Fourth Grade Health Standards
Acceptance of Personal Responsibility
for Lifelong Health
Standard 1
The student understands and demonstrates ways inwhich his or her health and well-being can be enhanced
and maintained.
Students in grade four who meet this standard will be able to:
Identify basic health and hygiene practices that benefit overall
personal health.
Compare their food intake to the recommendations of the USDA
Food Guide Pyramid.
Participate regularly in a variety of enjoyable physical activities that
promote fitness.
Demonstrate personal characteristics that contribute to self-confidence,
self-esteem, and responsible behavior.
The following tasks and assignments might be used to determine
whether the student is meeting the standard:
Students, in groups, will create a poster that demonstrates beneficial
health or hygiene practices and display in class.
Students will use a one-day food diary and the Food Guide Pyramid
to identify food groups missing from their diets and the number of
servings of each food group they lack and then propose ways to
increase intake of those foods.
Students will record physical activities that they participate in for a
period of up to a month and analyze them to determine variety,
frequency, and level of enjoyment.
Students will identify characteristics of resiliency and responsible
behavior that are illustrated in selected pieces of literature.
Standard 2 The student understands and demonstrates behaviors
that prevent disease and speed recovery from illness.
Students in grade four who meet this standard will be able to:
Describe symptoms of common illnesses.
Identify good health habits, including personal hygiene habits that
prevent the spread of disease.
Recognize behaviors that speed recovery from illness.
The following tasks and assignments might be used to determine
whether the student is meeting the standard:
Students will create a commercial for an imaginary medicine that will
"treat" symptoms associated with common illnesses.
Students will create skits about how to protect themselves from germs.
Students will create a storybook in which helpful habits to promote
recovery from an illness are demonstrated.
Standard 3
The student will understand and demonstrate behaviorsthat reduce the risk of becoming involved in potentially
dangerous situations and know how to react to situations
in ways that help to protect his or her health.
Students in grade four who meet this standard will be able to:
Identify harmful substances and their effects on the body.
Recognize and respond appropriately to emergencies.
Identify ways to protect themselves from potentially threatening
situations.
Identify hazards in the home and suggest ways to remove them.
Identify ways to protect themselves against coming into contact with
another persons blood.
The following tasks and assignments might be used to determine
whether the student is meeting the standard:
Students will categorize a variety of substances as either healthful or
harmful, indicating why.
Students will analyze crisis scenarios and determine appropriate
actions to follow.
Students will model basic responses to dangerous situations.
Students will complete a home inventory of health hazards and make
recommendations for improvement.
Students will model the treatment of another persons minor injuries,
including using protective procedures against contacting another
persons blood.
Respect for and Promotion of the Health of Others
Standard 4
The student will understand and demonstrate how toplay a positive, active role in promoting the health of his
or her family.
Students in grade four who meet this standard will be able to:
Identify activities that help maintain family health.
Discuss their role and contributions within their own family.
Identify ways to deal with family stress.
The following tasks and assignments might be used to determine
whether the student is meeting the standard:
Students will design a classroom mural depicting healthy activities
in which families can participate.
Students will construct a Venn diagram illustrating family members
roles and responsibilities.
Students will identify what causes stress in a family and suggest ways
in which children can personally lessen the stress of family members.
Standard 5
The student will understand and demonstrate how topromote positive health practices within the school and
community, including how to cultivate positive relationships
with peers.
Students in grade four who meet this standard will be able to:
Evaluate the qualities of friendship.
Identify ways to improve the environment.
Participate in school or community efforts that promote health and
environmental issues.
The following tasks and assignments might be used to determine
whether the student is meeting the standard:
Students will develop a friendship "want ad" displaying the desired
qualities of a friend.
Students will create a light-switch plate cover with an electricity
conservation slogan to use at home.
Students will participate in a class project involving a schoolwide
recycling program.
Standard 6
The student will understand the variety of physical,mental, emotional, and social changes that occur
throughout life.
Students in grade four who meet this standard will be able to:
Describe changes that occur during the life cycle.
Describe the major factors that influence human growth.
The following tasks and assignments might be used to determine
whether the student is meeting the standard:
Students will create a simple time line showing changes in themselves
or in their lives that have already occurred and ones that will
occur in the future.
Students will record their amount of sleep, their amount of exercise,
and the amount and types of foods they consume over one week and
analyze the information to determine whether their health habits
are enhancing growth.
Standard 7
The student will understand individual differences ingrowth and development.
Students in grade four who meet this standard will be able to:
Understand that people vary widely in size, shape, height, and rate
of maturation.
Identify the growth factors that they can and cannot control.
The following tasks and assignments might be used to determine
whether the student is meeting the standard:
Students will record the heights of their peers and will create a chart
of the variations.
Students will distinguish between growth factors that they can
control and those they cannot.
Students will describe ways that people are discriminated against
based on appearance, including body size, and explain why this
discrimination is inappropriate.
Informed Use of Health-Related Information, Products,
and Services
Standard 8
The student will identify products, services, and informationthat may be helpful or harmful to his or her health.
Students in grade four who meet this standard will be able to:
Use nutrition information to make healthful food choices.
Identify the health services available at the school and how to gain
access to these services.
Evaluate advertisements for health care products.
The following tasks and assignments might be used to determine
whether the student is meeting the standard:
Students will compare grams of fat and sugar content of two products
and identify the more healthful one.
After listening to a short presentation by the school principal,
secretary, nurse, counselor, and/or Healthy Start coordinator regarding
the health service that the school provides, students will identify
the appropriate school site resource when given a sample health
problem or issue.
Students will critique advertisements for misleading information.
Health Education StandardsGrade Four