P a g e | 15 How we change
Suggested duration: 40 minutes
Suggested Stage: Stage 2
This activity is designed to explore both Child Protection Education content and Sexuality
Education content from the K-6 PDHPE syllabus.
The school has a responsibility to inform parents, prior to the occasion, of the specific details of
teaching and learning programs which may be considered sensitive or controversial. This allows
parents time to exercise their rights of withdrawing their child from a particular session on certain
controversial issues. In this regard, a parent’s wish must be respected.
It is important that teachers consider and tailor their lessons to cater for differing cultural
perceptions of what might be considered to be appropriately taught at a certain age and
individual student needs and backgrounds.
Content discussed in these activities may be confronting for some students. It is important to
establish a safe and effective classroom environment, where ground rules are clearly
communicated. It is essential that students are encouraged to listen to and respect the values,
beliefs and opinions of others.
Teachers and Executive should be guided by the Department's advice document About sexuality
and sexual health education in NSW government schools when planning and implementing any
sexuality education lesson. This document provides guidance regarding curriculum delivery
within the framework of NSW Department of Education policies and processes.
Syllabus outcome (s)
V1 refers to a sense of their own worth and dignity
GDS2.9 Describes life changes and associated feelings.
What do we want students to know, understand or be able to do?
Indicators
•
•
Content
appreciates that their physical, social,
emotional and intellectual development is
unique
explains and values differences in growth
and development between individuals at
different stages
Personal identity
• Feelings about self
The Body
• body parts
- rates and stages of growth and development
Changes
• physical body changes
- feelings about changes
©NSW Department of Education 2015 P a g e | 16 Values
• uniqueness of self
- identity
- development
Resources
• Butcher’s paper (or ribbon/streamers and student photos)
• Body outlines – 1 copy per student
• Sticker labels
• Body parts or positive body image songs
Activity:
1. Invite students to line up along a wall with butcher’s paper behind each person.
a. Draw a line along the top of each student’s head.
b. Ask everyone to turn around and write their name next to their head line.
Alternatively: measure out ribbon or streamers the length of each student. Attach a photo of
each student to their length of ribbon. Display on a wall and later in the year repeat the activity
with a different colour ribbon and place next to each student’s previous ribbon to demonstrate
changes in height.
2. Ask students - Why is this line not straight?
a. Recognise that not all people are the same, not all boys are the same and not all girls
are the same.
3. Explain that height is one physical change that happens from birth.
4. Discuss the following:
-­‐ What are some other physical changes that happen to our bodies from birth? For example,
weight changes, muscles develop, hair grows.
-­‐ What are some different physical changes for boys and girls? Boys: voice ‘breaks’ and
starts to become deeper, grow facial hair. Girls: breast development and menstruation.
-­‐ Explain to students that some of these changes are related to puberty.
Teacher note: What is puberty? Puberty is a time in a person’s life when they experience
physical changes in order for their bodies to become adult bodies. Apart from the first year of
our lives, the most growing that our body does happens during puberty.
Puberty happens when our body is ready to change; this is triggered by hormone signals from
the brain. As we are all different we can go through puberty at different times and at different
rates.
5. Provide each student a copy of the individual body outline.
a. Encourage students to draw or write the physical changes that have happened to their
own body since they were born on the individual body outline.
b. Explain that this part of the activity is anonymous and that means no one has to show
©NSW Department of Education 2015 P a g e | 17 their body outline to anyone unless they want to.
Discuss with students:
-­‐ What can you see on the outside?
-­‐ What has changed or is new? E.g. height, weight, breasts, muscles, longer hair, leg
hair.
6. Provide each student with a sticker.
a. Ask students to finish the sentence ‘One thing I like about my body is….’
b. Each student places the sticker onto the butcher’s paper under their name (or on
ribbon if using alternative activity).
7. Ask students to think about what about them has changed that is not part of their appearance.
For example: What has changed about you as a person (skills, personality, attitudes,
interests) or what things can you do now that you couldn’t do before?
a. As a group, share some ideas.
b. Ask students to write their own changes on their body outline.
c. Provide the following ‘helpers’ to get students started ‘Now I can...’ or ‘I have...’ or
‘My… has changed.’
8. Invite students to suggest and discuss things they can do now that they couldn’t do when they
were younger, e.g. kick a ball, write words, count, reach the top shelf of the fridge.
9. Provide each student a sticker. Ask student to complete the sentence ‘One thing I can do now
is…’ and record it on the sticker.
a. Students place these stickers on the butcher’s paper under their name (or on ribbon).
Teacher note: at this stage students have now finished with the body outlines and they can be
collected, glued in books or filed.
10. Gallery walk
Explain to students: The things that people have written on their stickers are things that are
unique about them, things that make them the person they are, things they have achieved
and they are things that they can be proud of.
You now have 1 minute to move along the butcher’s paper/ ribbon/ around the room and read
other people’s stickers.
When you do this please remember that this is a personal activity and the things people have
written need to be respected, no-one should be teased or picked on because of what they
have written.
11. True or False statements: Stand Tall for True and down to the Floor for False (or hands on
head for true, hips for false)
-­‐ Everyone grows and changes at the same rate (at the same time or at the same
speed). FALSE
-­‐ Our bodies continue to change from when we are a baby to when we get older. TRUE
-­‐ Every person’s body is unique and it is okay to like your own body. TRUE
©NSW Department of Education 2015 P a g e | 18 Extension (higher order thinking)
•
In pairs or larger groups (more challenging), students create a Venn diagram and use it to
identify traits that are unique to them (outside circles) and similar to others (overlapping
circles). The number of circles would be dependent on the size of the group.
©NSW Department of Education 2015 P a g e | 19 Body Outline
©NSW Department of Education 2015