Lesson 2.1: Healthy Skin, Hair, and Nails

Overview

This lesson focuses on developing good hygiene for your skin, hair, and nails. Recognizing and treating common skin problems is emphasized as well as ways the media use technology to create unrealistic human images.

Learning Targets

  • Define what hygiene is and explain why it is important.
  • Understand the anatomy of the skin, hair, and nails.
  • Identify ways to take care of the skin, hair, and nails.
  • Identify common problems with skin, hair, and nails.
  • Explain how the media and technology can influence our skin and hair care decisions.

Preparation

Chapter Opener: Complete the My Self-Care self-assessment to introduce the chapter before moving on to Lesson 2.1, or assign the worksheet 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 2.1 PowerPoint slides, or make copies of the Lesson 2.1 Note-Taking Guide.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 2.1 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Analyzing Social and Media Influences.

Warm-Up Activity

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

  • Self-Assessment: Have students complete the My Self-Care self-assessment as a chapter opener.
  • Journal Question: Have you ever used technology to modify a photo of yourself? If so, explain the situation. What were you trying to achieve? If you haven’t done this, why do you think you haven’t? Do you think you might in the future?
    • 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 2.1 Vocabulary Review Worksheet.
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 2.1 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 2.1 PowerPoint slides to review the chapter content.
  • Option: Have students use the Lesson 2.1 Note-Taking Guide to review the chapter content. Ask students to work alone, in pairs, or in small groups. Review the questions as a class if time permits.

Lesson Focus: Analyzing Social and Media Influences

  1. Give each student a copy of the Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Analyzing Social and Media Influences.
  2. Have students work individually to complete the worksheet.
  3. Ask students to pair up and share their responses. Have each pair identify which influences they have in common and which are different.
  4. Copy or project the chart from the "Analyzing Social and Media Influences" worksheet on to the board. As time permits, ask students to share their responses with the class (if comfortable) and write them in the chart. Highlight some consistent answers and themes with students.

Challenge Activity

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

Your diet can have a big influence on the health and appearance of your hair. Use the Internet, this textbook, and other resources available to you to create a meal you would like to eat that would be good for your hair. Make a graphic of the meal (using your own drawings or photos you find) and use labels to identify the vitamins and minerals found in each of the hair-healthy foods you picked.

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…

  • Define what hygiene is and explain why it is important?
    • It is important to practice good hygiene if you want to stay healthy. Hygiene is the practice of keeping yourself in good health by maintaining your personal cleanliness.
  • Understand the anatomy of the skin, hair, and nails?
    • Layers of the Skin
      • Epidermis (outermost): Protects you from the environment and contains melanin, the cells that give skin its color
      • Dermis (middle): Contains the hairs you see on skin, sweat glands, blood vessels, and nerves
      • Hypodermis (inner): Contains blood vessels, fat, and more nerves; connects the skin to the muscles and bones underneath
    • Hair grows all over your body; it helps keep you warm and protects openings like the eyes, ears, and nose, from small particles in the air. Most hair grows for up to six years and then falls out and is replaced by new hair.
    • Your nails are made up of a hard form of protein called keratin. Healthy nails are usually smooth and consistent in color. When the nails become discolored or have big pits on them, it can be a sign of disease.
  • Identify ways to take care of the skin, hair, and nails?
    • Skin is healthiest when you drink plenty of water, eat a healthy diet, and get regular physical activity. Smoking, being exposed to a lot of sunlight, and being under a lot of stress can make the skin less healthy.
    • Tips for good skin care:
      • Don’t shower too long or in water that is too hot. Both can dry out your skin.
      • Use mild soaps that won’t irritate your skin.
      • Use clean razors and shaving cream, lotion, or gel when shaving.
      • Follow instructions from your health care provider when caring for new piercings or tattoos.
    • Caring for your hair and nails:
      • Wash and condition your hair regularly (every one to three days).
      • Eat a diet high in vitamins E, A, and C, and zinc, biotin, omega 3, protein, iron, and fiber.
      • Avoid sharing combs and brushes with other people.
      • If you develop dandruff, use a medicated shampoo.
      • If you become infected with lice, you will need a special shampoo to kill the lice and their eggs. You will also need to wash in hot water all linens, towels, and clothing that came in contact with the lice.
  • Identify common problems with skin, hair, and nails?
    • Common skin problems:
      • Acne: A skin condition that occurs when skin cells, oil glands, and hair follicles clog, causing a collection of pimples that usually form on the face, back, chest, and shoulders
      • Eczema (also called dermatitis): Different types but most cause dry, itchy skin and rashes on the face, inside the elbows and behind the knees, and on the hands and feet
      • Sunburn: Will make the skin turn red and hot to the touch
      • Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. Performing regular skin checks can help you detect skin cancer early.
    • Common hair problems:
      • Head lice (small insects that live in the hair on the scalp or body; highly contagious)
      • Hair loss (also called alopecia; can happen to men and women; caused by autoimmune disease)
      • Dandruff (redness, itching, and flaking of the scalp; can be worse in winter or with stress; can be treated with medicated shampoo)
    • Common nail problems:
      • Bacterial and fungal infections (caused by bacteria entering the skin near a nail that has been bitten, chewed, cut, or damaged)
      • Ingrown nails (the nail grows into the flesh instead of over it; can be caused by cutting nails too short)
      • Warts (small, rough, hard growths on the skin; caused by a virus)
  • Explain how the media and technology can influence our skin and hair care decisions?
    • Today’s technology allows us to change pictures of people in a lot of ways; almost all media images have been changed to look more appealing.
    • Skin: Removing imperfections, adding a tan, removing body hair on women, and adding realistic-looking facial hair on men
    • Features: Altering noses, eyes, and lips
    • Hair: Changing color, length, and thickness
    • It is important not to let unrealistic images influence your health behaviors when it comes to your hair and skin.

Assessment

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

  • Quiz: Have students take the Lesson 2.1 Quiz.
  • Vocabulary Review: Collect the Lesson 2.1 Vocabulary Review Worksheets, and evaluate them for accuracy.
  • Note-Taking Guide: Collect the completed Lesson 2.1 Note-Taking Guides, and spot check one or more items for completion and accuracy.
  • Skill-Building Worksheet: Have students submit the Lesson 2.1 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Analyzing Social and Media Influences and use the Holistic Rubric: Analyzing Influences 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

Find one skin or hair product you use at home. Pick an ingredient you don’t recognize and use the Internet to find out whether it is considered safe or not.

Option: Assign the My Self-Care Self-Assessment Worksheet as a homework task if it was not used at the start of this lesson.