My health in Australia
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Introduction
In this set of interconnected learning experiences, students investigate what health is and how the Australian Government supports the health and wellbeing of adolescents.
Students:
- engage with the interconnected nature of health and wellbeing
- examine how connecting to the environment can enhance health and wellbeing
- investigate health spending in Australia.
Achievement standard
By the end of Year 8, students analyse factors that influence identities, emotions and responses to change, and describe strategies to respond to these influences. They analyse how stereotypes, respect, empathy and valuing diversity influence relationships. Students analyse the effectiveness of assertive communication strategies, protective behaviours and help-seeking strategies applied online and offline. They analyse health information and messages to propose strategies that enhance their own and others’ health, safety, relationships and wellbeing. Students apply and transfer movement skills and movement concepts across a range of situations. They implement and evaluate the effectiveness of movement strategies on movement outcomes. Students propose and evaluate strategies designed to achieve personal health, fitness and wellbeing outcomes. They select, use and refine strategies to support inclusion, fair play and collaboration across a range of movement contexts.
Content descriptions
Investigate how media and influential people impact attitudes, beliefs, decisions and behaviours in relation to health, safety, relationships and wellbeing. (AC9HP8P09)
Plan and implement strategies, using health resources, to enhance their own and others’ health, safety, relationships and wellbeing. (AC9HP8P10)
Participate in physical activities that utilise community spaces and outdoor settings, and evaluate strategies to support increased use of these spaces. (AC9HP8M05)
Teacher resources
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What is tax?
What is the government Budget?
Student learning resources
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Being outside
Our share
Y-chart template
Suggested activity sequence
This sequence is intended as a framework to be modified and adapted by teachers to suit the needs of a class group. If you assign this activity to a class, your students will be assigned all student resources on their 'My learning' page. You can also hand-pick the resources students are assigned by selecting individual resources when you add a work item to a class in 'My classes'.
Part A: Our health
For this activity you will need balloons and space for students to work with them.
- Use a grouping strategy to organise students into groups of 5.
- Explain that each person represents one aspect of health - physical, social, emotional, mental, spiritual.
- Provide each group with a balloon to blow up.
- Students join hands to make a circle of 5 people.
- While staying connected, see how many times in 60 seconds students can tap the balloon without letting it hit the ground.
- Repeat for another 60 seconds but this time, one person keeps their hands (and the hand connected to the person on either side of them) by their sides and does not participate in the tapping.
- Ask: What happened?
- Debrief: This is what happens when one part of your health is not functioning well. It has an impact on the others. Each part is important – especially in adolescence.
Part B: Look – sound – feel
- Groups use a Y-chart to discuss and record what positive health and wellbeing looks like, sounds like and feels like for:
- them
- other young people
- their community.
- Groups share their responses with the class.
Part C: Being outside
- Explain that students will be conducting a short activity to find out how and why connecting to the outdoor environment contributes to positive health and wellbeing.
- Students individually complete part 1 of the worksheet
- As a class, discuss why the outdoor environment is important to people’s health and wellbeing.
- Play: What is tax? This video explains what tax is, who collects it and what it is used for.
- Pairs of students complete the part 2 of the worksheet.
- As a class, discuss why the government uses tax revenue to fund outdoor space and whether this is a good use of taxpayers’ money.
Part D: Our share
- Play: What is the government budget? as an introduction to this investigation.
Introduce the cost of health care in Australia.
The Australian Government spends a lot of money every year on many health and aged care services and sport programs. For example, in 2019–20, the government was forecast to spend $104 billion on health, aged care and sport.For the most recent statistics, visit budget.gov.au.
- Pairs of students conduct an investigation into the cost of health care in Australia.
- Pairs share their findings through class discussion.