Martin Luther King

For our science lesson we will be looking at the human body. Read to the children about the blood system, respiratory system, etc. Notice that all humans have the same systems. Then pass out four cut out shapes of the human body. At one time, it was thought that people with different colored skin where not the same on the inside. People with darker skin were not treated fairly. Martin Luther King protested against this belief and helped us to learn that all people are the same on the inside no matter what the color of our skin.

1. Have the children dress the first body and add facial features. Notice that we may all dress differently but we are all the same on the inside.

2. Color the skin tone of the second body. Discuss the many hues of skin tones there are in the world. Our skin covers and protects our bodies. We may have different skin tones but we are all the same on the inside. Martin Luther King dreamed that we could see each other as friends without regard to skin color. Does skin color tell you if someone will make a good friend? Discuss what makes a good friend.

3. On the fourth body, add a heart and brains. Discuss how each person has a brain that we use to think and a heart for feeling. Our brain is for learning. We can learn the skills necessary to become whoever we want to be. Our heart is for feelings. Martin Luther King dreamed that we would see that everyone has feelings and deserves to be treated fairly.

4. On the last body, draw and label the organs of the human body. All people have lungs for breathing the same air, a heart that pumps the same kind of blood, a brain for learning... We are all the same on the inside.

These cutouts can be made into a bulletin board, pasted to cardstock and used to make math patterns or stapled together to make books. These could also be used as part of a lapbook.