Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ covers the entire Health Education project — all eight grade-band textbooks, the MicroSims, the infographic posters, the learning graphs, and the standards behind them — in one place, rather than repeating the same questions eight times per grade band.

Getting Started Questions

What is Health Education?

Health Education is a free, open-source, interactive intelligent textbook covering health topics for students from Kindergarten through Grade 12. It is not one book but eight parallel grade-band textbooks sharing a single site, each written and calibrated for its own age group. See the About page for the full project overview and the Home page for a quick tour.

Who is this textbook for?

Three audiences: K-12 classroom teachers and curriculum coordinators planning lessons, students working through age-appropriate chapters and MicroSims directly, and health-standards compliance staff checking content against state benchmarks. For Kindergarten through Grade 3, the teacher is the primary audience because students aren't yet expected to read independently; from Grade 4 up, students increasingly use the text directly. See the Teachers Guide for a full walkthrough.

Why are there eight separate textbooks instead of one?

Because health topics need genuinely different vocabulary, examples, MicroSim complexity, and assessment difficulty at every age — not the same page with the reading level swapped on the fly. A third grader and a high schooler studying "Personal Safety and Violence Prevention" get different pages entirely. See the List of Textbooks by Grade and the Course Description for the reasoning behind the grade-band structure.

What grade bands are covered?

Eight bands: Kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grades 6-8, and Grades 9-12. Each band has its own course description, chapters, and learning graph. Browse them from the List of Textbooks by Grade.

How do I find the textbook for my grade level?

Open "Textbooks By Grade" in the left navigation and choose your band. Each band section contains that band's course description, its chapters in teaching order, and its own learning graph. See List of Textbooks by Grade to jump directly to any band.

What is an intelligent textbook?

An intelligent textbook is a digital textbook that goes beyond static text and images — it includes interactive simulations, a structured map of how concepts relate to one another (a learning graph), and, as the site matures, self-grading quizzes and this glossary and FAQ. This project is currently a "Level 2" intelligent textbook (interactive, but not yet adaptive or AI-tutored). See the Teachers Guide for the full five-level explanation.

Do I need to create an account or pay to use this textbook?

No. The entire textbook, including all MicroSims and posters, is free to use with no account, no login, and no per-seat licensing. It is released under a Creative Commons license — see License for the exact terms.

What topics (strands) does the curriculum cover?

Six health strands run through every grade band: Food and Nutrition; Human Growth and Development (extending to Sexual Health in grades 6-12); Mental and Emotional Health; Personal Health and Wellness; Personal Safety and Violence Prevention; and Substance Use Awareness and Prevention (grades 6-12 only). See Course Description for the full topic breakdown.

Is this textbook aligned to any official standards?

Yes. The grade bands, strands, and benchmark coverage are built from Minnesota's 2025 K-12 Health Academic Standards (Commissioner Approved, December 2025). Every concept in every band's learning graph traces back to a specific benchmark in that standards document. See References for the source documents, and the "Standards Alignment" section of the Teachers Guide for guidance on using this outside Minnesota.

Who is Scout the Dog?

Scout is the textbook's friendly mascot — a golden retriever "pedagogical agent" who appears in student-facing chapter content (never in instructor-facing pages like this FAQ or the Teachers Guide) to welcome students to a chapter, highlight key concepts, give tips, and offer encouragement. Scout's catchphrase is "Healthy choices, happy you!" Read more in the "Scout the Dog" section of the Teachers Guide.

How much does it cost to use this textbook?

Nothing. The whole project — chapters, MicroSims, posters, and this FAQ — is free and open source under a non-commercial Creative Commons license. See License.

Where do I start if I'm a parent wanting to preview content?

Open "Textbooks By Grade" in the left navigation, choose your child's grade band, and read that band's course description first — it lists the exact topics covered before you read any chapter. See List of Textbooks by Grade.

Core Concept Questions

What are the six health strands?

Food and Nutrition; Human Growth and Development / Sexual Health; Mental and Emotional Health; Personal Health and Wellness; Personal Safety and Violence Prevention; and Substance Use Awareness and Prevention. Every strand runs through every grade band except Substance Use, which begins in Grade 6. See Course Description.

