Life Expectancy - Explanation Game
Health Education Standard 1 - "Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health."
1.12.3. Analyze how environment and personal health are interrelated.
Health Education Standard 5 – “Students will Demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.”
5.12.5. Predict the potential short and long-term impact of each alternative on self and others.
Learning Goal:
Students will analyze potential long-term impact of decision making skills to enhance health on self and others.
Content:
Scientific Phenomena: Life Expectancy around the World
Part 1 - Global View
Activity Purpose:
The purpose of this activity is to analyze healthy and unhealthy behaviors along with predicting long term impacts on self and others.
Explanation Game
Begin by viewing a series of images displayed either in the classroom or online. Students will go to the following Padlet. Students may add any word that they associate with the image. If in a classroom setting, group students in 3-4 per group and have one person record at their table. After 5 min, students may record their thoughts on Padlet. Group Discussion Prompt: i) What do you see within the image?
Instructor Guide:
Answers may vary but here is a start:
Image 1: Range of life expectancy. Blue = longest life expectancy (n=80+ years). Dark red = lowest life expectancy (n= 50-60 years)
Image 2: Difficulty accessing clean drinking water. Diarrheal disease (ex: cholera) is a major cause of death in low income countries or where education and access to basic needs are challenging. Risk Factor
Image 3: Elderly person smoking. This act has high correlation with cancer and cardiovascular disease. Risk Factor.
Image 4: Physical activity. This act has a correlation of increasing life expectancy by decreasing chance of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Protective Factor.
Image 5: Sedentary/Stress. Correlation of high income countries and stress levels as well as obesity causing cancer, cardiovascular disease, etc. Risk Factor.
Image 6: Frequent check-ups to physician and access to healthcare. Protective Factor.
Asking Deeper Questions:
Use this Padlet - ALE to record the following
1) Looking at the images on the link above, what are your estimates? (Average # of years that a person is alive)
*Please have students complete this step first and come back to the 2nd question later.
Readings
The following articles are to help facilitate discussion around risk and protective factors (ex: exercise, access to healthcare, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, stress, etc). I recommend to have students read the following articles to promote discussion after looking "Asking Deeper Questions" (above) in order to facilitate further discussion surrounding risk and protective factors toward life expectancy around the world and United States. I also suggest to break students into groups of 3-4 in an online or face-to-face setting and communicate the findings of the article after completing the activity on Padlet ("Explanation Game").
Reading #1: Exercise and Life Span
Reading #2: "Does access to healthcare promote longevity?"
Reading #3: "5 Countries Where People Live the Longest"
*Once completed, you may choose to have students discuss their overall findings of the article(s). They may use these resources in their discussions later.
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Generating Explanations:
Use the following Interactive Map (WHO)(provided by the World Health Organization (WHO)) (OR) Our World in Data to answer the following:
- What do you think is going on with the average life expectancy around the world?
- Why is this going on?
- What does this make you wonder?
Challenging Ideas:
Use this Padlet - ALE to record the following:
2) Include the reasons that a typical person has either high or low life expectancy in that region.
What can you assume about their lifestyle, way of living, access to healthcare, etc.?
Additional Class Prompts:
Last, you will need to press for alternative explanations other than what you generated within your group / class. What other thoughts could come up as a reason for your thoughts?
Extension: (Optional)
Future (Challenging Ideas):
Watch/Read the following article (provided by CNN) to see predictions of average life expectancy by year 2030.
Part II - United States
Please read through the following article (provided by USA Today).
- If in a classroom setting, group students in 3-4 per group and have one person record at their table.
- Each group will be assigned to a region (Note: You could have a group take multiple sub-regions pending upon your class size).
- West - Pacific, Mountain
- South - West South Central, East South Central, South Atlantic
- Midwest - West North Central, East North Central
- Northeast - Middle Atlantic, New England
Article
Question: What is attributing to the average life expectancy in that region?
*Note: This article provides reasoning for risk and protective factors within their conclusion
Group / Discussion Questions:
- What surprised you?
- What do you think is going on in that region?
- What does it make you wonder?
Assessment
- Short answer - Where there any common trends of life expectancy in places of the world? Based on our discussion, what could attribute to this?
- Short answer - Where there any common trends in life expectancy in regions of the United States? What lifestyle choices could attribute to this?
- Short answer - What risk or protective factors were present in the areas of the United States where citizens generally have the lowest and/or highest life expectancy? Describe what might attribute to these risk and protective factors.