SCHEME OF WORK FIRST TERM JSS2 BASIC SCIENCE
1.LIVING THINGS (HABITAT)
2.ADAPTATION OF LIVING THINGS TO THEIR HABITAT
3.RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANISM IN THE SAME HABITAT
4.UNIQUENESS OF HUMAN BEINGS
5.MEASUREMENT OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES
6.HUMAN DEVELOPMENT (I)
7.HUMAN DEVELOPMENT (II)
8.BODY IMAGE (I)
9.BODY IMAGE (II)
10.FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION I
11.REVISION AND EXAMINATION
WEEK ONE: LIVING THINGS
HABITATS
A habitat is a type of place where plants and animals live. Every living organism is made or design to live and survive in a place in a particular place base on it adaptive features. The features of the body or the behavior that enable the animal to live naturally in a habitat are called ‘Adaptive Features’. The place where organisms live or is naturally found is referred to as habitat. Habitat can also be referred to as home dwelling place. A habitat can be water, land or air.
TYPES OF HABITAT
The following are types of habitat :
1. Aquatic Habitat : Any water habitat is aquatic.
(a) Marine, e.g sea/ oceans
(b) freshwater e.g lakes , ponds and streams. The place where the two habitats meet is termed Sub-marine, brackish or estuarine habitat.
The word aquatic has been derived from the Latin word aqua which means water. Organisms which live in water are known as aquatic organisms. These organisms live and breed or propagate in water. They are classified as freshwater organisms, if they inhabit a river, pond, lake, stream, etc; marine organisms are those which live in sea water [marines (French) Means Sea].
Freshwater habitats may be subdivided into lentic and lotic types. Standing or stagnant bodies of water like ponds, lakes, reservoirs and bogs are the examples of lentic habitats, while moving or running waters like rivers and streams are the representatives of lotic habitats. The well known aquatic organisms are algae, small animals and fishes.
Freshwater animals do not survive in the sea. Do you know why? The water of freshwater pond and river is not salty. Freshwater organisms have higher concentration of salts in their bodies than in the surrounding water. Sea and ocean waters contain high percentage of salts. Freshwater organisms would lose water from their body if placed in marine water. If marine organisms are placed in freshwaters, their body will swell because of entry of excess water in their body.
2. Terrestrial Habitat: These are land environments where living things are found. Terrestrial can be Arboreal i.e. on trees, on the ground or underground habitat. Terrestrial Habitat
The word terrestrial has been derived from a Latin word terra which means ground. Organisms that live and move on land are called terrestrial organisms. The terrestrial habitat is marked by rapid fluctuations in temperature, moisture and climate. This habitat is not uniform as there are many barriers like deserts, Mountains Rivers, etc., on it. The light factors of terrestrial habitat fluctuate with the season and the altitude. Life on land is sustained by air, soil temperature, and rainfall. Some common terrestrial organisms are trees, ferns, elephant, camel, man, etc.
The terrestrial habitat can be divided into the following zones:
1.Mash
2.Tropical Rain forest
3.Savannah
4.Deserts
5.Afro alpine etc.
3. Arboreal Habitat: This is the air or tree habitat where animals live. Animals live on trees or in trees in this category. The Latin word Arbor means trees or its branches. A number of animals are tree dwelling (arboreal) like monkeys and squirrels. Air is not a suitable medium to support life. Actually no organism originates in air, although some aquatic and terrestrial organisms have become secondarily adapted to aerial existence. The organisms that use air (sky) for their activities are known as aerial (Volant) organisms viz, bats, birds and insects.
There are some organisms which can use both water and terrestrial systems as their habitat. They are called amphibious (Greek word amphi means on both sides and bios means life). Examples are frog and toad. They can use both water and land as their habitat. Their life cycle is not completed in one habitat alone. Frogs go to water for laying eggs. Note down the names of all the organisms you see in yo9ur locality. Group them as terrestrial, aquatic, arboreal, amphibious, etc. count the types of organisms in each group
WEEK TWO: ADAPTATIONS
Adaptation is the ability of all living things to develop structural and behavioral features that make them to survive in their habitats. The features that make them to survive in their habitat are termed Adaptive Features. Plants and animals live in places that suit them .Their bodies are structured in a way that they can survive in their habitat. The duck has webbed feet which helps it to swim. The fish possesses gills and fins for movement.
