Lesson Title: The Developing Child

Grade Levels: 9-12

Time Allotment: Two 45-minute class periods

Overview: In this lesson, students learn about the changes that occur in children as they
grow. In the Introductory Activity, students brainstorm and use online resources to explore
the stages of development children go through from birth to age five. In the Learning
Activity, students explore video segments from the PBS program The Human Spark to
learn about brain growth, language development and how children’s views of right and
wrong can be shaped by others. In the Culminating Activity, students reflect upon their own
process of development and how they acquired their skills and knowledge.

Subject Matter: Science; Psychology; Child Development

Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
o Describe important child development milestones from birth to age five.
o Discuss the developing human brain.
o Describe how the development of humans compares to that of animals and discuss the
role of language in children’s development.
o Explain how authority figures can influence children’s perceptions of right and wrong.
o Discuss what has shaped their own skills and knowledge.

Standards:

National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula

[Link]

Standard Area IIIA: Lifespan Development

Content Standards
After concluding this unit, students understand:

• CONTENT STANDARD IIIA-1: Development as a lifelong process

Students are able to (performance standards):
o IIIA-1.1 Describe physical, social, and cognitive changes from the
prenatal period throughout the lifespan. Students may indicate this by
(performance indicators): a. Illustrating developmental changes in physical,
cognitive, and social development
b. Describing research on child development; c. Hypothesizing on the interaction of
physical, cognitive, and/or social changes in behavior; d. Inferring how peer

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 relationships change over time; e. Describing similarities and differences in
development across cultures; f. Discussing the relative importance of peers’ versus
parents’ influence in different cultural groups; g. Examining the role of psychology
in enhancing the life of older adults.
o IIIA-1.3 Identify the complex cognitive structures found in the early
development of infants and young children. Students may indicate this by
(performance indicators): a. Citing research on the capabilities of infants and young
children; b. Comparing contemporary research on early views of infant capabilities
with current understanding; c. Discussing the role of the caregiver in promoting
child development; d. Explaining how cultural practices in child-rearing may
influence cognitive development.
o IIIA-1.4 Apply lifespan principles to personal experience. Students may
indicate this by (performance indicators): a. Comparing their own life experiences
with general patterns of others from their generation; b. Predicting their own
developmental changes over time; c. Describing transition from childhood to
adolescence; d. Explaining the transition from adolescence to adulthood; e.
Projecting themselves into late life adulthood (i.e., post 65)
• CONTENT STANDARD IIIA-4: Issues surrounding the developmental
process (nature/nurture, continuity/discontinuity, stability/instability,
critical periods)
Students are able to (performance standards):
o IIIA-4.1 Describe the role of critical periods in development. Students may
indicate this by (performance indicators): a. Giving an example of a critical period in
development; b. Evaluating significance of critical periods in development; c.
Explaining difficulties of research in the area of critical periods; d. Linking cortical
development to enriched environments during critical periods.
o IIIA-4.2 Explain the issues of continuity/discontinuity and
stability/instability in development. Students may indicate this by
(performance indicators): a. Giving an example to illustrate continuity or
discontinuity in development; b. Citing research concerning stability or instability of
traits over time;

New York State Standards:

[Link]
[Link]
Learning Standards for Health, Physical Education, and Family and Consumer
Sciences
Students will know the basic principles of home and community safety. They can
demonstrate the skills necessary to maintain their homes and workplaces in a safe and

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comfortable condition. They can provide a safe and nurturing environment for themselves
and others.
o Students understand the stages of child development and apply this knowledge to
activities designed to enrich the physical, social, mental, and emotional development
of a young child. This is evident, for example, when students: plan a daily program of
balanced activity for preschoolers based on knowledge and understanding of
patterns of child growth and development; describe effective ways of promoting
positive behavior in children; identify characteristics of a safe and nurturing home
and work environment.

Media Resources

The Human Spark, selected segments

• The Developing Brain
A look at how the human brain develops throughout a person’s life.

• Language Development
An overview of how human language develops.

• Learning Right and Wrong

A look at how a child’s views of what is right and wrong can be shaped by others.

Websites:

• Child Development and Parenting

[Link]/ncbddd/jump/[Link]
This section of the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities Website provides information about child development, including the
following:
o The Milestones Quiz ([Link]/ncbddd/actearly/[Link]) This interactive
quiz highlights developmental milestones.
o Developmental Milestones
([Link]/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/[Link]) This section has fact sheets
about developmental milestones from birth through age five.
o Milestones Chart
([Link]/ncbddd/actearly/interactive/milestones/social_index.html) This
interactive chart provides details about developmental milestones through age five.

• Development Timeline
[Link]
This site features a child development timeline, which students can use in the
Introductory Activity.