What does the Food and Nutrition strand cover across grades?

It runs Kindergarten through Grade 12, starting with recognizing food groups and healthy versus unhealthy choices in early grades, progressing to reading nutrition labels and understanding macronutrients in upper elementary, and reaching personal nutrition planning and evaluating food systems and chronic disease risk by high school. Compare, for example, the food-and-nutrition chapter in Kindergarten against the same strand in Grades 9-12.

What does the Human Growth and Development / Sexual Health strand cover?

Kindergarten through Grade 5 focuses on family structures, body ownership, puberty basics, and trusted adults. Starting in Grade 6, the strand extends to Sexual Health, covering healthcare access, consent, boundaries, and STI prevention appropriate to middle and high school. See Grade 3, Growth and Puberty and Grades 9-12, Consent and Boundaries.

What does the Mental and Emotional Health strand cover?

It runs K-12, starting with naming feelings and simple coping strategies in early grades and progressing to recognizing anxiety versus everyday nervousness, supporting a struggling friend, and understanding stigma and brain health by middle and high school. See Grade 1, Understanding and Talking About Feelings and Grades 9-12, Mental Health and Crisis Support.

What does the Personal Health and Wellness strand cover?

This strand covers daily habits, hygiene, sleep, physical activity, and disease prevention, scaling from "staying healthy every day" routines in Kindergarten to evaluating chronic-disease risk factors and designing a personal wellness plan in high school. See Kindergarten, Staying Healthy Every Day.

What does the Personal Safety and Violence Prevention strand cover?

It covers recognizing unsafe situations, trusted adults, body safety, and getting help, growing from simple safety rules in Kindergarten to consent, coercion, bystander action, and digital safety in later grades. Because every band has a dedicated chapter for this strand, you can follow how one topic deepens across bands — see Kindergarten, Staying Safe through Grades 9-12, Digital and School Safety.

What does the Substance Use Awareness and Prevention strand cover, and why does it start in Grade 6?

This strand covers the effects of substances on the developing brain, refusal skills, substance use disorder, recovery, and related policy. Per Minnesota's standards, it is not taught below Grade 6, since substance-use content requires a level of abstraction and scenario reasoning that matches middle-school cognitive development. See Grades 6-8, Substances and the Developing Brain.

What are the 8 anchor standards?

Anchor standards describe the type of skill or knowledge a benchmark targets, independent of strand: functional health knowledge, analyzing influences, accessing valid information, interpersonal communication, decision-making, goal setting, healthy practices/behaviors, and promoting the health/safety/wellbeing of self and others. Every concept in a band's learning graph is tagged with one of these. See References for the source standards document.

How does content difficulty change between grade bands?

Reading level and cognitive demand both scale with band: Kindergarten targets pre-reader, identify/recognize/name skills; Grades 1-2 add simple description and recall; Grades 3-5 add explaining and connecting to personal experience; Grades 6-8 add analyzing and evaluating influences; and Grades 9-12 add designing, evaluating, and synthesizing across contexts. See the "Understanding the Grade-Band Structure" section of the Teachers Guide.

What is a learning graph?

A learning graph is a visual map showing how concepts in a course depend on one another, structured as a directed acyclic graph (DAG) — a diagram where arrows show which concepts must be understood before others. Each grade band has its own learning graph rather than one graph for the whole site. See the "The Learning Graph" section of the Teachers Guide and try the Learning Graph Viewer.

How many concepts are in the learning graphs?

Across all eight bands, the site tracks roughly 600 concepts in total — ranging from about 45 in Kindergarten to about 135 in Grades 6-8 and Grades 9-12, reflecting the greater depth expected at older grades. See each band's Learning Graph section, for example Grade 5's Concept List.

How do concepts build on each other across grade bands?

Prerequisite edges generally flow band-to-band within the same strand, not across strands — for example, Grade 3 Food and Nutrition concepts assume mastery of Grade 1-2 Food and Nutrition concepts, not mastery of an unrelated strand like Personal Safety. See Course Description for the prerequisite policy.

