School+Curriculum

Rea, Matt To help begin to prevent pediatric cardiovascular disease, it would be vastly beneficial to start educating children about the heart, heart disease, and what goes into having a healthy heart. Knowledge about these things is the first step to preventing pediatric CVD. The way we can start to educate children about the dangers of heart disease is in the classroom. To ensure the education of children about this subject, schools should have a specific course and curriculum devoted solely to teaching children about the heart and its functions, different kinds of hearts disease, and how to prevent heart disease with a healthy lifestyle.

The first course of action would be for the federal government to create a federal grant program along the lines of No Child Left Behind to provide funding for schools who do have a heart disease education program. This grant program will be called The Healthy Heart Fund. If a state's State Board of Education agrees to have a program then schools will be allowed to design the curriculm however they want under specific guidlines or learning objectives.

The learning objectives for each unit will be as follows:

1) A student will be able to identify different parts of the heart and circulatory system. 2) A student will be able to tell what each part of the heart and circulatory system does. 3) A student will know about heart defects or congenital heart diseases that affect the normal functions of the heart such as heart murmurs or holes in the heart. 4) A student will know the normal composition of blood and how blood is important to heart and circulatory system. 5) A student will know how the course of blood flow through the body.
 * The Heart And Its Functions**:

1) A student will know how heart disease is caused by things such as high cholesterol. 2) A student will know different kinds of heart diease. 3) A student will know how heart attacks are caused and how to stop them. 4) A student will know what surgeries are related to heart disease and how they are performed. 5) A student will be able to diagnose heart disease or diagnose a person at risk for heart disease.
 * Heart Disease**

1) A student will know that genetics and age do affect the heart 2) A student will know that smoking and drinking leads to heart disease 3) A student will know that exercise helps prevent heart disease 4) A student will know that a diet full of fruits and vegetables, omega-3's, and lean meats will help prevent heart disease 5) A student will be able to create a plan for themselves that will help them prevent heart disease for now and for in the future.
 * Having A Healthy Heart**

This would ideally be a K-12 course that builds upon itself from the bare basics to pretty complex concepts, but the objectives presented above would be best suited for grade eight.

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