The lizard has specialized legs for climbing walls or trees. Also man has five digit fingers to grasp or hold things.
Adaptation of plants to an Aquatic Habitat
Aquatic plants include the following: sea-weeds, spirogyra, water lettuce, water lilies, brown algae, etc. These plants are termed Hydrophytes. They possess the following features:
i) They have chloroplast for photosynthesis.
ii) Some plants possess mucilage to prevent desiccation e.g. spirogyra.
iii) They have holdfast for attachment
iv) Some plants rootlets to breathe in water
v) Some plants have boat-like leaves to float on water surface e.g. water lettuces
vi) They have hair spaces in their tissues to float on water surface
vii) Some plants have roots to the bottom of the water.
Adaptation of Animals to Aquatic Habitat
Aquatic animals possess the following adaptive features to live in water:
1.They have fins to move in the water
2.They possess streamlined shape to move in water
3. They have gills to breathe in water
4.Some animals home lateral lines to detect vibrations in water
5.Some animals possess exoskeleton to prevent dessication
6.Some of the animals borrow into the mud to protect themselves
7.Some animals have long legs to crawl on water
Adaptation of Plants to Terrestrials Habitats
1.To a forest Habitat
2.They have thin bark for their transportation
3.They have large leaves or many leaves to increase their water loss or transportations.
4.They have chloroplasts for photosynthesis.
EVALUATION
1.Define adaptation
2.State two adaptation of animals to aquatic habitat
3.To a Desert Habitat
4.They possess thick bark to reduce their water loss(i.e. transpiration)
5.They have few or reduced leaves to reduce water loss or conserve their water
6.They have deep roots to search for water in the soil.
7.Some possess thick or succulent leaves and stem to reduce water loss e.g. Cactus.
8.They shed leaves during the dry season to protect them against water loss.
Adaptation of Animals to a Terrestrial Habitat
Mammals adapt to the terrestrial habitat in the following ways:
1.They have a hairy skin to keep their body warm.
2.They have sweat gland to regulate the body temperature
3.They have lungs for breathing.
4.They have ear pinnae to locate direction of the sound and escape from dangers.
WEEK THREE: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANISMS IN THE SAME HABITAT
Everything on Earth doesn’t exist in its own little bubble. Species interact every day. That interaction is a vital part of how organisms develop and change over time. An ecological relationship is the relationship between organisms in an ecosystem. All organisms in an ecosystem are connected. Each interaction depends on the one before it. Each population interacts with one another in a complex web of relations. Ecological relationships help better describe how they are connected.
There are ecological relationships in which two are oppositional and four are symbiotic. The oppositional relationships are predation and competition. The symbiotic relationships are mutualism, commensalism, amensalism , neutralism , cooperation and parasitism.
The ecological relationship an organism has depends on the way the organism adapted to its environmental pressures on evolutionary bases.
There are four basic types of relationships that living things have with one another.
Commensalism
Sometimes one species can benefit from a relationship and not hurt the other. That relationship describes commensalism. I’ve got a nice looking branch that no one’s using. A plant comes over and settles in. It uses my branch as a place to live. But what do I care? It doesn’t bother me. That’s what commensalism is all about. One plant gets a place to live and the other doesn’t care and is not hurt.
Competition
This relationship is when two species are competing for the same resources. If there are only ten trees with fruit and I am better at reaching the fruit than you are, sorry, you don’t get any. When you don’t get any fruit you die. That’s just the way nature works. It could go the other way though. If I kill all of the trees with the high fruit and only low fruit is left, you win. Competition usually happens when you have a limited amount of resources. There is one important idea to remember. Sometimes no one wins. Sometimes if everything is even it can be a stalemate and both species compete, but both survive. Imagine if we are different species, but have the same skills. No one would be a winner in that case.
