# Handout 3.1: Lifespan Timeline Sort Cards

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Period: ______

**Directions:** Your team gets 21 cards. Each card describes a picture of a person. Read the card, decide which stage of the lifespan the person is in, and put the card under that stage on your table timeline. Then write the card number on your sort sheet under the right stage and mark which aspect of development the card shows: **P** (physical, the body), **E** (emotional, the feelings), **S** (social, the people), or **I** (intellectual, the thinking). Some cards show two aspects; pick the one that is strongest and be ready to say why.

### Word bank in other languages

[Check with a native speaker before printing.]

| English | Turkish | Portuguese | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|
| stage | aşama | etapa | etapa |
| baby (infant) | bebek | bebê | bebé |
| child | çocuk | criança | niño, niña |
| teenager | ergen | adolescente | adolescente |
| adult | yetişkin | adulto | adulto |
| to grow | büyümek | crescer | crecer |

## Part 1: The seven stages (copy from the board)

| Stage | Age range | Picture cue |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Infancy | birth to about 1 | a crib |
| 2. Early childhood | about 1 to 5 | a tricycle |
| 3. Middle childhood | about 6 to 11 | a backpack |
| 4. Adolescence | about 12 to 18 | a phone |
| 5. Young adulthood | about 19 to 39 | a work badge |
| 6. Middle adulthood | about 40 to 64 | a house key |
| 7. Older adulthood | 65 and up | a cane |

The four aspects: **P**hysical (body), **E**motional (feelings), **S**ocial (people), **I**ntellectual (thinking).

## The 21 cards (cut apart before class; one set per team)

Each card has a number, a picture described in words, and nothing else. Do not write the stage on the card.

| Card | Picture, described in words |
|---|---|
| 1 | A baby on its back on a blanket, reaching for a soft toy hanging above, mouth open, legs kicking. |
| 2 | A baby held against an adult's shoulder, eyes closed, one tiny hand gripping the adult's collar. |
| 3 | A baby sitting up on the floor with a blanket over a toy in front of it, staring at the blanket and starting to pull it. |
| 4 | A small child on a tricycle on a sidewalk, tongue out in concentration, an adult walking a step behind. |
| 5 | A small child at a low table holding a block up to one ear like a phone and talking to it. |
| 6 | Two small children in a sandbox, side by side, each digging their own hole, not looking at each other. |
| 7 | A child at a kitchen table with a workbook open, counting on fingers, a pencil with the eraser chewed. |
| 8 | A child on a bicycle with no training wheels, wobbling, an adult's hands just let go, both grinning. |
| 9 | Four children on a playground in a circle, arguing about the rules of a game, one pointing at another. |
| 10 | A teenager asleep face down on a bed at 2 in the afternoon, sneakers still on, a phone lit up on the pillow. |
| 11 | A teenager in a mirror trying on a third shirt, two others on the floor, a clock showing they are late. |
| 12 | A group of teenagers at a lunch table leaning in over one phone, all laughing, one at the end looking at their own phone. |
| 13 | A young adult in a work uniform holding car keys in one hand and a stack of mail in the other; a bill and a coffee mug on the counter; a photo of a small child on the fridge. |
| 14 | Two young adults carrying a couch up the stairs of an apartment building, one laughing, one sweating. |
| 15 | A young adult at a desk late at night with a laptop, a textbook, and a name tag from a first job on the desk. |
| 16 | A middle-aged adult coaching a youth soccer team, whistle around the neck, clipboard in hand, reading glasses pushed up on their head. |
| 17 | A middle-aged adult on the phone in a kitchen with a calendar on the wall covered in writing: a parent's doctor visit, a child's game, a work trip. |
| 18 | A middle-aged adult at a table with a teenager, both looking at a college brochure, the adult's hand on the teenager's shoulder. |
| 19 | An older adult in a garden on their knees with a trowel, a cane resting against the fence, a hat against the sun. |
| 20 | An older adult at a kitchen table teaching a child to fold dumplings, flour on both of their hands. |
| 21 | An older adult reading a large-print book in a chair by a window with a pill organizer and a cup of tea on the side table. |

## Part 2: Sort sheet

Write each card number under its stage. Next to the number, write the aspect letter (P, E, S, or I).

| Stage | Card numbers and aspect letters |
|---|---|
| Infancy | |
| Early childhood | |
| Middle childhood | |
| Adolescence | |
| Young adulthood | |
| Middle adulthood | |
| Older adulthood | |

Grade 6: sort all 21 cards to a stage; write the aspect letter on any ten.

Our team's two hardest cards and why: ____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

## Part 3: What each stage needs

Pick two stages. For each, write what a person in that stage needs most from the people around them. Then one sentence: which of the two needs is harder to meet, and why?

Sentence starter: "A person in ___ needs ___ most because ___."

Stage 1: ______________________ needs: ______________________________________________________

Stage 2: ______________________ needs: ______________________________________________________

Harder to meet: _______________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Grade 8 stretch: pick two cards that might change stage if the person had a disability or lived in another country. Why might the stage stay the same even if the age does not?

____________________________________________________________________________________________

## Exit card (3-2-1)

3 stages in order with an age range: _____________________________________________________________

2 things that change in adolescence (one physical, one that is not): ____________________________________

1 stage I want to know more about: _______________________________________________________________

* * *

## Teacher key

| Stage | Cards | Strongest aspect (accept a second with a reason) |
|---|---|---|
| Infancy | 1, 2, 3 | 1 P (reaching, kicking); 2 E (comfort, attachment); 3 I (object permanence, searching) |
| Early childhood | 4, 5, 6 | 4 P (pedaling, balance); 5 I (pretend play, symbols); 6 S (parallel play, side by side) |
| Middle childhood | 7, 8, 9 | 7 I (school skills, counting); 8 P (balance, coordination; accept E for pride); 9 S (rules, friends, fairness) |
| Adolescence | 10, 11, 12 | 10 P (sleep shift, growth; accept E); 11 E (self-image; accept S); 12 S (peers; the one alone at the end is the discussion point) |
| Young adulthood | 13, 14, 15 | 13 S (family, work; accept E for tired but smiling); 14 S (friends, independence); 15 I (learning a job; accept E) |
| Middle adulthood | 16, 17, 18 | 16 S (giving back, mentoring); 17 E (caring for two generations; accept S); 18 S (guiding a teen; accept E) |
| Older adulthood | 19, 20, 21 | 19 P (still active, with support); 20 S (passing on tradition; accept I); 21 P (health care routine; accept I) |

Close calls on purpose: card 8 (a first bike could be late early childhood; the missing training wheels put it in middle childhood), card 15 (a first job could be late adolescence; the laptop, textbook, and night point to young adulthood), card 13 (young or middle adulthood; the small child in the photo tips it young; this card is item 12 on the quiz), card 20 (the child could make a student sort it under early childhood; the older adult is the subject).

Part 3 needs, the board list from Lesson 3.1: infancy, safety, feeding, holding; early childhood, play, words, patience, a safe space to move; middle childhood, school, friends, rules, encouragement; adolescence, independence with limits, sleep, someone to listen; young adulthood, work, partners and friends, a start; middle adulthood, support while caring for others, health, purpose; older adulthood, care, respect, company, being useful. Any reasonable answer with a "because" earns credit.