Skip to main content

Be Body Wise with Napo: Skin

Napo discovers many different situations where exposure to chemicals and other substances can cause skin problems. He learns about the amazing qualities of the skin, and strips naked to show the audience: ‘Everything you always wanted to know about... your skin’. He identifies measures to prevent problems and has three important messages: Avoid – Protect – Check.
Teacher guidance
Do you need help to organise a learning activity in your classroom?

Lesson

This toolkit introduces the importance of protecting the skin and back from simple, everyday risks. Through a series of tasks and activities, the toolkits aim to help children recognise risk to physical health and safety from avoidable behaviour, to predict similar risks in new situations and to explain how to avoid such risks.

Learning Objectives

To recognise risks to physical health and safety from avoidable behaviour.

To predict similar risks in new situations.

To explain how to avoid such risks.

Starter

5 minutes

Possible activities are:

  • Show a picture or photograph of a body.

Pupils have to estimate an answer to this question: How much skin covers the human body? (Answer: 1.8- 2.0m2).

  • Discuss with the children if they (or their parents) have ever experienced problems to the skin.
Activities

40/45 minutes

Possible activity 1:

Watch the first Napo clip provided with this lesson: Risks to Skin

Protect Your Skin – introduction and an edited selection of scenes.

Danger, Chemicals – Corrosive and Irritant scenes

Discussion about our skin and how it is vulnerable to damage. Extend the discussion to heat, cold, sun damage and chemicals, including detergents. Consider other dangers such as insects, plants that can cause skin-irritation (e.g. nettles) etc. Consider ways we can protect our skin.

Organise a game where the children should discover what could be danger- ous to the skin in their outdoor and indoor environment (e.g. the children have to investigate if there are some plants that cause skin-irritation, spine- bushes or insects that sting).

Possible activity 2:

Draw round their hands on a piece of plain paper; in each finger write a way to protect your skin from risk, such as wear gloves, don’t touch, apply sun cream and wear a hat (to protect from the sun).

EXTENSION WORK-Napo’s Hazard Holiday

Write or act out a story about when Napo goes on a holiday and learns about the risks to his body with specific reference to the skin.

This could include:

  • Sunbathing without cream
  • Getting bitten by a jelly fish
  • Changing the oil in his car
Assessment

Each pupil tells the class what it means to be body wise with specific reference to the skin and gives examples.

Test how far pupils have met the learning objectives using the continuum below.

Teacher and students assess their learning using this tool:

  • Gold: I can explain at least three types of risk to the skin and how to prevent it.
  • Silver: I can explain two types of risk to the skin and how to prevent it.
  • Bronze: I can explain one type of risk to the skin and how to prevent it.
Resources required
  • Plain white paper and pencils
  • Hand template
  • Risks to skin
  • Help sheet for teachers: skin related risks
  • Go to video

To download the provided resources, go to: Resource library

Download