Mutualism
The heart of mutualism is that two species live together in harmony. Both species receive an advantage by working with the other. It’s wonderful. It’s beautiful. More importantly, it helps them both survive. We previously spoke about the relationships between bugs and plants. That often happens as a mutualism type of relationship. We suppose you could also use rescue dogs as an example. The masters take care of the dogs and the dogs learn how to save people. Everyone benefits in the end.
Predator-Prey
There many examples of predator-prey relationships: wolves eating rabbits, frogs eating insects, even a goat eating grass. Grass could be considered the prey. Somebody eats someone else. It’s not pretty, but it does encourage the development and advancement of species.
Parasitism
There’s a special type of predator-prey relationship called parasitism. Now you should think about all the creepy crawlies like fleas, viruses, and mosquitoes. They all feed off a host, not killing it right away but slowly sucking the life out of it. Parasites help no one but themselves.
WEEK FOUR: UNIQUENESS OF HUMAN BEINGS
Characteristics features of Mammals
Human beings are animals with large and well develop brains. They can think, reason, take decision, communicate, remember and solve problems much better than other group of animals. Therefore, human being can be regarded as unique group of animals. They are more intelligent than other animals because of the size and development of their brains.
Human Beings as Higher Animals
Human beings as higher animals belong to the group of animals called Mammals. A mammal is an animal that possess the following characteristic features:
1.It has hair on its body or fur on its body or party of its body
2.It does not lay eggs, but gives birth to its young one alive i.e, the child develops partially in the mother’s womb.
3.It feeds its young ones with milks produced in its mammary glands( i.e. breast)
PRIMATES
Primates are group of mammals that include human and other great apes .Primates are animals that possess the following characteristics:
1.They have grasping thumbs facing other fingers which allow all primate to pick thing up or hold object.
2.They have eyes in front of their head to see more clearly than when they are situated at the sides of their heads.
3.They can swing their hands in different directions.
Characteristics features of Mammals
1.They give milk to their young ones.
2.They have backbones.
3. They breathe air.
4.They are worm-blooded.
5.Live birth as opposed to eggs .
6. Body hair or fur (but some have very little)
Advantages of Human Beings over other Animals
1.They can stand upright better than other animals
2.They walk faster and better than others.
3.They have the ability to remember things very quickly
4.They can think and reason better than other.
5.They can control and manipulate their environments.
6.They can solve problems more intelligent than others.
7.They can speak and communicate effectively
8.They can examine and observe things with their sense organs and take decisions on their findings unlike other animals.
WEEK FIVE: MEASUREMENT OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES
Growth is an irreversible increase in the dry mater incorporated in the mass, volume or size, weight, number of cells and in the length (height) of an organism.
Development is the qualitative changes in structure and functions. Heredity and Environment determine a child’s development from birth. Growth and development go hand in hand. Growth is quantitative while development is qualitative. Auxanometer is used to measure the growth in plant and in animal is weighing scale.
Differences between growth and development
Growth: It’s an irreversible increase in size, weight and height.
It’s a physical change .
It can be seen.
Development: It refers to the changes that lead to maturity
It may not be seen or noticed
It is a change in physical attributes like learning, thinking, emotional, social abilities and the skills of an individual.
Differences between growth in plants and animals
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Major Indices of Growth Changes in Living Things
Heredity: Heredity and genes certainly play an important role in the transmission of physical and social characteristics from parents to off-springs. Different characteristics of growth and development like intelligence, aptitudes, body structure, height, weight, color of hair and eyes are highly influenced by heredity.
Sex: Sex is a very important factor which influences human growth and development. There is lot of difference in growth and development between girls and boys. Physical growth of girls in teens is faster than boys. Overall the body structure and growth of girls are different from boys.
