Slide outline for Lesson 3.4, two days. Slides 1 to 12 are Day 1. Slides 13 to 22 are Day 2: the Lifespan Lightning review game and the quiz. The influences map is private; slide 8 says so and Sal says so twice.
Heredity, Environment, and Who I Am Becoming
- Lesson 3.4, Day 1: Growing Across the Lifespan
- Unit 3: Growing Up, Getting Along
- Do now: Heredity means what you were born with. Environment means everything around you. Write H, E, or both: (1) your eye color, (2) how good you are at math, (3) whether you like spicy food
Teacher notes
Hands for each. Eye color gets H. Math and spicy food split the room. That split is the lesson.
Most of you is "both"
- Eye color: born with it
- Math: born with some of it; the rest is who taught you and how often you practiced
- Spicy food: born with a tongue; the kitchen you grew up in did the rest
- Today: how much of you is which, and who did it
Teacher notes
Image: a plain figure with two arrows pointing in, one labeled "heredity" and one labeled "environment."
Heredity
- Passed from your biological parents through genes
- Your height range
- Eye and hair color
- Some health risks (allergies run in families)
- Some of your temperament (the raw material of shy or outgoing)
Teacher notes
Image: a simple family tree with three generations, no names.
Students copy the definition onto Part 1.
Environment
- Everything and everyone around you since birth
- Family, home, food, sleep
- School, friends, language, neighborhood
- Screens, money, luck
- Everything on yesterday's list of what a child needs
Teacher notes
Students copy the definition.
The honest part
- Almost every trait is both
- Height: inherited range; food and sleep decide where in the range you land
- Temperament: inherited; the people around you teach you what to do with it
- Your first language: born able to learn any language; got the one in the house
Teacher notes
The first language example fixes the "everything is heredity" mistake fastest. Use it again in the check.
The everyday sort
- Ten items on Part 1. Pairs. H, E, or B
- Eye color, height, your accent, being ticklish, liking a certain music
- Being shy or outgoing, being good at drawing, your first language, a food allergy, how you handle losing
- Write a reason for three. 8 minutes
Teacher notes
Grade 6 does six items.
The reveal
- H: eye color
- E: accent, first language, how you handle losing (mostly), liking a certain music (mostly)
- B: height, ticklish, shy or outgoing, good at drawing, a food allergy
- If you had a good reason for a different letter, keep it and write the reason
Teacher notes
Thumbs: up for eight or more. Whiteboard: "H, E, or B for 'your first language'?" E is the got-it answer.
My influences map
- A circle in the middle: me
- Three rings: people, places, things
- At least eight influences. No names; use roles ("a coach," "my aunt")
- Label each with the aspect it shaped most: P, E, S, I
- Star the three biggest
- This page is yours. It goes in your folder. Nobody reads it unless you want them to
Teacher notes
Image: the blank map from the handout.
Say the privacy line now and again when you collect Part 3.
A fictional example
- People: a coach (P), a grandmother (S), a fourth-grade teacher (I)
- Places: a kitchen (S), a basketball court (P), a library (I)
- Things: a bike (P), a language (I), a phone (E)
- Stars: the grandmother, the court, the language
Teacher notes
This is a made-up map. Model how a role replaces a name.
Build yours
- 13 minutes
- If the rings are too small, use the table on the handout
- Grade 6 and IEP/504: at least five
- When you are done: which one influence has done the most to make you who you are?
Teacher notes
Circulate to check for eight entries and letters, not content.
Share by choice, then Part 3
- Anyone want to share one influence and one aspect? No names
- Then Part 3: the biggest one. Three sentences: what it is (a role), what aspect it shaped, why it beat the other two stars
- Part 3 is the only thing I collect
Teacher notes
Take three volunteers. Sentence starter: "The biggest influence on me is ___ because ___."
Exit card and tomorrow
- 3 things about you that are mostly environment
- 2 that are mostly heredity
- 1 influence you want more of next year
- Tomorrow: Lifespan Lightning, then the Lifespan Stages Quiz (15 minutes, 12 items, no notes)
Teacher notes
Two students read their "1" by choice.
Day 2: Lifespan Lightning and the quiz
- Do now: write the seven stages in order without looking. Then write what object permanence means
- Then: four rounds of Lifespan Lightning, teams of four, one whiteboard each
- Then: the quiz, last 15 minutes
Teacher notes
Put the board timeline up after they write.
How Lifespan Lightning works
- Draw a card or hear a question. Write the answer on the whiteboard. Hold it up at "boards up"
- One point per right board
- Anything half the room misses, we fix right then
- Four rounds: stages, milestones, myth or fact, heredity or environment
Teacher notes
Score on the board. Keep it moving; 17 minutes for four rounds.
Round 1: stages (the 21 cards)
- A card is read aloud (described in words)
- Write the stage
- Six cards, one per team turn
Teacher notes
Use the close-call cards (8, 13, 15, 20) on purpose.
Round 2: milestones
- Most babies sit without help at about ___ months
- Most babies walk at about ___ months
- A baby searches for a hidden toy at about ___ months. What is that called?
- Two-word sentences arrive at about ___ years
- Pretend play starts at about ___ years
- A 10-month-old cries when a parent leaves the room. Good sign or bad sign?
Teacher notes
Answers: 6; 12 to 15; 8 to 12, object permanence; 2; 2 to 3; good sign.
Round 3: myth or fact
- Teenagers need less sleep than younger children
- The braking part of the brain keeps building into the mid 20s
- Mood swings usually mean something is wrong
- Everyone the same age should be at the same point
- Risks feel bigger and more exciting now than they will later
- Taking risks is always bad
Teacher notes
M, F, M, M, F, M.
Round 4: heredity or environment
- Eye color
- Your accent
- Height
- Your first language
- Being shy or outgoing
- Two siblings, same house, different personalities: possible or impossible?
Teacher notes
H, E, B, E, B, possible (different friends, birth order, treatment, choices).
Fix-it minute
- Anything half the room missed goes here
- [Sal: leave blank; fill from the game]
Teacher notes
Thirty seconds per fix. Then the quiz.
The quiz
- Desks clear. Influences map in the folder
- 12 items. 15 minutes. No notes
- Word banks are on the page
- Item 12 uses a card described in words
- Fill the exit line at the bottom before you hand it in
Teacher notes
Read the directions aloud. Start the timer.
Accommodations reminder (for the teacher; not shown)
- Read aloud on request
- Item 12 may be answered orally
- Extended time into tomorrow's do now, or the quiet room
- Bilingual dictionary allowed
Teacher notes
Hide this slide when presenting.
Next week
- Topic 3.2: self-concept, friends, and stress
- Bring the influences map. It comes back
- Nothing about you gets shared out loud unless you choose
Teacher notes
Say this after the quiz is collected, in the last minute.