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Materials
For the class:
• Computers with internet access
• Computer, projection screen and speakers (for class viewing of online/downloaded
video segments)
• “Child Development Milestones” handout. Optional. (See “Before the Lesson” for
details.)
• Printouts of the following “Important Milestones” fact sheets from the CDC website.
(Note: Print out enough copies so that each group of 2-3 students has one of the seven
fact sheets. If possible, when conducting this lesson’s Introductory Activity, divide the
class into at least seven groups before assigning these fact sheets so that each of the
fact sheets can be distributed to at least one group. For example, at least one group
should receive the “end of 3 months” fact sheet, at least one should receive the “end of 7
months” fact sheet, etc. It is fine if more than one group gets the same fact sheet.
Instead of making printouts, you can have students access the information directly on
the Web.)
Important Milestones Fact Sheets from [Link]:
• Important Milestones by the End of 3 Months
[Link]/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/[Link]
• Important Milestones by the end of 7 Months
[Link]/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/[Link]
• Important Milestones by the end of 1 Year (12 Months)
[Link]/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/[Link]
• Important Milestones by the End of 2 Years (24 Months)
[Link]/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/[Link]
• Important Milestones by the End of 3 Years (36 months)
[Link]/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/[Link]
• Important Milestones by the End of 4 Years (48 months)
[Link]/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/[Link]
• Important Milestones by the End of 5 Years (60 months)
[Link]/ncbddd/actearly/pdf/parents_pdfs/[Link]

Before the Lesson

Prior to teaching this lesson, you will need to:

Optional: Print out the “Child Development Milestones” handout and cut out each item
along the dashed lines. Make enough copies so that each pair of students has at least one
item on the sheet. (There are 33 items on the sheet.) This handout can be used in the
Introductory Activity.

Print out the “Important Milestones” fact sheets from the CDC website. (See the Materials
section for details.) Print out enough so that each group of 2-3 students has one fact sheet.

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 Note: Instead of printing out the sheets, you can have students access this information on
the Web.

Create a timeline in the classroom with the following points marked off:

Birth 3 months 7 months 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years

Leave enough space between each of the points on the timeline, so that students can affix
their “Child Development Milestones” strips of paper in the appropriate spots.

Preview all of the video segments and websites used in the lesson.

Download the video clips used in the lesson to your classroom computer(s) or prepare to
watch them using your classroom’s Internet connection.

Bookmark all websites which you plan to use in the lesson on each computer in your
classroom. Using a social bookmarking tool such as delicious or diigo (or an online
bookmarking utility such as portaportal) will allow you to save the links in one location.

Introductory Activity

1. Explain that today’s lesson explores child development, the biological and psychological
changes that occur in children as they grow.

2. Display your timeline (birth to 5 years) in the room. (See “Before the Lesson” for
details.)

Birth 3 months 7 months 1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years

3. Ask students to brainstorm different things that children do at different stages in their
development. Write each item down on a separate strip of paper. For additional items,
use the items on the “Child Development Milestones” handout.

4. Hand students the strips of paper with the events that they brainstormed. Optional:
Also hand students the items from the “Child Development Milestones” handout.

5. Ask students to place the events on the timeline. Encourage students to discuss and
debate where the events should go.

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6. Use the chart below for a general guideline of where events from the “Child
Development Milestones” handout could be placed along the timeline. (This information
is based on information from the CDC website.)

Important Milestones by the end of…

3 months 7 months 1 year
o begins to babble o babbles chains of sounds o bangs two objects together
o brings hand to mouth o can tell emotions by tone of o crawls forward on belly
o first smile voice o cries when parent leaves
o develops full color vision o finds objects even when hidden
o responds to own name under two or three covers
o transfers object from hand to o finger feeds him/herself
hand o reaches sitting position without help
o responds to “no”
o says “dada” and “mama”
o walks holding on to furniture

2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years

o begins make-believe play o can ride a o cooperates with other o dresses and
o begins to run tricycle children undresses without
o begins to show defiant behavior o expresses o uses scissors help
o begins to sort by shapes and affection openly o walks up and down stairs o uses a fork, spoon
colors o sorts objects by without support and (sometimes) a
o says 2-4 word sentences shape and color knife to eat
o turns over container to pour out
contents
o walks alone
o walks up and down stairs holding
on to support

7. Discuss the developmental milestones listed on the timeline. During the discussion,
explain that children develop at different rates and there is a wide range of what is
considered to be “normal” development. Even though a milestone might be listed as
happening by a certain age on the timeline, that event could occur earlier or later
depending on the child and still be considered part of healthy development. Something
that is worth pointing out to your students is, in general, children will be able to perform
the tasks listed in the 3 month category before they can do the tasks in the 7 month
category and will be able to perform the tasks in the 7 month category before they
perform the tasks in the 1 year category. For example, a child will “begin to babble”
before he/she is able to “babble chains of sounds,” which he/she will be probably do
before saying “mama” or “dada.”