Socioeconomic: Socioeconomic factors definitely have some affect. It has been seen that the children from different socioeconomic levels vary in average body size at all ages. The upper level families being always more advanced. The most important reasons behind this are better nutrition, better facilities, regular meals, sleep, and exercise. Family size also influences growth rate as in big families with limited income sometimes have children that do not get the proper nutrition and hence the growth is affected.
Nutritional: Growth is directly related with nutrition. The human body requires an adequate supply of calories for its normal growth and this need of requirements vary with the phase of development. As per studies, malnutrition is referred as a large-scale problem in many developing countries. They are more likely to be underweight, much shorter than average, and of low height for age, known as stunting.
If the children are malnourished, this slows their growth process. There are nine different amino acids which are necessary for growth and absence of any one will give rise to stunted growth. Other factors like zinc, Iodine, calcium, phosphorus and vitamins are also essential for proper growth and deficiency of anyone can affect the normal growth and development of the body.
Hormones: There are a large number of endocrine glands present inside our body. These glands secrete one or more hormones directly into the bloodstream. These hormones are capable of raising or lowering the activity level of the body or some organs of the body. Hormones are considered to be a growth supporting substance. These hormones play an important role in regulating the process of growth and development.
Pollution: According to studies, air pollution not only affects the respiratory organs but also have harmful effects on human growth.
Indoor pollution or the pollution from housing conditions can result in ill health which can negatively impact human growth and development. For example, lead exposure from deteriorated lead-based paint in older housing can be very harmful. Lead is very harmful for children as it simply gets immersed into the growing bodies of children and obstructs with the normal development of brain and other organs and systems.
Race: Racial factors also influence height, weight, color, features, and body constitution of a human being. The body growth and development differences show a relationship with varied cultural groups. For example a child of black race will be black, their height, their hair and eye color, facial structure are all governed by the same race.
WEEK SIX: HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT I
Factors Necessary for Growth
Growth is the permanent increase in size of organism brought about by cell division.
Development is the change in the features of an organism, which brings about the manifestation of some characteristics of the organism.
Maturity is the stage of a fully-grown and developed organism.
Growth and Development occur together. Growth continues from birth until individuals reach maturity when growth stops, there are two periods of rapid growth. The first period of rapid growth is from birth until about the age of two years. The other period of rapid growth occur between the ages of nine to about sixteen years.
Development takes place when an organism (human beings) is ready or able to perform a particular function such as talking, crawling, walking, eating solid food and reproducing. These have to do with the development of various systems in the body e.g. digestive, skeletal and muscular, reproductive system. Any human being that has grown to maturity and cannot perform any of these functions has not experienced development in such area. The period between the age of nine and sixteen when reproductive system grow to maturity and become developed is called the puberty period. Maturity in growth and development sets in at the age of twenty-one years in man.
A child’s growth and development can be divided into four periods.
Infancy: This is the period from birth to 18 months. It is the most rapid period of physical growth. Intellectual development is also rapid during this time. In the first 12 months, the average infants weigh triples and its body size increases by about half. Pre- school 18 months to 5years, Middle Childhood years: 6 to 12years
Adolescence: 12 to 18years. This is a stage in which an individual is neither a child nor an adult. The individual grapples with moral issues and attempts to discover his or her own identity. It is a time of learning independence, It is a time of emotional maturity and of coming to terms with adulthood, Mood changes occur(teenager) , It may be a trying time for teenager.
Adulthood: This begins when the body has grown to its full height and also undergoes the sexual changes that make adolescents physically matured. It’s the stage between 16 and 20.It occurs slightly earlier in female than in males who may still be growing in their early twenties.
Characteristics/ features of stages of development
1.Major physical growth stages. Birth to 5years old
2.By age 5 through 10. Mental and physical developments are rapid and extremely between ages five and ten.
3.Puberty and adolescence. Puberty is the transition stage from childhood to adolescence while Adolescence covers the second half of the teenage period up to the usually undefined point at which a person is seen to be adult.