What is the difference between a strand and a chapter?

A strand is one of the six recurring topic areas (like Food and Nutrition) that appears in every band. A chapter is the specific, band-written unit of content covering that strand (or a combination of strands) for one grade level. A strand spans all eight bands; a chapter belongs to exactly one band.

How many chapters are in each grade band?

Kindergarten has 6, Grade 1 has 7, Grade 2 has 7, Grade 3 has 8, Grade 4 has 6, Grade 5 has 7, Grades 6-8 has 12, and Grades 9-12 has 15 — 68 chapters in total across all eight bands. See each band's chapter list, starting from List of Textbooks by Grade.

What is a benchmark?

A benchmark is a specific, coded statement of what a student should know or be able to do at a given grade (for example, code 0.1.1.1 for a Kindergarten benchmark). Every concept in this textbook's learning graphs traces back to a benchmark in Minnesota's health standards document. See References.

What cognitive skills does a student develop by the end of Grades 9-12?

By completing all eight bands in a strand, a student should be able to recall core health vocabulary (Remember), explain why a practice matters (Understand), apply communication and decision-making skills in realistic scenarios (Apply), evaluate influences like media and peer pressure (Analyze), judge trade-offs in health information and decisions (Evaluate), and design a personal health plan or advocacy action (Create). See the "Learning Outcomes" section of Course Description.

What is functional health knowledge?

It is one of the eight anchor standards — the foundational, factual health knowledge a student needs before they can apply skills like decision-making or goal setting. Definitions, body systems, food groups, and safety rules are typical examples. See Glossary for specific terms.

Technical Detail Questions

What is a MicroSim?

A MicroSim (short for "micro-simulation") is a small, interactive simulation that runs directly in a web browser — no software installation required. Students manipulate variables using sliders, buttons, sorting activities, or drag-and-drop, and immediately see how the model responds. See "Using the MicroSims" in the Teachers Guide and browse the full catalog at MicroSims.

What technologies are MicroSims built with?

The textbook's 370+ MicroSims use p5.js for scenario sorters, timelines, and games; vis-network for concept maps and network diagrams; Chart.js for bar and line charts; and simple HTML/CSS for checklists and matching activities. See the MicroSim technology table in the Teachers Guide.

What is an infographic poster, and how is it different from a MicroSim?

An infographic poster is a single, richly designed static image summarizing a health concept — a checklist, comparison, or labeled diagram — with interactive callouts plus explore and quiz modes online, but also easy to print or project. A MicroSim, by contrast, is a live simulation students manipulate. Browse the full collection at Posters.

What is the Learning Graph Viewer?

An interactive tool for exploring how concepts connect and depend on one another across the curriculum, built with the same vis-network technology used for concept-map MicroSims. Try it at Learning Graph Viewer.

What's in the glossary?

The Glossary defines the health vocabulary used throughout the textbook — each entry gives a plain-language definition, a concrete example, and which grade(s) the term is used in, so you can quickly check whether a term is introduced at your students' level.

What is a DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph)?

A DAG is a diagram made of nodes and one-directional arrows with no cycles — you can never follow the arrows back to where you started. This textbook's learning graphs use a DAG structure so that prerequisite concepts always come before the concepts that depend on them. See Glossary for related terms, and Learning Graph Viewer to see one in action.

What license is this content released under?

Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-Alike, version 4.0. You may copy, share, print, modify, and translate the material for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the original author and share any adaptation under the same license. Selling the textbook or removing attribution is not allowed. See License for the full legal text.

Can I embed a MicroSim on my own website?

Yes. Every MicroSim can be embedded in any web page — a Google Site, WordPress blog, an LMS like Canvas or Schoology, or a plain HTML file — using a single <iframe> line pointing at that MicroSim's URL. See the "Tips for Using MicroSims in Class" section of the Teachers Guide for the exact embed code.

Where can I find references and sources?

