Lesson 13.1: Injury Prevention and Safety at Home

Overview

This lesson focuses on injury prevention and being safe at home through the skills of advocacy and making healthy decisions.

Learning Targets

  • Differentiate between unintentional and intentional injuries.
  • Identify how to prevent falls in your home.
  • Describe how to keep yourself and others safe from firearms in your home.
  • Discuss what you should do if there is a fire in your home.
  • Explain what a natural disaster is and how you would prepare for one that could affect you.

Preparation

Chapter Opener: Use the How Prepared Am I for an Emergency? self-assessment to introduce the chapter before moving on to Lesson 13.1, or assign the self-assessment as a homework task before starting this lesson.

For the Warm-Up Activity: Write the journal question on the board, or identify (and copy as needed) the worksheets you plan to use:

For the Content Focus: Open the Lesson 13.1 PowerPoint slides, or make copies of the Lesson 13.1 Note-Taking Guide.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 13.1 Advocating for Gun Safety Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet..

Warm-Up Activity

Select a warm-up activity to help get your class focused and on task.

  • Self-Assessment: Have students complete the How Prepared Am I for an Emergency? self-assessment.
  • Journal Question: If you have been in a natural disaster, describe what happened. If you haven’t been in a natural disaster, explain what natural disaster could strike where you live and what you are most worried about.
    • Option: Write or project the question, and have students respond in their journals as they enter class.
    • Option: Have students discuss the question with a partner or in a small group.
  • Vocabulary Review: Have students work individually, in partners, or in small groups to complete the Lesson 13.1 Vocabulary Review Worksheet.
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 13.1 Quiz to assess their prior knowledge.
    • Option: Collect the quizzes, and use them alongside posttests to demonstrate student learning.
    • Option: Have students share their answers with a partner, and then go over the answers together as a class.

Lesson Content

Review the content from the textbook lesson.

  • Option: Use the Lesson 13.1 PowerPoint slides to review the chapter content.
  • Option: Have students use the Lesson 13.1 Note-Taking Guide to review chapter content. Ask students to work alone, in pairs, or in small groups. Review the questions as a class if time permits.

Lesson Focus: Advocating for Gun Safety

  1. Give each student a copy of the Lesson 13.1 Advocating for Gun Safety Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet.
  2. Students will be creating an advocacy project for guns to be locked up in homes and for students to speak up if they hear of someone having a gun at school or talking about harming others.
  3. Ask students to form small groups with other students who have a similar interest in the topic and how to present the information.
  4. Ask the small groups of students to answer the questions on the worksheet. They will need to have some time to do this and will need access to the Internet.
  5. Ask the groups to share their answers to the worksheet questions with the class. Write them on the board. Have the class choose responses from each question and put together an advocacy plan that you can present.

Challenge Activity

Have students who need an additional challenge work on the following critical-thinking task.

Develop a list of medications and food items your family would need to stay in your home without power for one week. Consider water and food needs for all infants, children, adults, and pets living in your home. Find out what medications each family member needs and what a one-week supply would be. Write down your list.

Reflection and Summary

Review the critical content from today’s lesson. Review the learning targets, and ask students to answer each question posed.

Can you…

  • Differentiate between unintentional and intentional injuries?

    Unintentional injuries are accidental and prevented primarily by paying more attention to what you are doing. Intentional injuries are either caused by someone else or self-inflicted.

  • Identify how to prevent falls in your home?

    Make sure things are not left laying on the floor to be tripped on. There should be good lighting outside to see at night, and make sure you pay attention to where you are walking and what you are doing.

  • Describe how to keep yourself and others safe from firearms in your home?

    Firearms should be kept unloaded and in a locked safe. Gun locks can also be added for extra safety.

  • Discuss what you should do if there is a fire in your home?

    The most important thing is to get out quickly. Know the different ways you can get out of your room and your house, depending on where you are when the fire happens.

  • Explain what a natural disaster is and how you would prepare for one that could affect you?

    General guidelines for a natural disaster include making sure you have food that will keep if the power goes out, water, first aid supplies, medications, and flashlights and batteries in case you are stuck at home for several days.

Assessment

Complete one or more of the following assessment tasks for this lesson

  • Quiz: Have students take the Lesson 13.1 Quiz.
  • Vocabulary Review: Collect the Lesson 13.1 Vocabulary Review Worksheets, and evaluate them for accuracy.
  • Note-Taking Guide: Collect the completed Lesson 13.1 Note-Taking Guides, and spot check one or more items for completion and accuracy.
  • Skill-Building Worksheet: Have students submit the Advocating for Gun Safety Skill-Building Challenge Worksheets, and use the Advocacy Holistic Rubric to evaluate their skill development.
  • Journal Question: Ask students to respond to the journal question again, adding information they learned from today’s class. Require a one-paragraph response that uses proper grammar.

Take It Home

Look around your house and see whether you have any smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms. Both types of alarms tend to look similar, so you may need to ask a family member which is which. There should be a smoke alarm in each bedroom, the hallway of the bedrooms, and the living room; near the stairway; and on every level of the home, including the basement. Carbon monoxide alarms should be located in the hallway of the bedrooms and on every level of the home. Find out from a family member when they were last tested and the batteries were changed. Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms should be tested every month and the batteries changed at least once a year.

Option: Assign the How Prepared Am I for an Emergency? self-assessment as a homework task if it was not used at the start of this lesson.