4.Adulthood. During adulthood, there is room for learning and improving society related skills such as independence, business acumen and responsibilities. This begins when the body has grown to its full height and also undergoes the sexual changes that make adolescents physically matured. It’s the stage between 16 and 20.It occurs slightly earlier in female than in males who may still be growing in their early twenties.
Factors Necessary for Growth
The following factors are necessary for human growth.
FOOD: The major factor necessary for growth is food. Food is required for energy; repair of worn out cells, & production of new cell for growth.
HEREDITY: Growth in man can be affected by the genetic makeup of parents. If the gene of one of the parent carries trait (characteristic) of tallness or being short, by heredity the children, some if not all, would be tall or short.
GLANDS: Glands are special organs in the body for secretion of hormones.
Two of the most important glands for growth are: (i) Pituitary gland (ii) Thyroid gland
The pituitary gland is situated in the head below the brain. It produces growth-stimulating hormone, which determines how tall an individual can be. If in excess it leads to giantism and if in shortage, it leads to dwarfism. The thyroid gland is situated in the neck and it produces growth hormone called Thyroxin.
The deficiency or reduction shows down growth and leads to conduction called Cretinism. This is a condition of short arms and legs as compared to other parts of the body.
DISEASE: – Diseases retard growth as it affects the ability to eat well, and the body will be lacking the essential nutrients for growth and development.
EXERCISE: – Exercise makes muscles big and strong and therefore is better able to resist diseases. Body exercise leads to better growth because
i. It relaxes and builds up muscles
ii. It enhances cell division
iii. It keeps us fit
iv. It does not permit unnecessary accumulation of ingested food.
REST: – Rest is the act of stopping the body from carrying out physical activities for some time. It helps in body grow as it.
i. Helps the body to recover from strain
ii. Enables the body to do more work afterwards
iii. Enables the body to grow strength faster and to grow properly.
WEEK SEVEN: HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT II
Many changes take place in the body during puberty and leads to many waste products. When these products are expelled, they turn to affect the personal hygiene. Puberty is a transition stage from childhood to adolescence.
The Characteristics features of stages of development
1.Sensorimotor: (birth to about age 2)
This is the first stage where infants have the following basic senses: vision, hearing, and motor skills. In this stage, knowledge of the world is limited but is constantly developing due to the child’s experiences and interactions.[citation needed] According to Piaget, when an infant reaches about 7–9 months of age they begin to develop what he called object permanence, this means the child now has the ability to understand that objects keep existing even when they cannot be seen. An example of this would be hiding the child’s favorite toy under a blanket, although the child cannot physically see it they still know to look under the blanket.
2. Preoperational: (begins about the time the child starts to talk about age 7)
During this stage of development, young children begin analyzing their environment using mental symbols. These symbols often include words and images and the child will begin to apply these various symbols in their everyday lives as they come across different objects, events, and situations. However, Piaget’s main focus on this stage and the reason why he named it “preoperational” is because children at this point are not able to apply specific cognitive operations, such as mental math. In addition to symbolism, children start to engage in pretend play in which they pretend to be people they are not (teachers, superheroes). In addition, they sometimes use different props to make this pretend play more real. Some deficiencies in this stage of development are that children who are about 3–4 years old often display what is called egocentrism, which means the child is not able to see someone else’s point of view, they feel as if every other person is experiencing the same events and feelings that they are experiencing. However, at about at 7 thought processes of children are no longer egocentric and are more intuitive, meaning they now think about the way something looks instead of rational thinking.
3. Concrete: (about first grade to early adolescence)
During this stage, children between the age of 7 and 11 use appropriate logic to develop cognitive operations and begin applying this new thinking to different events they may encounter. Children in this stage incorporate inductive reasoning, which involves drawing conclusions from other observations in order to make a generalization.[citation needed] Unlike the preoperational stage, children can now change and rearrange mental images and symbols to form a logical thought, an example of this is reversibility in which the child now has the ability to reverse an action just by doing the opposite.
