Grade Level: Fourth

Source: Meeks, L., Heit, P., and Page, R. (1996). Comprehensive School Health Education (2^nd ed.). Blacklick, OH: Meeks Heit Publishing Company.

Objectives:

• Students will identify the effects of stress on the body.
• Students will identify situations which may cause stress.
• Students will identify ways to manage stress.

• Teaching master, "The Effects of Stress on the Body"
• Transparency projector
• Inflated balloon
• Pin
• Chalk, chalkboard

• Stress - the response of a person’s mind or body to a demand.
• Stressor - the source or cause of stress.
• Pupil - the dark circle in the eye that opens and closes to control light.
• Heart rate - the speed that your heart beats per minute.

1. Blow up a balloon before the students arrive and keep it hidden under your desk. After the students are sitting quietly at their desks, use the pin to burst the balloon. There will be a loud noise and the students will be startled.
2. Ask the students to share what happened inside their bodies when they heard the loud, sudden noise. For example, students may respond that their heart rate increased; they became frightened; their muscles became tight because they jumped when the balloon popped. Write these responses on the chalkboard.
3. Explain that when the balloon burst, their bodies reacted uncontrollably to the noise. Therefore, they were feeling the effects of stress. Explain that there are certain physical changes that occur when a person experiences stress. Explain that everyone experiences stress, but not everyone reacts to the same stressors.
4. Explain that there are many different causes of stress. Have students share ways stress may be caused in their lives. For example, they may have an argument with a friend or a family member; their parents may have an argument; they may be moving to another neighborhood; they may be called a name by a classmate; they may have procrastinated on a school project. These are some ways a person may feel stress.
5. Explain that there are positive ways to deal with stress. How you handle stress may depend upon the cause. For example, if a student has an argument with a friend, (s)he may speak to the friend to settle their differences. A counselor at school may help a student who is feeling the effects of stress. Ask students what they would do if they had not completed a project that was due the following day. Some answers may be to talk to the teacher to request a deadline extension, turn in what is complete and ask for an extra credit assignment, but, most importantly, do not procrastinate on the next assignment!
6. Explain that stress is a natural reaction that the body uses to protect itself. Stress prepares the body for action. This is good when the source of stress is a physical danger that you need to avoid. However, when a person has mental or social stress, the body prepares itself in the same way. Without the physical release of danger avoidance, the effects of stress, over time, can be harmful.
7. Show the teaching master, "The Effects Of Stress On The Body." Review the physical effects of stress on the body.

1. As a class collaboration, identify different situations that might cause stress for the students. Write these situations on the chalkboard. Ask students to choose one situation and, in their journals, describe, in detail, how their body would react to the situation and how they can positively resolve the situation. Ask them also what they can do to prevent or diminish the effects of the stressful situation in the future. Explain that this plan is called stress management.