Lesson One – Skin

Be Body Wise with Napo

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.

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Teacher guidance:

It is never too early to introduce children to the basic safety concepts that for adults come under the umbrella of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH).

Napo is a charming character who can help children think, understand and act on safety issues. To find out more about Napo, click here: Who is Napo There is a wide range of Napo films, so please feel free to explore them and use in your own classes.

Some of the basic safety concepts in this lesson plan can link to curriculum already being taught. This resource presents a range of great ideas which you can use to help integrate these safety concepts into your lessons. It can work as a lesson or be part of a wider project. It links to other subjects, as shown, but its main purpose is to use the engaging Napo films to teach children about how to take care of their bodies and avoid long-term damage, although not every risk the body faces is included here. In fact, this project focuses on risks to the skin (the back is covered in lesson two), but please check the Napo website for films covering other risks to the body, such as to the eyes, if you would like to incorporate those into your lessons.

The grid overleaf gives an overview of potential activities, objectives and resources required for the session. This is followed by a more detailed example three-part lesson plan with an idea for extending the lesson. In this lesson children will use the Napo video clips to discover the risks to their own physical health and safety and how to protect them- selves against such risks.

This lesson can lead into a story writing work where the pupils can put some of the dangers they have been consid- ering into a real context.

If you need more information on basic safety and health topics raised in this project, you can find it in the corre- sponding helpsheet for this lesson plan in the third section.

Learning Objectives

To recognise risks to physical health and safety

To predict similar risks in new situations

To explain how to avoid such risks

Activity Overview - See lesson plan for further detail

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

Resources Required

Napo film clip (provided)

Plain white paper and pencils

Hand template (optional, provided)

Links to subjects/curriculum

Personal, social and health education

Rules for and ways of keeping safe

To evaluate risks to personal health and limit them where possible

Physical Education

To assess the risk within any physical activity and respond with preventive behaviours

Science

To recognise warning signs and labels and take notice of them

Citizenship/Education for civil life

To recognise hazards, assess consequent risks and risk control

Foreign/Native Language

Writing simple sentences to complete a story with a beginning, middle and end structure

Be Body Wise with Napo Lesson One – 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.

Read more about Be Body Wise with Napo Lesson One – Skin

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