WEBQUEST

ADOLESCENT

OBESITY

Mrs. Linda Polack

John F. Kennedy H.S.

INTRODUCTION:

Adolescent obesity is on the rise. Fifteen per cent of children and adolescents are now overweight. It has more than doubled since the early 1970’s. Overweight adolescents have resulted in an increase of Type 2 Diabetes and depression especially among girls. Your job is to educate the public on this problem. You are employed by the Council of Public Information in the City of New York. You will address the following problems: 1) Is it inherited? 2) Are there too many fast food restaurants? 3) Are there less organized sports available after school for lower income families? Your job will promote a healthier life style for individuals decreasing their risk for debilitating diseases.

TASK:

You are being asked to develop campaigns to promote physical activity and/or better food choices for your peers using a power point presentation or designing a website on a large poster board and presenting your findings to the class in a 3-5 minute oral presentation. Your written and oral presentation will address the problems of adolescent obesity and develop a solution to combat the problem. Using the six-step Public Policy Analyst Approach, you will create either a Power Point presentation of at least ten slides or a typed, double spaced, and a 200-400 worded report which will go on the website.

PROCESS:

You will use the steps of the PPA outlined below:

1) Define the problem- Worksheet#1: What is the nature of the problem? Please include the BMI index used to evaluate overweight individuals. Use resource #1 for more information. Are lower income families or communities more prone to this problem? What are the undesirable affects of being overweight?

2) Gather the evidence: Worksheet #2: Select one site to show that the problem exists.

3) Identifying the causes: Worksheet: #3: Support the factors that contribute to the problem that you have identified.

4) Analyzing existing public policy solutions: Worksheet #4: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the existing policies?

5) Proposing an original public policy solution: Workshop #5: Although we have discussed two solutions (better nutrition and more activity) please select specific subcategories.

6) Select the best public policy solution: Worksheet # 6: Can your policy be easily enacted by a government agency? Will your policy produce results that will lessen the social problem?

RESOURCES:

www.cdc.gov/growth charts

http://www.overweightteen.com/

http://pedclerk.bsd.uchicago.edu/adolescentobesity.html

http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/nutrit/pubs/unders.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphpdnpa/aces.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/trails.htm

EVALUATION:

	CRITERIA				PTS
	UNSATISFACTORY Less than 65	MINIMAL SATISFACTORY 65-79	SATISFACTORY 80-90	EXCELLENT 90-100
Organization	Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information.	Audience has difficulty following presentation because student jumps around.	Student presents information in logical sequence which audience can follow.	Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow.	____
Content Knowledge	Student does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject.	Student is uncomfortable with information and is able to answer only rudimentary questions.	Student is at ease with content, but fails to elaborate.	Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required)with explanations and elaboration.	____
Visuals	Student used no visuals.	Student occasional used visuals that rarely support text and presentation.	Visuals related to text and presentation.	Student used visuals to reinforce screen text and presentation.	____
Mechanics	Student's presentation had four or more spelling errors and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation had three misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.	____
Delivery	Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly for students in the back of class to hear.	Student incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation.	Student's voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly.	Student used a clear voice and correct, precise pronunciation of terms.	____
				Total---->	__

STANDARDS USED IN THIS WEBQUEST:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:

E1C Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2C: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E3B: Participate in group meetings.

HEALTH PERFORMANCE:

S5c: Uses evidence from reliable sources to develop descriptions, explanations and models.

S5: Scientific thinking

S5f: Works individually and in teams to collect and share information.

S6d: Acquires information from multiple sources.

CONCLUSION:

Obesity in children and adolescents is generally caused by the lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns or a combination of the two. From this webquest, you should have learned many issues concerning adolescent obesity. You will be able to analyze articles and extract critical information. In addition, you will also be able to explore this topic using the internet as a main source of information. In addition you will create new policies that contribute to the health and well being of the general public.