4. Formal operations: (about early adolescence to mid/late adolescence)
The final stage of Piaget’s cognitive development defines a child as now having the ability to “think more rationally and systematically about abstract concepts and hypothetical events”. Some positive aspects during this time is that child or adolescent begins forming their identity and begin understanding why people behave the way they behave. However, there are also some negative aspects which include the child or adolescent developing some egocentric thoughts which include the imaginary audience and the personal fable. An imaginary audience is when an adolescent feels that the world is just as concerned and judgmental of anything the adolescent does as they are, an adolescent may feel as is they are “on stage” and everyone is a critique and they are the ones being critiqued. A personal fable is when the adolescent feels that he or she is a unique person and everything they do is unique. They feel as if they are the only ones that have ever experienced what they are experiencing and that they are invincible and nothing bad will happen to them it will only happen to others.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT PUBERTY
The following emotional development are experienced at puberty
1.Feeling of discomfort due to rapid physical development
2.Fear of rejection and isolation
3.Secrecy – person seeks more of privacy
4.Inquisitives, asking many questions and wanting to know many things
5.Self consciousness
6.Egocentric tendencies – the focus is more on self.
7.Anger and disillusionment as one’s ideals may be unmet.
WEEK EIGHT: BODY IMAGE I
Body image is the way a person feels about his/her physical appearance such as size, body shape, height rare complexion, ethnicity.
Body image is how you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind. It encompasses:
1.What you believe about your own appearance (including your memories, assumptions, and generalizations).
2.How you feel about your body, including your height, shape, and weight.
3.How you sense and control your body as you move.
4.How you feel in your body, not just about your body.
Negative Body Image
A distorted perception of your shape–you perceive parts of your body unlike they really are.
You are convinced that only other people are attractive and that your body size or shape is a sign of personal failure.
You feel ashamed, self-conscious, and anxious about your body.
You feel uncomfortable and awkward in your body.
Positive Body Image
A clear, true perception of your shape–you see the various parts of your body as they really are.
You celebrate and appreciate your natural body shape and you understand that a person’s physical appearance says very little about their character and value as a person.
You feel proud and accepting of your unique body and refuse to spend an unreasonable amount of time worrying about food, weight, and calories.
You feel comfortable and confident in your body.
Body Image and Eating Disorders
People with negative body image have a greater likelihood of developing an eating disorder and are more likely to suffer from feelings of depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and obsessions with weight loss.
Physical features of Body Image. The society tends to accept people who are endowed with certain physical features e.g Light Complexion, Longer hair, Shinny Skin, Aquiline Nose, Beauty, Tallness and other pleasant features while it refuses to accept people with Physical Challenges (the disabled) e.g Blind, Deaf, Dumb, Crippled and those with birth deformation such as Mongolian idiocy, Cleft Palate etc. To overcome these challenges, one has to cultivate the spirit of high Self-Esteem.
WEEK NINE: BODY IMAGE II
Pubertal and body Image
Puberty is the natural process of hormones signaling the growth of estrogen and female sexual characteristics in girls or testosterone and male sexual characteristics in boys. It usually begins between the ages of 10 and 14. However, “precocious puberty” is defined as the beginning of this physical transformation before the age of 8. Precocious puberty may be diagnosed in girls under 8 years old who experience menstruation, breast development, the growth of pubic or underarm hair, acne and/or a rapid growth in height. It may be the diagnosis in boys under 9 years old who experience the growth of pubic or underarm hair, enlargement of the genitalia, a deepening voice, acne and/or a rapid growth in height.
Young girls, especially, are subject to psychological turmoil as a result of an early sexualized body and identity confusion, often resulting in lasting negative effects to their concepts of body image and self-worth.
Effect of Pubertal changes on body image and behavior
1.Girls who develop early face a difficult choice: whether to associate with their cognitive age group or with the age group that their bodies more closely resemble.
2.The shape of a woman’s body, such as large breasts and round hips, is explicitly sexualized in our society; and young girls are not mature enough to shoulder this societal burden.
