The Behavior-Change Cycle¶
Run the The Behavior-Change Cycle MicroSim Fullscreen
You can embed this MicroSim in your own course website with this iframe:
About this MicroSim¶
The Behavior-Change Cycle is an interactive MicroSim for this health-education textbook.
Apply the four-step behavior-change cycle (evaluate
Use the controls in the panel below the drawing to interact with the model, then talk through what changed and why. The MicroSim is width-responsive and can be embedded in any course page with the iframe shown above.
Bloom's Taxonomy level: Apply
— use, demonstrate
Lesson Plan¶
Audience¶
This MicroSim is designed for Grades 9-12. For the K-3 bands the teacher typically drives the activity on a shared screen; older students can explore the MicroSim independently.
Learning Objective¶
Apply the four-step behavior-change cycle (evaluate
This activity targets Bloom's Apply
(use, demonstrate).
Suggested Use (about 10 minutes)¶
- Warm up (2 min). Ask students what they already know about the topic and let one volunteer describe what they see on the screen.
- Model it (3 min). Demonstrate the interaction once, thinking aloud so students hear the reasoning behind each choice.
- Guided practice (3 min). Invite students to try the interaction and to predict what will happen before they act.
- Discuss (2 min). Ask why the result came out the way it did, connecting the on-screen result back to the learning objective above.
Check for Understanding¶
Have each student (or pair) explain their result in one sentence, using the vocabulary from this chapter. Look for reasoning that matches the Apply-level objective rather than a lucky guess.
Specification¶
The full specification below was extracted from Chapter 15: Health Promotion and Behavior Change.
Type: workflow
**sim-id:** behavior-change-cycle<br/>
**Library:** Mermaid<br/>
**Status:** Specified
Bloom Taxonomy: Apply<br/>
Bloom Taxonomy Verb: use, demonstrate
Learning objective: Apply the four-step behavior-change cycle (evaluate
supports, evaluate barriers, adapt the behavior, evaluate impact) to a
realistic personal health practice, tracing how each step feeds the next.
Purpose: Give learners a persistent visual anchor for the cycle, using
Jordan's active-commute scenario as the worked example at every step, and
showing the cycle looping rather than ending.
Visual style: Mermaid flowchart, four sequential nodes arranged in a closed
loop; every node has a click handler.
Steps:
1. "Evaluate Supports" — click: "Jordan identifies what already helps: a
safe sidewalk for most of the route, a bike, a friend who lives nearby
and also wants to walk, and a school that allows early arrival."
2. "Evaluate Barriers" — click: "Jordan identifies what gets in the way:
one busy intersection with no crosswalk, mornings when it's raining,
and a heavier backpack on test days."
3. "Adapt the Behavior" — click: "Jordan changes the plan to work with
supports and around barriers: walk with the friend on clear days, get a
ride only on rain days, and leave a spare set of test-day materials at
school to lighten the backpack."
4. "Evaluate Impact" — click: "After three weeks, Jordan checks: did
stress before first period actually go down? Did the intersection
barrier cause any near-misses?" Loops back to Evaluate Supports for the
next adjustment.
Color coding: Four steps in four distinct colors (teal, orange, gold,
purple) arranged in a circular flow to emphasize that behavior change is an
ongoing cycle, not a single decision.
Implementation: Mermaid flowchart with `click` directives opening an
infobox reusing the text above for each node.