I am a fan of crowdsourcing information, which is what this activity, from the Puberty Basics chapter in Changes, Changes, Changes, asks students to do. Or rather, what it can do, depending on how the teacher decides to implement it.
EXPERIENCING PUBERTY
True or False Exercise
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Name the main hormones associated with puberty in boys and girls.
- List two facts about male and female internal sex organs.
Rationale:
Puberty is caused by an upsurge of hormones in both male and female bodies. These hormones are responsible for both physical and psychological changes. By participating in this activity, students will become familiar with the roles of estrogen and testosterone in puberty as well as the mechanisms by which they are produced in internal sex organs. Furthermore, this exercise will provide an interactive environment in which students can actively engage with the material.
The instructions for this lesson are for the educator to read a series of statements about the reproductive and hormonal anatomy, some of which are true, while others are false. (There is an educator resource identifying the true and false statements and providing the correct answers for the false statements.) The students are to stand on one or the other side of the room to indicate if they believe the statement to be true or false. While the activity as described has the educator provide the correct answers and then move on to the next statement, I encourage a more interactive approach. Here are a few possibilities:
- After the students have chosen their “sides,” let them argue it out. If everyone is on the correct side, everyone gets a piece of candy or other small prize.
- Create teams and the teams have to vote true or false as a block and keep score.
- Invite students to use their phones or iPads to find the answers and time them.
Activities like these leave so much room for creativity on the part of the facilitator!
The activity is followed-up with a series of six processing questions that remain engaging and informative regardless of the approach to the activity itself. The two questions I think will elicit the most thoughtful responses are:
- What was it like doing this activity?
- Which questions were the easiest? Which were more challenging?
I think we could ask these two questions after most of our activities and provide for thoughtful, interesting responses.
