Characters
For a class of 28, organize the students like this —	12 students play the role of the body of an infected person. Each student can play a specific part of the body and must try to represent the feelings and actions of the body under attack by the virus. 6 students represent the feelings and actions of the disease virus. 10 students represent the feelings and actions of the antibodies formed by the immune system to combat the attacking virus.
Description The teacher tells the story, pausing between each sentence or section. The students represent the actions and portray the events and feelings through a mime (they may be given a few minutes for a small group discussion before they start). The sentences in italics below correspond to the text read out by the teacher. The students’ actions are given merely as examples.
Procedure The students representing the body form a group in the middle of the room, holding hands in a large circle. The others remain off to the side, in a corner of the classroom. At first, the body is healthy. The children can smile, show that life is good and that the body is strong and happy. The virus enters the body, a bit at a time. Within a few minutes, the virus has invaded in force. The students playing the virus enter the body, one or two at a time; in a few minutes they have all entered the circle of students representing the body. The virus may have a confident, "mean" attitude. The virus explores the body to find a place where the body's defense are weak. When it finds this place, it stays there and starts to harm the cells of this part of the body. The virus can pretend to be attacking and harming the body. The students representing the body begin showing new feelings, for example, pain, to indicate that the disease is beginning to affect the body's cells. The body is ill. The children express pain, sadness, distress. Gradually, the immune system sends out antibodies, to fight the virus. The students representing antibodies display a confident and superior attitude. They look strong, and will fight the virus to bring the body back to health. After a few days, the antibodies win the battle against the virus. The antibodies work in pairs to eliminate the virus; the virus dies and the students playing the virus leave the body. The antibodies remain in the body to help it fight other viruses that may enter the body. The "antibodies" and the "body" show that they are satisfied and proud. The "virus" prowls around the class.

Grade 5: A Healthy Body
Topic: HIV/AIDS			Activity: Immunization — "Strengthening your defense"
Decision-making Process Stop!			Resources Information Sheet 5.7 — Strengthening your defence
Foundational objectives Students will increase their knowledge of the human body			Learning objectives Students will: understand some problems of physical health, one of which is HIV/AIDS
Procedure Immunization will already have been discussed in previous grades, so a short review should be sufficient. Ask the students who has had measles before, and whether anyone has had measles more than once. Review the evolution of a disease like measles (see the previous lesson) and explain why we catch some diseases like measles only once: our bodies become immunized against them. Other diseases have almost been wiped out, because we have found a vaccine to immunize people against them (mention the most common vaccinations that most of the children have had). Show an overhead of Information Sheet 5.7 - "Strengthening your defense," to clarify the role of immunization. Discuss the relative importance of vaccination. For example, tell students how a different kind of immunization is necessary for each disease, how researchers and doctors are constantly working to develop vaccines against certain diseases, and how some diseases can be fought with drugs and proper care, making vaccination less crucial. Explain to the students that for the rest of this unit, they will be studying AIDS, a disease for which there is, as yet, no vaccine. Explain that there is no cure for AIDS, but that there are drugs that can help people with AIDS.			Notes

Grade 5: A Healthy Body
Topic: HIV/AIDS			Activity: "Acronyms" - HIV, AIDS... What does it all mean?
Decision-making Process Stop!			Resources
Foundational objectives Students will increase their knowledge of the human body			Learning objectives Students will: gradually incorporate the vocabulary related to the human body and to health into their speech and writing (C) use a variety of strategies to interpret the meaning of words (C)
Procedure Write some common acronyms and abbreviations in a column on the chalkboard, e.g., RCMP, YMCA, YWCA, GST, CBC, NATO. Ask the students to look at these "words" and tell you what they have in common. Do they know what this kind of word is called? Can they tell you what each of the letters in the acronyms and abbreviations stands for? Write down their answers. Then ask the students whether they know any other acronyms and abbreviations. Write their suggestions on the board. If the students have not suggested HIV and AIDS, add them to the column on the board. In groups of two or three, ask students to guess what HIV and AIDS stand for, based on what they already know about them, and to explain their suggestions. Have them present their answers and, if no one has come up with the right answer, explain that HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Have students explain their answers and guide the discussion so as to clarify the meaning of the most important words (e.g., "immuno" refers to the immune system). The following lessons will focus on how the disease is transmitted.			Assessment: Observe students' participation: Do they build on each others' suggestions? What strategies do they use to construct the meaning of these acronyms? What prior knowledge do they have? Assessment: Note significant information in anecdotal records.