The site-wide References page lists the state and national standards documents this textbook is built from, including Minnesota's 2025 K-12 Health Academic Standards and its supporting rulemaking documents. Chapter-level reference lists, where present, link back to this same page.

What is FERPA/COPPA, and why does it matter here?

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) are U.S. federal laws protecting student education records and children's online privacy. Because this textbook covers sensitive strands like Personal Safety and Substance Use, and much of its audience is under 13, schools should use anonymous, aggregate analytics rather than individually identifying student-tracking tools unless their district's data privacy officer has approved it. See "Customizing Your Analytics" in the Teachers Guide.

Common Challenge Questions

My students read below their assigned grade band. How should I use the text?

For Kindergarten through Grade 3, the textbook is designed with the teacher as the primary reader — read chapters aloud and lean on the MicroSim "games," which carry much of the student experience at that age. This applies at any grade if your students need extra reading support. See "Understanding the Grade-Band Structure" in the Teachers Guide.

How should I handle questions from parents or the community about sensitive topics like sexual health or substance use?

Point them first to the relevant band's course description, which lists exactly what is covered before any chapter content, and to Course Description, which explains the strand structure and the standards this content is built from. The About page also documents why this content matters and the data behind it, which can help ground a conversation about scope.

My state's standards differ from Minnesota's. Can I still use this?

Yes. The underlying health content generalizes well even where specific benchmark codes differ. Use your band's learning graph to compare concept coverage against your own state's scope-and-sequence document, and adjust locally as needed. See "How Teachers Can Use the Learning Graph" in the Teachers Guide.

A link to a state standards document is broken. What do I do?

This is called link rot — when an external page moves, is renamed, or is deleted. Try searching the document title on the source site (for Minnesota, education.mn.gov), check the Wayback Machine for an archived copy, or report the broken link as described below. See "A Note About Link Rot" in the Teachers Guide.

I found an error, a typo, or a MicroSim that won't load. How do I report it?

Submit a GitHub Issue at the project's repository, dmccreary/health-education, describing which band, chapter, or MicroSim has the problem and what you expected versus what you saw. If you'd rather not create a GitHub account, use the Contact page instead. See "Reporting Issues and Suggestions" in the Teachers Guide.

The Minnesota standards this book is based on aren't finalized yet. Can I still use the textbook today?

Yes. As of mid-2026, Minnesota's proposed standards have completed drafting and public comment but final statewide adoption is still pending; locally developed standards remain in effect until then. The health content and grade-band structure in this textbook remain sound and usable regardless of that administrative timeline. See the "Appendix: Minnesota Health Standards Background" section of the About page.

My class spans multiple grade levels. Which band should I use?

Match the band to your students' developmental level rather than their nominal grade, and check the reading-level and cognitive-demand table in the Teachers Guide. For a strand you're concerned students haven't mastered yet, skim the same strand's chapter in the band below to confirm the prerequisite ground has been covered.

Can I skip chapters or teach them out of order?

Within a band, chapters are numbered in a suggested teaching order but are largely self-contained by strand, so reordering is generally safe. Skipping a chapter is riskier for strands that build across bands (like Personal Safety) — check that band's learning graph first to see whether later chapters depend on concepts from the one you'd skip. See "How Teachers Can Use the Learning Graph" in the Teachers Guide.

Best Practice Questions

How should I pace a chapter?

Each chapter is designed for roughly 2-3 class periods; chapters with more MicroSims (common in Grades 6-12) may take longer. See "Suggested Classroom Use" in the Teachers Guide.

How can I use the learning graph to check prerequisites or plan remediation?

Before teaching a concept, open that band's Concept List and Concept Taxonomy to verify students have covered its prerequisites in an earlier band or chapter. If a student struggles, trace the concept's prerequisites backward in the graph to find the specific gap. See "How Teachers Can Use the Learning Graph" in the Teachers Guide.

When should I use a MicroSim versus a poster in class?

Use MicroSims when you want students to manipulate a variable and predict an outcome — project it and have students call out predictions before you interact with a control. Use posters for warm-up discussions, as printed classroom-wall references, or in contexts like health fairs and parent communications where a static, standalone visual works better. See "Using the MicroSims" and "Using the Infographic Posters" in the Teachers Guide.