3.Girls who develop physically faster are assumed to be more sexually active than their peers, and must struggle with that social stigma.
4.Adults tend to feel uncomfortable with precocious girls with shapely bodies, often associating them with social deviance.
5.Early developers are also more likely to engage in relationships of a sexual nature before they are emotionally prepared to do so.
6.The lasting impact of excessive body consciousness, as well as a premature exposure to sexual exploitation, affects precocious girls into their adolescence and adulthood.
7.The physical maturation of young males is considered a socially positive and rewarding endeavor, while the development of the mature female shape is associated with provocative or deviant behavior.
8.Precocious puberty, or more precisely society’s reactions to early maturation, has the potential to harm the self-esteem and body image of girls and boys alike.
Misconceptions about beauty as presented in the media
Where do we get our ideas about bodies and beauty? The list is seemingly endless. We inherit such ideas from our parents, our peers, our teachers and mentors, from our places of worship, our schools, and increasingly from the mass media. In high-tech societies such as ours, there are few settings into which the mass media do not intrude. And even if we are beyond the reach of TVs, billboards and MP3 players, we still carry in our minds media messages about appearance and desirability. The mass media powerfully influence our perceptions of beauty, our attitudes toward others, and our own self-image.
INDIVIDUAL UNIQUENESS
People are not equal in value or worth. Only in the rights to their own lives and property are people equal. Those and only those rights are inalienable for all human beings. By nature, no one has an automatic or natural right to anything else in life. Moreover, beyond the equality of individual or property rights, nothing is, can, or should be equal between human beings. Profound differences exist among people in their self-made qualities such as character development, earned skills, self-worth, extrinsic worth, aspects of intelligence, self-esteem, life-lifting capacity, psychuous-pleasures capacity.
CERTAIN FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE INDIVIDUAL’S UNIQUENESS ARE:
(1) Genes influence (Heredity) (4) Social habit
(2) Influence of homes (5) Environment
(3) Nutrition
WEEK TEN: FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION I
Communication is the achievement of a common understanding between two or more people – ie: where both attribute the same meaning to the information that is exchanged.
Communication is about more than just exchanging information. It’s about understanding the emotion and intentions behind the information.
Informating- is the dissemination of information, irrespective of the meaning that may be attached to it by the recipient.
COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES
1. Active listening skills
a. Establish eye contact with the other person.
b. Listen to the person without interruption.
c. Listen to the person without thinking of what you will say next.
d. Let the speaker know you are listening through body language e.g. nodding.
e. Clarify what has been said to make sure you understand correctly.
2. Boldness: Avoid being shy or soft spoken.
3. Knowledge: Have relevant facts on issues to be discussed.
4. Express feelings honestly and clearly without putting the other person down
5. Paraphrase what the speaker is saying to ensure understanding.
6. Use ‘I’ statement, so that you can express how you feel.
Effective communication therefore involves the following iterative process:
– Informate
– Get feedback
– Check the feedback vs your intended meaning.
If they agree, then you have communicated and you can stop the process here
If they contradict (or if there is still potential for misunderstanding) re-informate, using different words.
4 key skills to improve communication
Become an engaged listener
Pay attention to nonverbal signals
Keep stress in check
Assert yourself
IMPORTANCE OF HONEST COMMUNICATION ABOUT PUBERTAL CONCERNS TO RESPONSIBLE PARENTS
Communication — Helping Your Child Through Early Adolescence
Young adolescents often aren’t great communicators, particularly with their parents and other adults who love them. Emily Hutchison, a middle school teacher from Texas notes that young teens “often feel they can talk with anyone better than their parents–even wonderful parents.” “They tend to be private,” explains Patricia Lemons, a middle school teacher in New Mexico. “They don’t necessarily want to tell you what they did at school today.”
But it’s not impossible to improve communication when your child reaches early adolescence. Here are some tips:
Realize that no recipe exists for successful communication. What works for getting one child to talk about what’s important doesn’t always work with another one.
