alcohol.
-What can help minimize a hangover.
-If consuming alcohol what are ways of protecting yourself from over consumption,
alcohol abuse or date rape.

Learning Goals: We are learning to

- Increase our knowledge on alcohol abuse
- Understand the effects alcohol consumption has on the body
- Understand how to protect ourselves from the effects of alcohol
Differentiated Learning and Adaptation
To adapt this lesson to students with minimal mobility use, we can allow those students
to be the instructor yelling out the fitness activities. Those students can also do the activities
with a partner, or allow the students to have a partner of the same sex to complete the
activities together in pairs compared to bigger groups to allow for less time of hanging out.
Safety Considerations
OPHEA Safety guidelines
Outdoor/ Indoor Running
Holes, hazards (e.g. glass, rocks), and severely uneven surfaces must be identified. The
conditions must be made safe or the activity must be modified or moved to a safe location.

Hazards which cannot be removed must be brought to the attention of the participating
students. Teacher must notify principal/designate of unsafe field conditions.

Prior to initial use of route or course, teachers must do a safety check ‘walk through’ in order to
identify potential problems.

Before initial use, teachers must outline to students the route or course (e.g., notice of areas to
approach with caution).
Special considerations
Be aware of students whose medical conditions (e.g., asthma, anaphylaxis, cast, previous
concussion, orthopaedic device) may affect their participation (consult the Generic Section).

Assessment

FOR- Focused conversation with students during the consultation phase of the class.
AS- Must complete the Stop light EXIT CARD.
OF- Teacher will evaluate the students participation throughout the activity and evaluate the
students during the discussion period on their understanding of the effects of alcohol.

References/ Resources:

1. How alcohol effects the body. Retrieved from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwZPb1uQqmY&list=PLmTGSAzqh9pYiXYuUBeTNg
Un4m25SOwJ0&index=2
2. OPHEA Safety Guidelines
3. Ontario Health and Physical Education Curriculum Guidelines

Day 4- Lesson 4 (Culminating Activity)

Grade: 11
Duration 2 periods
Specific Expectation:
A1.3 Explain how personal health practices, health knowledge, and healthy behaviors
and attitudes contribute to the protection and improvement of an individual’s health.
Activity: Creating a Smart Goal
Required Materials:
-Tablets (If school has them)
-Computers
-Pencils
-Blank Lined Paper
-Chart Paper
-Coloured Markers
Description of lesson:
This lesson will focus on having the students create a SMART goal. The acronym for SMART is
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time.
This activity will require minimum of 2 periods to complete if the lesson is to be successful.
This lesson will be a culminating activity of the previous lessons to allow for the students to
incorporate the words they inquired about on the word wall, incorporate the effects that will
hinder them from attaining their SMART goal and factors that will help the student become
more resilient to overcome those factors.
The students will be taught about what a SMART goal is by the teacher. The teacher can provide
examples of what a SMART goal looks like and how the teacher has created goals. (10-15
minutes)

Example: ‘Timmy is a male who is 16 years old, white, and weight about 180lbs. Timmy wants
to increase his cardiovascular system. Timmy will run for 10 minutes a day at a steady pace 5
days a week. After 5 days a week Timmy will then increase to 12 minutes a day for 5 days.
Timmy will then increase to 15 minutes a day for 5 days. Timmy will then go to 20 minutes a
day for 5 days a week. After 4 weeks Timmy will run at 10 minutes a day for 5 days and reassess
how many laps Timmy can do in 10 minutes compared to week 1.

The teacher can use any example they would like but can use this example for reference
towards the student’s SMART goals.
Provide the students some time for questions and answers about SMART goals to take place.

After the students have completed their smart goal, they must show their work to the teacher
to defend their goal and how they will achieve it. After the goal has been approved, the
students must find research on ways to achieve their goal. Examples being: type of equipment,
trainers, inner motivation, healthy eating, diet plans ect.
The students must then explain all the potential factors that could hold the individual from
completing their goal (Refer back to lesson one and two on potential ideas for factors effecting
motivation). (20-30 minutes)

Prior to class finishing, introduce the topic of a Mind Map to the students and what will take
place for the final class of the unit. (10 minutes)
After the students have completed both their goals and factors effecting completing their goal,
the students will then be asked to create a Mind Map of their life and what they have done
throughout their life currently and where they hope to go.
 PART 2 Lesson 5- Day 5

Activity: Creating a Mind Map Story

Description of lesson:
The teacher will begin the lesson with the explanation of FROGGER the video game and
how the game works. (This games focus is to hop from one lily pad to the next to make it to the
other side of game without being hit by the obstacles.) (10 minutes)
The teacher will demonstrate what the teacher hopes to see from the students and their story/
map of how they have come to who they are and what they hope to achieve in the future.
The students will be asked to create a story of their life, this can involve: 60 minutes
-When they were born
-Family Members
-Memorable moments
-Troubles within their life
-Future goals (Can relate to their SMART goal- recommended)
-Active/ Inactive life style
-Future Jobs
-Current Jobs
-Hobbies
Remind the students that the Mind Map is open to their own development, but remind the
students to relate their Mind Map back their current learnings from the previous lessons.
Their mind map can be presented through a presentation such as demonstrated from the
teacher of FROGGER but can also be presented through a written time line, or can be created
through pictures and designs.
The students will have all period to work on this project and the teacher will be used for
gathering resources or materials that could be potentially needed for the development of their
Mind map.

Guiding Questions
-How can having better health practices lead to a healthier lifestyle
-How can behavior relate to a healthy lifestyle
-What type of practices can individuals go about doing to protect themselves

Learning Goals: We are learning to

- Understand the development of a SMART goal
- Understand healthy practices
- Understand how to be more resilient to outside factors in our lifestyle

Differentiated learning and Adaptation

For students who do not want to do a fitness goal, they can create a goal on getting
better marks in school, changing habits at home, eating better, and much more. The idea of a
goal can be open to any idea if it relates to the individual improving themselves or their
community.
For students who do not want to create a mind map they can also present their goal to the class
or to the teachers as long as it meets all the learning goals and expectations of the assignment.

Safety Considerations:
OPHEA Safety guidelines- N/A

Assessment

FOR- Portfolio Conferencing having the students come to the teacher through guided
interviews on their progression.
AS- Exit Card.

OF- The final project will allow for a culmination of the students learning of the Unit.

References/ Resources:
1. SMART goal information https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-
goals.htm
2. The importance of exit cards https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-
library/teaching-strategies/exit-cards
3. Health and Physical Education Curriculum
4. Developing a mind map. Retrieved from: http://www.mindmapping.com