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Is This a Health Decision?

Run the Is This a Health Decision? MicroSim Fullscreen

You can embed this MicroSim in your own course website with this iframe:

<iframe src="./main.html" width="100%" height="454px" scrolling="no"></iframe>

About this MicroSim

Is This a Health Decision? is an interactive MicroSim for this health-education textbook.

Students recognize when a health-related decision is needed by classifying everyday moments as "health decision" or "not a health decision," supporting benchmark 0.7.5.1.

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: Understand (L2) — explain, classify

Lesson Plan

Audience

This MicroSim is designed for Kindergarten. For the K-3 bands the teacher typically drives the activity on a shared screen; older students can explore the MicroSim independently.

Learning Objective

Students recognize when a health-related decision is needed by classifying everyday moments as "health decision" or "not a health decision," supporting benchmark 0.7.5.1.

This activity targets Bloom's Understand (L2) (explain, classify).

Suggested Use (about 10 minutes)

  1. Warm up (2 min). Ask students what they already know about the topic and let one volunteer describe what they see on the screen.
  2. Model it (3 min). Demonstrate the interaction once, thinking aloud so students hear the reasoning behind each choice.
  3. Guided practice (3 min). Invite students to try the interaction and to predict what will happen before they act.
  4. 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 Understand-level objective rather than a lucky guess.

Specification

The full specification below was extracted from Chapter 6: Making Healthy Choices.

Type: infographic
**sim-id:** is-this-a-health-decision<br/>
**Library:** p5.js<br/>
**Status:** Specified

Bloom Taxonomy: Understand (L2)
Bloom Taxonomy Verb: explain, classify

Learning objective: Students recognize when a health-related decision is needed by classifying everyday moments as "health decision" or "not a health decision," supporting benchmark 0.7.5.1.

Canvas layout: Full canvas (500px) shows one illustrated everyday moment at a time (choosing a snack, choosing a shirt color, deciding to wear a helmet, choosing a book, telling a trusted adult about a feeling). Bottom strip (80px): two large buttons, "Health Decision" and "Not a Health Decision," plus a Reset button.

Visual elements: 5 moment cards cycling one at a time; selected button glows and reveals an infobox explaining why.

Interactive controls: Click the button matching the child's guess; "Next Moment" cycles the cards; Reset restarts.

Default parameters: Cards appear in a fixed teacher-predictable order, starting with "choosing a snack."

Behavior: Correct answer glows green with an infobox, e.g., "Yes! What you eat is a health decision because it affects your body." Incorrect answer gently shakes with a kind explanation. After all 5: "You know how to notice when it's time to make a health decision!"

Instructional Rationale: An Understand-level (explain/classify) objective, so the MicroSim uses a step-through pattern with one concrete moment shown at a time rather than continuous animation, letting a teacher pause and discuss each example aloud.

Implementation notes: p5.js. Each moment is an object with an illustration reference, correct classification, and explanation string. Text large (24px+) for read-aloud use.

References