You Want to Lose Your Ears? is an infographic produced by Big Oak for the Ear Plug Superstore. As you can see in the image below, the infographic outlines some common and uncommon causes of hearing loss. The infographic also recommends some ways to prevent hearing loss.
If the pharmaceutical commercials on television are any indication, we're right in the middle of cold and flu season. What is the difference between having a cold and having the flu? Explania has the answer in the video below.
When I saw this video I immediately thought of our school nurse who reminds at nearly every staff meeting to wash our hands and stay home if we're sick with a cold or the flu. This video won't replace her messages to us, but it could be a nice supplement to her message. The video is also a good resource for a health class.
Visualizing.org is a community site for sharing data visualizations (aka infographics). Anyone can upload their data visualizations to the public gallery. The public gallery is divided into four categories; economy, environment, health, and energy. Visualizations in the gallery can be downloaded, printed, and or embedded into your blog or website. Some of the visualizations in the gallery, such as this one embedded below, are interactive.
Visualizing.org could be a good place to find infographics to use at the start of a research activity. For example, take the infographic embedded above and ask students to research the causes of and impact of high obesity rates on communities.
As a kid I dreaded going to the dentist's office (as an adult I still don't love it), but love it or hate it, if you have teeth you should visit it. One way to make the experience easier is to practice good dental hygiene and avoid cavities. To help kids understand how cavities start and grow, Josh Kurz produced a short entertaining video about cavities. Watch the video below.
Scrub Club is a website designed to teach students why they need to wash their hands. The Scrub Club offers videos, comics, and games designed to promote healthy hygiene habits to prevent the spread of diseases like the flu. For teachers, Scrub Club offers free downloads of posters, cartoon books, and lesson plans to promote hand washing. The downloads are available in English, Spanish, and French.
Applications for Education
With the flu and cold season upon us, it's a good time to remind students of the importance of hand washing. The Scrub Club offers some nice resources for sharing those reminders with students in grade K through 3.
As I write this the House is still debating the health care bill passed by the Senate on Saturday. Perhaps in the morning we'll have the House's vote. For some long-term perspective on health care reform efforts and legislation in the United States, The New York Times has an interactive timeline you should explore.
A History of Overhauling Health Care begins in 1912 with Teddy Roosevelt's plan, proposed while campaigning as the "Bull Moose" candidate, for national health insurance, women's suffrage, and other social welfare improvements. The timeline eventually ends on March 21, 2010. Along with each summary on the timeline there are links to New York Times articles about each event on the timeline.
Applications for Education If your future lesson plans call for a discussion of the health care debate, this interactive timeline could be useful for providing your students with a historical overview of the debate.