Elementary School Science

Input:
What is the most important content in this lesson?
To reach this lesson’s objective, students need to understand:

• Medical terms associated with pregnancy.

• How two cells combine to create a new cell (sexual reproduction)

• Stages of embryonic development.

• How a fetus develops in the mother’s womb.

• The Apgar score and how a baby is tested immediately after birth.

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How will the learning of this content be facilitated?

• The class will begin with the teacher showing the video “Pregnancy and Fetal Development” (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgyTjsMlrjE). The video is about one minute long and explains how a cell becomes a fetus.

**The video also discusses some medical terms that may be confusing for the students. To avoid any confusion, the sound can be muted so that the students just see the graphics. This would be at the teacher’s discretion**

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• After the video is shown, the teacher should hand out the “What’s Your Guess?” worksheet. The worksheet has a list of 11 words/ medical terms that are associated with pregnancy. The teacher should allow the students about 10 minutes to complete the worksheet. The teacher should explain to the students that they are not being graded on the worksheet and that it is just an activity to check for prior knowledge on the topic and to expose them to the medical terms they will be learning about. After 10 minutes is up, review the worksheet with the students.

**Refer to the teacher’s copy of the worksheet for the answers. Project the “What’s Your Guess?” worksheet onto the board using a projector or put into a PowerPoint document and project**

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• Next, the teacher should show the students the picture of the fetus. The teacher should begin a discussion about the fetus. The teacher should hand out the “All About Babies” worksheet. If it is possible, project the “All About Babies” worksheet onto the board using a projector or put into a PowerPoint document and project so that the teacher can point to the while they explain. As the teacher explains, the students will fill in the blanks on their worksheet. From this activity, the students will learn about the development of a cell into a fetus.

**The student worksheet does not contain all of this information. Use this as a guide to help explain the endocrine system more in depth to the students**

• A baby is formed when cells from the father and cells from the mother come together to form a new cell.

• A fetus is an unborn baby. But, before it is called a “baby”, medical professionals use other terms to describe it.

• First, the baby is a zygote (single cell). A zygote then develops into an embryo (usually after 8 weeks). After the embryo has been inside the mother’s womb (point to the stomach—that’s what many students can relate too) for 10 weeks, it is officially called a fetus.

• The fetus grows inside the mother’s womb for a total of 9 months (36 weeks). The 9 months are broken up into “trimesters”. There are three trimesters throughout the mother’s pregnancy. Each trimester is 13 weeks.

• The fetus is connected to the mother by an umbilical cord. The umbilical cord carries blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the baby. When the baby is born, doctors cut the umbilical cord. If you look at your stomach, you will see your bellybutton. Your bellybutton is where your umbilical cord was when you were developing inside your mother.

• As the weeks go on, the fetus grows more and more and eventually, the mother feels movement. The first movements the mother feels are called quickening. As the mother gets closer to her due date, or the date the doctors predict the baby will be born, the mother feels more and more movements (kicking, punching, seeing her stomach move from one side to the other).

• During pregnancy, the mother sees her doctor often. Show the students the picture of the ultrasound. An ultrasound is a special scan that the doctor does so that the doctor and the mother can see the baby. Often, a mother gets a copy of the ultrasound to show her family/friends.

• Show the students the picture of the fetus growth chart. When the 9 months (36 weeks) have come to an end, the mother will go into labor. The mother will feel contractions, or muscle movements that indicate it is time for her to get to the hospital to deliver her baby.

• At the hospital, doctors, nurses, and special doctors called obstetricians help to deliver the baby. Labor, or childbirth, can be painful for the mother. Some mothers are in labor for only a few hours, while some mothers are in labor for many hours.

• Once the baby is really ready to exit its mother’s womb, the mother will give birth and a new baby will be born.

**After presenting the worksheet, the teacher should allow for any questions the students may have. It is important any misconceptions are cleared up early on**

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Information Source:

Medical Terminology for Healthcare Professionals by Ann Ehrlich and Carol L. Schroeder. © 2012.

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• Next, the teacher should hand out the “Stages of Embryonic and Fetal Development” worksheet. If it is possible, project the “Stages of Embryonic and Fetal Development” worksheet onto the board using a projector or put into a PowerPoint document and project so that the teacher can point to the while they explain. As the teacher explains, the students will write the name of each stage on the line. From this activity, the students will about the stages of embryonic and fetal development as well as connect visuals to terms.

• Next, the teacher should hand out the “Your First Test: The Apgar Score” information sheet. If it is possible, project the “Your First Test: The Apgar Score” information sheet onto the board using a projector or put into a PowerPoint document and project so that the teacher can point to the while they explain. As the teacher explains, the students should follow along.

**Refer to the teacher’s copy of the worksheet**

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• For the activity, the students will break into pairs. The teacher will give each pair a Zip-Loc bag with 20 “Embryonic Development Cards”.  10 cards will be the names of the stages and 10 cards will be pictures of each stage. The students will play a match game with the cards. Tell the students to place the cards on the desk, face/words down. The first player will pick a card and see if they can find the name of the stage (if the card had the stage’s description) or the description of the stage (if the card had the name of the stage). Allow the students to use their “Stages of Embryonic and Fetal Development” worksheet as a guide for the last 5 minutes only. Allow the students about 15 minutes play the game. Reconvene when 15 minutes is over and review.

• The final assessment will be for the students to answer the question:

Think about what you learned in class today. What is a baby called when it is only a single cell? What is the baby called when it is 8 weeks? 10 weeks? Where does the baby grow? How many months (or weeks) does the mother carry her baby? What is it called when the mother goes into the hospital to have her baby? Write one interesting fact you learned about pregnancy.