Unit 2
Week 1
Structures of the Human Body
Description: Children will make observations of the structures of their own bodies and of
their classmates’ bodies. Children will record data by creating scientific illustrations of the
structures of their bodies. The class will together develop the understanding that human
beings have particular structures, such as eyes, mouths, arms, and legs.
Moderate teacher support required during Centers.
STEM Investigation 1
Standards Addressed:
K-LS1-1 Observe and communicate that animals (including humans) and plants need food, water,
and air to survive. Animals get food from plants or other animals. Enduring Understanding:
Through shared or independent research, people gather, organize, and analyze information about the world to
think critically and gain new understandings.
Essential Question:
How do animals form communities, work together, and use and adapt to their environment and how is it
similar and different to people?
Materials:
• large sheets of butcher paper for tracing bodies
• crayons
• photograph of human body
• glue
• adhesive labels to label body structures
Vocabulary:
• structure
• function
• parts
• characteristics
Preparation:
Prepare child-size sheets of butcher paper for each child in the class so children can trace their classmates.
Tracing could happen on any open space, such as the floor of the art studio or in the hallway outside the
classroom. You might need to rearrange the classroom temporarily to create the necessary floor space.
Note: Children’s Questions
Children will generate any number of authentic questions as they work. During each STEM Investigation in
unit 2, keep a large piece of chart paper on the wall near the STEM Center with a marker attached by string.
Throughout the week, record or “bank” any spontaneous questions you (or any adult in the classroom) hear
children ask as they are engaging in the Investigation. On the fifth day of each Investigation, during the Sharing
our Research meeting, review these child-generated questions with the class, following the directions in the
written Investigation. After Investigation 6, work with children to develop their own Investigation to answer
one of the child-generated questions. This Investigation could take place during the eighth or ninth week
where there is no written, STEM Investigation.
Intro to Centers:
“As scientists this week, you will investigate the focus question that
is written on the chart paper.”
Point to the focus question and read it
aloud.
“What do you notice about the human body?”
“What are some important words in the focus question that we
need to understand as scientists in order to answer it?”
Circle the words ‘notice’, ‘human’, and
‘body.’ When you circle the word body,
show the children a photograph of the
human body.
“What is the fancy word scientists use for noticing something?”
Write the word ‘observe’ about ‘notice’
on the focus question.
“When scientists observe something, what do they use?”
Point out to children that they will use
their eyes.
Annotate the word ‘notice’ with a
drawing of an eye.
“What will we do as scientists to answer the focus question?”
An appropriate response would be:
observe our bodies and our classmates
bodies carefully.
“Scientists need to tell others about what they discover. The
information they record is called ‘data.’ How do you think we could
share what we find out about the structures of our bodies?”
Allow children to generate ideas; they
should come to the understanding
that they will need to draw scientific
illustrations.
“As scientists this week in the STEM Center, you will make careful
observations of your bodies and your classmates’ bodies. You will
record what you find by tracing an illustration of a classmate’s body
on a piece of butcher paper.”
Have one child lie down on a piece of
butcher paper while you trace his/her
body carefully. When the child stands
up, demonstrate how you can label one
body structure on the butcher-paper
illustration. Have children share other
structures they might want to label.
During Centers:
Children will make observations of their bodies and their classmates’ bodies in the STEM Center. Children will
draw scientific illustrations on butcher paper that can be laid out on the floor of the STEM Center. For children
who may benefit from extra visual support, provide mirrors and/or picture word cards with different human
body parts.
Guiding Questions during Centers:
• What parts and structures of your friend’s body do you notice?
• What does your friend look like?
• What are some things your friend can do with his/her body?
• If your friend didn’t have ________ (body part) what do you think would happen?
• Do all the children in the classroom have the same parts? How do you know?
• Do you have any of the same parts as your friend? If you do, do you use it (them) in the
same ways that your does?
Sharing Our Research:
• Ask children, “What did you do this week as scientists in the STEM Center?”
• Revisit the focus question: “What do you notice about the human body?” Children turn and talk to a
classmate about something they noticed. Have children’s drawings available so they can reference their
data.
• “While looking at the data generated, what did we find out about your bodies and your friends’ bodies?”
Be sure to keep children focused on the observable features or structures of the body. For instance, if
children say, “my friend was happy” you can ask, “how do you know?”
• As children describe the structures of the human body, add these features to your scientific illustration
(the illustration you began during the Introduction to Centers) and label each feature. Remind children that
when you record like a scientist, you draw what you see, not what you think you know.
• Point out that while all children have mostly the same structures (e.g., hair), not every child’s structures
look the same (e.g., people have different color hair). Use a piece of chart paper to draw a chart with
columns for each hair color in the class, then ask several children to come up to the front of the meeting
area. Demonstrate how to observe the color of the child’s hair and then write a tally mark in the column on
the chart for the appropriate color.
Documentation:
Take pictures of children tracing their classmates’ bodies and use these photographs during the ‘Sharing Our
Research’ discussion to support conversations.
Using this as a Provocation:
Encourage children to design a structure for human beings to live in. Have them consider the parts that make a
whole system. This activity can be completed in either the Block Center or the Discovery Center, depending on
teacher preference.