Grade 5: A Healthy Body
Topic: HIV/AIDS			Activity: The "A" in AIDS - How is HIV transmitted?
Decision-making Process Stop!			Resources
Foundational objectives Students will increase their knowledge of the human body Students will identify sources of risk to healthy living			Learning objectives Students will: identify personal and interpersonal behaviours in their everyday lives that might present a risk to their health or safety understand some problems of physical health, one of which is HIV/AIDS
Procedure Lead a discussion, mentioning the following points: During the previous activity, we said that there is no vaccine to protect us against AIDS. We also know that there are no drugs that can cure AIDS. We found out that the "A" in AIDS stands for "acquired." The disease is "acquired", meaning that it is transmitted from one person to another. But this disease can be prevented. And if we learn how to avoid situations where HIV can be transmitted, then we can stop the spread of AIDS. Ask students what they know about how HIV is transmitted. During previous lessons, students may already have made comments based on misconceptions. Remind them of those comments or ask them questions such as: "Can a person with AIDS transmit HIV by sneezing?" "Can a mosquito transmit HIV?" Ask them if they know "for sure" and where they learned this. Suggest to the students that they form groups of two and draw up a short (5 questions) true or false test on how HIV is transmitted. Invite the students to find out more to ensure that they have the right answers (remind them about checking the validity of information sources: checking the date of the source and the author’s credentials, consulting several sources to make sure they do not contradict one another, etc.) Have students share their findings with the group, then select some of the questions to make up a questionnaire. Discuss with students what they have learned. How much of what they thought they knew turned out to be misconceptions? Sum up by emphasizing the most common ways of transmitting HIV: using a contaminated syringe (the needle can contain cells from an infected person, which can enter the body of a person using the syringe); a pregnant mother can transmit HIV to her growing baby; through a blood transfusion (quite rare since 1985, since all donated blood is now tested); through sexual relations with an infected person.			Notes Be sure to screen carefully the pool of resources that the students will use for their research. Please note that the use of Internet resources for this particular research project is not recommended. However, teachers might print carefully selected information from Internet sites for students to use. Refer to guidelines regarding "age-appropriate" HIV/AIDS instruction in the introduction of this document when selecting resources for students' use.

Grade 5: A Healthy Body
Topic: HIV/AIDS			Activity: Informing others... here is a challenge!
Decision-making Process Stop!			Resources
Foundational objectives Students will help members of their family, class, and community achieve physical, mental and social well-being (PSVS) Students will develop their ability to make decisions (CCT) Students will develop attitudes necessary for healthy living (PSVS)			Learning objectives Students will: develop their ability to communicate their knowledge about health to their friends, family and community (C) reflect on what they know and feel about an issue value behaviours which contribute to good health or which prevent disability or illness, including HIV/AIDS
Procedure Discuss the following points: We have known about AIDS only since the early 1980s. There are still many myths about how HIV is transmitted. Many people are poorly informed. In doing your research, did you find that you already knew the answers to our test? What new things did you learn? Were you surprised at some of the things you found out? Which ones surprised you? Suggest to the students that they give their parents the test they prepared and, in cooperation with the students, write a letter explaining to parents why we want them to try this little test. Afterwards, compile the results of the test given to parents. Lead a discussion, mentioning the following points: were there questions your parents couldn’t answer? Were you surprised at your parents’ scores on the test? Why? Help the students set an objective for a decision they would make within this unit, asking them to reflect on the following questions: Given what they have learned about HIV transmission, is there a high risk for children their age of catching AIDS? Is it really necessary for them to make a decision and prepare an action plan to avoid catching AIDS? Why or why not? If they were to make a decision and prepare an action plan, what could their objective be, if they based it on what they have learned so far? Looking at their parents’ scores on the test that the students prepared in class, would they like to set an objective and prepare an action plan based on these results? For the purposes of this model unit, we will assume that the test results showed that misconceptions are still very common. So the students decide on the following objective: "We need to do something so that people are better informed about how HIV is transmitted".			Notes

Grade 5: A Healthy Body
Topic: HIV/AIDS			Activity: What can we do?
Decision-making Process Explore...			Resources Information Sheet 5.8 - A few options
Foundational objectives Students will develop their ability to make decisions (CCT) Students will develop attitudes necessary for healthy living (PSVS)			Learning objectives Students will: suggest several possible courses of action and explore the long- and short-term consequences of these actions make decisions based on their analysis of the choices value behaviours which contribute to good health or which prevent disability or illness, including HIV/AIDS
In grade five, students should make at least two health-related decisions and carry out action plans to implement those decisions. Selection of the topics for this real life application of the Decision-making Process should be based on local needs. The activities below are suggested as examples of a decision and action plan that would fit within this unit. Students might make a decision and design an action plan within this unit if they were personally affected by HIV/AIDS. Teachers might otherwise select only some of these activities for students to practise Levels B and C of the Decision-making Process.
Procedure Ask the students to suggest some things they could do to reach the objective they have set. Write down each of these options as a title on a separate large sheet. Under the title on each large sheet, divide the page into two columns and write the subtitles "Advantages" and "Disadvantages" ( or "+" and "-"). Ask the students to identify the advantages and disadvantages of each option (guide them by asking questions such as "Would this solution be practical?", "Would this option take up a lot of our time?", etc.). See Information Sheet 5.8 - "A few options" for examples of options and consequences. Have the students think about the pros and cons of each option: its practicality, the time and work it would involve, the size of the audience, the expectations of the audience, etc. Let us assume, as an example, that the students decide to choose the second option (a conference for their parents), for the following reasons: Our parents are an audience that is closer to us — it is easier to inform them because we know them. They have expectations of us. If we tell them what we have learned about the transmission of HIV, we will all understand each other better when they tell us about their expectations. The other options do have some advantages: for instance, they would help us reach a larger audience. But there may be many more difficulties with negative reactions, because these options involve audiences that don’t know us as well. It would be difficult to make them understand why our information campaign is worthwhile and necessary. In addition, adults who are not our parents don’t really have expectations of children where AIDS is concerned, because they think that this subject does not affect children.			Notes Assessment: Observe the students' ability to suggest a variety of options and to project positive and negative consequences for each.