Listen: To listen means to avoid interrupting and it means to pay close attention. This is best done in a quiet place with no distractions. Often just talking with your child about a problem or an issue helps to clarify things. Sometimes the less you offer advice, the more your young teen may ask you for it. Listening can also be the best way to uncover a more serious problem that requires your attention.
Create opportunities to talk: To communicate with your child you need to make yourself available. Young adolescents resist “scheduled” talks; they don’t open up when you tell them to, but when they want to. Some teens like to talk when they first get home from school. Others may like to talk at the dinner table or at bedtime.. Many of the best conversations grow out of shared activities. “Parents try to grab odd moments and have this deep communication with their child”.
Talk over differences: Communication breaks down for some parents, because they find it hard to manage differences with their child. It’s often easiest to limit these differences when you have put in place clear expectations. If your 13-year-old daughter knows she’s to be home by 9:30 p.m.—and if she knows the consequences for not meeting this curfew—the likelihood that she will be home on time increases. When differences arise, telling your child your concerns firmly but calmly can prevent differences from becoming battles.
Avoid over reacting: Responding too strongly can lead to yelling and screaming and it can shut down conversation. “Try to keep anxiety and emotions out of the conversation—then kids will open up,”. Instead of getting riled up, “It’s better to ask, ‘What do you think about what you did? Let’s talk about this.
Here are topics that generally interest young adolescents:
School: If you ask your child, “What did you do in school today?” she most likely will answer, “Nothing.” Of course, you know that isn’t true.. With this information, you then can ask your child about specific classes or activities, which is more likely to start a conversation.
Hobbies and personal interests: If your child loves sports, talk about his favorite team or event or watch the World Series or the Olympics with him. Most young adolescents are interested in music.. Parents ought to at least know the names of popular singers.” It’s important, however, to tell your child when you believe that the music he is listening to is inappropriate—and to explain why. Your silence can be misconstrued as approval.
Emotions: As was pointed out earlier, young adolescents worry about a lot of different things. They worry about: their friends, being popular, sexuality, being overweight or scrawny, tomorrow’s math test, grades, getting into college, being abandoned and the future of the world. The list goes on. Sometimes it’s hard to know if a problem seems big to your child. Figuring out the size and importance of the problem helps her decide how to address it.
Family: Young adolescents like to talk about and be involved in plans for the whole family, such as vacations, as well as things that affect them individually, such as curfews or allowances. If you need back surgery, your child will want to know ahead of time. She may also want to learn more about the operation. Being a part of conversations about such topics can contribute to your child’s feelings of belonging and security.
Sensitive subjects: Families should handle sensitive subjects in a way that is consistent with their values. Remember, though, that avoiding such subjects won’t make them go away. If you avoid talking with your child about sensitive subjects, he may turn to the media or his friends for information. This increases the chances that what he hears will be out of line with your values or that the information will be wrong.
Parents’ lives, hopes and dreams: Many young adolescents want a window to their parents’ world, both past and present. How old were you when you got your ears pierced? Did you ever have a teacher who drove you crazy? Did you get an allowance when you were 11? If so, how much? Were you sad when your grandpa died? What is your boss like at work? This doesn’t mean you are obligated to dump all of your problems and emotions into your child’s lap.. However, recounting some things about your childhood and your life today can help your child sort out his own life.
The future: As the cognitive abilities of young adolescents develop, they begin to think more about the future and its possibilities. Your child may want to talk more about what to expect in the years to come—life after high school, jobs and marriage. He may ask questions such as, “What is it like to live in a college dormitory?” “How old do you have to be to get married?” These questions deserve the best answers that you can provide (and those that you can’t answer deserve an honest, “I don’t know.”).
Culture, current events: Ours is a media-rich world. Even young children are exposed to television, music, movies, video and computer games and other forms of media. Remember, though, that the media can provide a window into your adolescent’s world. For example, if you and your child have seen the same movie (together or separately), you can ask her whether she liked it and what parts she liked best. However hard your child pushes your buttons, it’s best to respond calmly.
