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Frequently Asked Questions

Why teach about and study aging?
Why should children learn about aging issues?
How can the curricular materials benefit teachers?
How do the curricular materials affect students?
What teacher training opportunities exist?
Are there any restrictions to using the curricular materials in the classroom?
How do I view and print the curricular materials in PDF format?
Contact Us for Other Questions

Why teach about and study aging?

Everyone ages; in fact, the fastest growing population in the United States is age 85 and older! Thus the issue is not whether children will learn about aging, but what they will learn! Children get a mixture of truth and misinformation about growing up and growing older. While not all of their opinions are negative, most children view the later years as a time of decline and loss, rather than wellness and personal growth, and a time of isolation and loneliness rather than healthy involvement in the community.

At very early ages, children have internalized ideas that serve as a breeding ground for ageism (age prejudice) and gerontophobia (fear of aging), that cloud a healthier view:

There is great potential for happiness/wellness across the life span when people exercise good mental and physical health habits. We strive to live in a society that welcomes elders as active mainstream participants.

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Why should children learn about aging issues?

Children need to recognize ...

  • the typical events and changes that occur over the life span - their journey, from birthday to birthday, may not be so different from that of others; shared experiences and a healthy, realistic view of aging will help them maximize their opportunities throughout their lives.
  • the choices and preparations they make now, and across the life span, directly affect wellness at all stages of development; choices based on evidence from scientific and sociological research open doors to quality lives.
  • myths and stereotypes are perpetuated from one generation to another in language, humor, literature, and media. These biases close doors to rewarding experiences and opportunities.
  • the "longevity revolution" presents many challenges to an aging population; only intelligent decisions and problem solving based on knowledge, comprehension, and experience, can meet these needs.

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How can the Positively Aging® & M.O.R.E. curricular materials benefit teachers?

The curriculum (1) is based on cutting edge research, (2) has classroom ready materials, (3) is in an interdisciplinary format, and (4) is aligned with state and national standards.

Lessons Based on Cutting Edge Research
All of the curricular materials have been created through partnerships between scientists from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and K-12 teachers from the San Antonio area. The teachers and scientists collaborate together to create exciting and engaging interdisciplinary lessons and activities based on the Gerontologic Sciences and Health Sciences. Lessons are continually being updated and edited.

Classroom Ready Materials
The curriculum consists of over 300 activities divided by health science topics. Background information on the rationale and objectives for each lesson and activity are provided. All unit topics have pre/post tests with answer keys. Each of the activities have background information pages for teachers and students, answer keys for teachers, and handouts and worksheets for students. Many activities require minimal preparation from the teacher since all handouts and worksheets are provided.

Interdisciplinary Units and Lessons
The curriculum has been designed for use by interdisciplinary teams. Units contain thematic lessons that include several activities. However, individual teachers may use the lessons or activities as stand alone projects.

Alignment with State and National Educational Standards
The curriculum has been written with national educational standards in mind using various education and community health initiatives such as: Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, Healthy People 2000 and 2010, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Benchmarks for Science Literacy, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Dimensions of Thinking and Dimensions of Learning, and the National Research Council's National Science Education Standards. All of the activities have been coded to the Texas state standards: the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Go to the TEKS search database.

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How do the Positively Aging ® & M.O.R.E. curricular materials affect students?

Under the Positively Aging ® project's NIH SEPA grant (1997-2000), the effectiveness of the curriculum was evaluated. A controlled trial evaluation was conducted in the 1998-1999 school year with two participating middle schools in San Antonio TX. One school served as the control school (did not use the Positively Aging ® materials) and the other was the implementation school (did use the Positively Aging ® materials). Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used. Read more under the Peer Reviewed Publications link.

Qualitative Methods
Qualitative methods included using children's drawings of older people and sentence completion exercises. These were used to capture changes in children's views on aging. It was found that the implementation school data showed an increase in positive views and a decrease in negative views while data from the control school remained constant. Data findings were statistically significant and demonstrated that the Positively Aging ® materials can move children to a more positive view of aging. Read more about our qualitative evaluation of the curriculum.

Quantitative Methods
Quantitative Methods included the use of student pre/post tests. For example, test scores were compared on the "Our Aging World" test. In this unit, gerontological examples of changes in life expectancy and population pyramids, are centered on mathematics, graphing, and interpretation of graphs. The improvement in test scores for the implementation school was statistically significantly different from the scores in the control school. These data indicate that the Positively Aging ® teaching materials can improve math knowledge and skills illustrated by the gerontologic examples provided in the lessons.

For more information on the effectiveness of the curricular materials, go to Publications.

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What teacher training opportunities exist?

The Positively Aging® & M.O.R.E. programs host teacher workshops during the summer months in San Antonio Texas. Workshops are designed to motivate teachers to infuse aging issues, gerontologic sciences, and health sciences into the regular curriculum and to promote scientific literacy as a powerful tool in making life-determining decisions. Each day has a theme such as "Brain Development Day" or "Older Friend Day". Participants are instructed in the use of the curriculum from teacher trainers who have had several years experience with the curriculum. Guest speakers come from the University of Texas Health Science Center and area health agencies. Participants receive information on the latest health information and research. For more information go to Teacher Resources - Professional Development .

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Are there any restrictions to using the curricular materials in the classroom?

The Positively Aging® & M.O.R.E. curricular materials are funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health. The curriculum is provided on this website free of charge for use by any educator. Handouts and worksheets may be printed and reproduced for educational use.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio maintains the copyright of all curricular materials.

If you have other questions about using our curricular materials, please contact us at teachhealthk-12@uthscsa.edu .

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How do I view and print the curricular materials in PDF format?

All worksheets and handouts are in PDF file format (portable document format). PDF files must use Adobe Reader to open and print. You must have Adobe Reader installed (version 5.0 or higher) on your computer for this to work properly. Adobe Reader is a free software. After you download Reader from Adobe's website ( www.adobe.com ), you must install it also. Go to the folder where it was downloaded and double-click on the 'exe' file to install. Typically you will also have to restart your computer.

After you have installed Reader on your computer, when you click on any worksheet or handout, a second browser window will open which contains the PDF file.

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Question Still Not Answered?

If you have other questions that have not been answered by our FAQ,
please contact us:
Phone: 210-567-4398
Email: teachhealthk-12@uthscsa.edu

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UTHSCSA Teacher Enrichment Initiatives
Positively Aging® & M.O.R.E. Curricular Programs
2007-2008 © The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Homepage: http://teachhealthk-12.uthscsa.edu