Should students read chapters independently, or should I lead as the teacher?

For Grade 4 and up, assign chapters as reading homework and use class time for MicroSims and discussion. For Kindergarten through Grade 3, read chapters aloud yourself and treat MicroSims as guided games you run together. See "Suggested Classroom Use" in the Teachers Guide.

How do I customize this textbook for my district's local needs?

Fork or clone the project's GitHub repository, edit the Markdown chapter files under docs/bands/<band>/chapters/, and rebuild the site with MkDocs. You can swap in your own state's standards, add a district-specific chapter, or adjust the reading level of a single band. See "Customizing Your Own Textbook" in the Teachers Guide for the full step-by-step guide.

How should I cross-check my curriculum against the standards this book is built from?

Compare your district's scope-and-sequence document against a band's Concept List and Concept Taxonomy, which trace every concept back to a specific Minnesota health-standards benchmark. See References for the source standards documents and "How Teachers Can Use the Learning Graph" in the Teachers Guide.

I teach a combined middle/high school class. Should I use Grades 6-8 or Grades 9-12?

Base the choice on cognitive demand rather than literal age: Grades 6-8 targets analyzing influences and applying skills in scenarios, while Grades 9-12 targets designing, evaluating, and synthesizing across contexts. Skim both bands' course descriptions and pick whichever cognitive level matches your students, or use the lower band's chapters as a foundation before moving to the higher band's. See Course Description.

Advanced Topic Questions

How do I fork or clone my own version of this textbook?

Create a free GitHub account, then either fork the repository (a copy that stays on GitHub) at dmccreary/health-education, or clone it to your own computer with git clone for full local control. See "Step 2: Fork or Clone the Repository" in the Teachers Guide.

How do I set up my own analytics for a customized version of this site?

Create a Google Analytics property, get a Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXXXXX), and add it to the extra.analytics section of your mkdocs.yml. Data appears within 24-48 hours after your next deploy. See "Customizing Your Analytics" in the Teachers Guide.

What's the difference between basic analytics and xAPI/LRS tracking?

Basic web analytics (like Google Analytics) tracks anonymous, aggregate page views — which pages get visited and for how long. xAPI (Experience API) is a more advanced standard for tracking granular individual interactions, stored in a Learning Record Store (LRS). Because this is health content and much of the audience is under 13, aggregate analytics is the safer default; individually identifying xAPI tracking should only be used after consulting your district's data privacy officer. See "xAPI Monitoring (Advanced)" in the Teachers Guide.

How is this site technically built?

The site is built with MkDocs and the Material for MkDocs theme, which converts Markdown files in the docs/ folder into a static website. Content authors only need to know basic Markdown formatting to edit chapters. See "Key Technical Terms" in the Teachers Guide.

Can I contribute new content back to the project?

Yes — this is an open-source project. Submit suggestions or corrections as a GitHub Issue at dmccreary/health-education, or fork the repository, make your change, and open a pull request. See "How to Submit Feedback" in the Teachers Guide.

How would I add new concepts to a band's learning graph?

Each band's learning graph is generated from that band's course description and tracked in a concept list with dependency edges. Adding a new concept means updating the band's course description with the new topic, then regenerating or manually extending its Concept List, Concept Taxonomy, and dependency edges so prerequisites stay consistent. See a band's Learning Graph section, for example Grade 4's learning graph introduction, for the current structure to extend.

What's on the roadmap for this textbook?

Quizzes are planned but not yet published across all bands; this Glossary and FAQ are newly published as of mid-2026. Check the Teachers Guide "What is an Intelligent Textbook?" section, which tracks the current feature level, for the latest status.

How do I cite this textbook in academic or curriculum work?

Use APA, Chicago, MLA, or BibTeX formats — for example, APA: McCreary, D. (2026). Health Education. https://dmccreary.github.io/health-education/. To cite a specific band and chapter, append the band and chapter title and URL. See "How to Cite This Book" in the About page for all four formats.