8. Ask students to work in pairs and explore the “important milestones” information on
the CDC website: [Link]/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/[Link]. Either have
students access the information directly on the Web or hand out printouts of the
milestone fact sheets to students. (Hand out one fact sheet for each group of 2-3

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 students.) See the “Materials” section for details and to download the fact sheets. Assign
students to the following 7 groups:
o 3 months
o 7 months
o 1 year
o 2 years
o 3 years
o 4 years
o 5 years
Students can also refer to the following Development Timeline for more information:
[Link]

9. Ask students to explore the important milestones that occur in their assigned age group.
Ask each group to summarize their findings and present the information to the group.

10. After the groups have shared their findings, review the timeline with students and ask
students to rearrange and/or add items to the timeline, based on the new information
they have just learned. If there are still items from their brainstormed list that they are
not sure where to place on the timeline, ask the students to conduct additional resource
to find out the information.

Learning Activity

1. Ask students to hypothesize when most of the growth of a person’s brain happens-
before birth or after birth?

2. Let students know that they will be watching a video segment from the PBS program,
The Human Spark, which explores how the human brain develops.

3. Play The Developing Brain. After playing the segment, ask the students to discuss
whether most brain growth occurs before or after birth (After birth.)

4. Ask students to think about how they think the knowledge of human infants compares
with that of other animals.

5. Play Language Development. After playing the segment, ask students what Harvard
Psychologist Elizabeth Spelke believes about how the abilities of human infants compare
to that of other animals. (She believes they are very similar.) Ask students if they agree
or disagree with her.

6. Ask students to discuss what Dr. Spelke says is responsible for the development of
uniquely human abilities. (Language. She believes that once children begin to learn
and use language they begin to display uniquely human capacities.)

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7. Discuss the statement by Professor Helen Neville at the University of Oregon that
children first learn nouns and then learn verbs. Ask students why that might be.
(Possible answers: Nouns are things that children can see, touch and/or look at, while
verbs are more abstract.)

8. Ask students to discuss how they think children learn right from wrong. (Possible
answers: From their friends, parents and other authority figures, from television,
through punishment for doing something wrong and rewards for doing something
good, etc.)

9. Play Learning Right and Wrong. After showing the video, ask students to discuss what
can influence a child’s perception of what is right and what is wrong. (Children can be
influenced by their peers, parents and others.)

10. Discuss how the boy in the segment reacts when he witnesses the polar bear doing
something incorrectly. (He tries to stop him and tells him the “right” way to do it.)

11. Ask students to discuss how the researcher influenced the girl about how to access the
die. (For the first task, when the girl didn’t know how to remove the object, she waited
for the researcher to show her and then used the method demonstrated by the
researcher. For the second task, the girl was successfully able to remove the die using
one method. However, when the researcher demonstrated another technique, the girl
then copied that method on her next attempt to remove the die.)

12. What are some questions that this segment makes you think about. (Possible questions:
How easily are children influenced by those around them? Does their ability to be
influenced by others change as they age? Do the people who have the most influence on
them change over the years? For example, are they influenced more by adults when
they are younger and more by peers when they age?)

Culminating Activity

1. Let students know that you want them to think about their skills and beliefs and how
they acquired them. Ask students to think about and discuss the following:
o A special skill or talent they have and how they acquired that skill or talent.
o A core value or belief and how they acquired that belief.
o The role that others (such as peers, parents, teachers, siblings, politicians,
community leaders, etc.) play in helping them make decisions and form opinions.

2. Ask students to think about the languages that they speak fluently. Ask them how they
learned those languages.

3. Ask students to think about something they learned to do in the past year (drive a car,
cook a meal, etc.) and to describe how/ where they learned it. Ask students to write

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 down their responses and then share their answers with the class.

4. Use the responses from questions 1, 2 and 3 above as a springboard to discuss the
different ways the students have learned things throughout their lives (in school, at
home and in the community). During the discussion, talk about the different things
(events, places, books/media, peers, parents, teachers, etc.) which have helped to shape
their thoughts and actions.

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 Child Development Milestones
Cut out the boxes below along the dotted lines. Try to place each item in the correct spot in the timeline used in
the Introductory Activity for “The Developing Child” lesson for The Human Spark.

says 2 to 4-word
babbles chains of sounds cries when parent leaves
sentences

bangs two objects together crawls forward on belly says “dada” and “mama”

sorts objects by
begins make-believe play develops full color vision
shape and color

dresses and undresses transfers object from

begins to babble
without help hand to hand

turns over container

begins to run expresses affection openly
to pour out contents

begins to show finds objects even when uses a fork, spoon and
defiant behavior hidden under 2 or 3 covers (sometimes) a knife to eat

begins to sort by
finger feeds him/herself uses scissors
shapes and colors

brings hand to mouth first smile walks alone

reaches sitting position walks holding on

can ride a tricycle
without help to furniture

can tell emotions by tone of walks up and down stairs

responds to “no”
voice holding on to support

walks up and down stairs

cooperates with other children responds to own name
without support