Health Class The Digestive System and How We Poop

Grade: 2
Subject: Health and Wellness
Unit: Wellness Choices
Lesson Duration: 30 minutes

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

General Learning Outcomes:
Students will make responsible and informed choices to maintain health and to promote safety
for self and others.
Specific Learning Outcomes:
W2.3 Demonstrate appreciation for own body; e.g., make positive statements about activities one
can do.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:
1. Discuss the function of poop within the context of human health.
2. Participate in an activity which acts out the human digestive system.
3. Gain a rudimentary understanding of how the human digestive system works.
ASSESSMENTS
Assessment/Success Criteria:
Formative
Students will participate in the
1) The teacher will hold a discussion at the
activity.
beginning and end of the activity in order to
Students will interact with each other
assess student knowledge.
positively and fulfill their assigned
2) The teacher will circulate the room in order to
role.
gauge student interest and answer any questions
Students will gain an understanding of
during the all together now portion of the
the digestive system.
activity.
Summative
N/A
Written/Performance Assessments:
N/A
LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED
Resource #1: Education.com/worksheets
Resource #2: Youtube video How The Digestive System Works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwrsL-lCZYo
MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT
One copy of the Eating worksheet for each student to follow along with.
24 cards, color coded, with four of each:
o Tongue
o Esophagus
o Stomach
o Small Intestine
o Large Intestine
o Rectum

2 buckets, one to be used as a stomach and the other as a toilet

A glass of water
4 small buckets
5-10 construction paper foods (carrot, bread, tomato, steak, cheese, potato, banana,
watermelon)
4 sets of scissors
Absorbent cleaning supplies such as cloths, paper towel, or a mop
YouTube video How The Digestive System Works https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=VwrsL-lCZYo
PROCEDURE

Introduction (6 min.):
Hook/Attention Grabber: Hello grade 2s, so today we are going to learn about poop!
Expectations for Learning and Behaviour: The teacher must acknowledge that the content of this
lesson is sillier than most. Allow the students to have a free pass to laugh and be silly for one
minute. Lay out a clear expectation that the rest of the class will be scientific and that students will be
expected to pay attention and behave. Let them know that they have one minute to get their laughs
out of their system.
Assessment of Prior Knowledge: The teacher will hold a discussion about why we poop. Ask the
students what they think. Come to a conclusion about poop expelling the waste of the body.
Emphasize that this lesson will be focused on the how rather than the why.
Transition to Body: Tell the students that you will be splitting them up into six body parts, and have
them line up.
Body ( 28 min.):
Learning Activity #1: Organizing the Digestive System
1. Have the students come up and each take a card, and a copy of the Eating work sheet to follow
along with.
2. The teacher will instruct the students to organize themselves into the group with a matching color,
and direct them to desks so that the digestive system is in order.
3. Ask the students from each group to try and read their word. Provide assistance if necessary.
Learning Activity #2: The Tongue
1. The teacher will talk about how the first group, the Tongue, is responsible for breaking down food
into smaller pieces and then pushing it down your throat. Emphasize that it is the teeth within the
mouth that are cutting up the food.
2. The teacher will introduce ask the class to collectively choose their first piece of food.
3. Each member of the tongue group will be instructed to cut the piece of food three times.
4. The food will be passed along to the esophagus group.
Learning Activity #3: The Esophagus
1. The teacher will talk about how the next group, the esophagus, passes food down the throat using
muscles.

2. The students of this group will be asked to pass all of the ripped up pieces from small bucket to
small bucket and then into the stomach bucket.
Learning Activity #4: The Stomach
1. The teacher will talk about how the next group, the stomach, breaks down the food using acids and
muscles.
2. The students of this group will mix the chopped up food with a small amount of water and pass it
on. Each student will be instructed to mix the stomach bucket a little bit.
3. The last person in the stomach group will be asked to scoop out the food: and place it on the first
table of the small intestine group.
Learning Activity #5: The Small Intestine
1. The teacher will talk about how the small intestine is responsible for breaking down food further
and absorbing nutrients.
2. The students in this group will be instructed to rip up the soggy food and pass it down even
further to the large intestine.
Learning Activity #6: The Large Intestine
1. The teacher will discuss how the large intestine passes the mostly waste along while also absorbing
some nutrients.
2. The students in this group will be instructed to divide up the soggy waste from the small intestine
and smush it into a ball.
3.The balls will be passed to the last group, the rectum.
Learning Activity #7: The Esophagus
1. The teacher will discuss how the rectum takes the final product, fecal matter, and expels it from the
body through the anus.
2. Students in this group will be asked to each take a ball of poo and toss it into the toilet (a
bucket not very far away).
Learning Activity #8: All Together Now
1. The teacher will emphasize that all parts of the digestive system have to work together in order to
function.
2. The teacher will tell the students that it is time to put their digestive system to the test. Now that
everyone knows their jobs, it is time to eat a lot more food.
3. The teacher will begin passing the students the rest of the food items one at a time.
4. If the teacher notices a jam, they will intervene to correct behavior and continue the flow.
5. As the steadiness improves, the teacher will increase the speed of feeding the students.
Sponge Activity:
In the event that the activity does not take as long as imagines, the teacher will show a short Youtube
video about the digestive system.
In the event that there is still time left over, students will be instructed to color their Eating
worksheets.
Closure ( 6 min.):
Consolidation/Assessment of Learning: The teacher will ask the students what they learned about the

digestive system and poop.

Feedback From Students: The teacher will field student comments/questions.
Feedback To Students: The teacher will have the students clean up the supplies and prepare to go
home.