Lesson 14.1: Exploring Public Health

Overview

This lesson focuses on understanding public and community health and develops the skill of identifying and analyzing how the community can influence health.

Learning Targets

  • Describe what public health is.
  • Explain how public health influences you as an individual.
  • List two careers related to public health.
  • Provide an example of a health disparity.

Preparation

Chapter Opener: Use the How Environmentally Aware Am I? self-assessment to introduce the chapter before moving on to Lesson 14.1, 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 14.1 PowerPoint slides, or make copies of the Lesson 14.1 Note-Taking Guide.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 14.1 Accessing Community Health Resources 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 Environmentally Aware Am I? self-assessment.
  • Journal Question: Have you ever heard of public health? What do you think it means? Provide examples in your response.
    • 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 14.1 Vocabulary Review Worksheet.
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 14.1 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 14.1 PowerPoint slides to review the chapter content.
  • Option: Have students use the Lesson 14.1 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: Accessing Community Health Resources

  1. Give each student a copy of the Accessing Community Health Resources Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet.
  2. Have students work individually to complete the worksheet.
  3. Ask students to share some of the resources they identified. Write them on the board. As each resource is listed, ask the other students in the class to raise their hands if they listed the same (or a similar) resource. Ask a volunteer to explain whether the resource was easy to access and understand and how and when it could be used.

Challenge Activity

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

We know that people who have more education generally have better health. Why do you think that is the case? Provide as many reasons as you can think of, and use specific examples when you can.

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…

  • Describe what public health is?

    Public health is the art and science of protecting and improving the health of individuals and large populations and involves a wide range of activities focused on improving the health of the public.

  • Explain how public health influences you as an individual?

    Your individual health is affected by the people around you, the community you live in, the society you live in, and the policy and rules that govern it. Public health works to improve the areas and people around you to make the environment a safer, healthier place in which to live.

  • List two careers related to public health?

    Careers include doctors, dentists, and nurses (see figure 14.2).

  • Provide an example of a health disparity?

    Examples include poverty, environmental conditions, inadequate access to health care, individual and behavioral factors, and education inequities.

Assessment

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

  • Quiz: Have students take the Lesson 14.1 Quiz.
  • Vocabulary Review: Collect the Lesson 14.1 Vocabulary Review Worksheets, and evaluate them for accuracy.
  • Note-Taking Guide: Collect the completed Lesson 14.1 Note-Taking Guides, and spot check one or more items for completion and accuracy.
  • Skill-Building Worksheet: Have students submit the Lesson 14.1 Accessing Community Health Resources Skill-Building Challenge Worksheets, and use the Accessing Valid and Reliable Information 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

Research a charity that supports something you care about. Collect donations for the charity from friends and family. When you finish your collection, donate the money you raised to the charity you selected.

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