Content: Unit 3
Biology and Behavior:
Developmental psychology
studies how people change and
grow over the course of a
lifetime.
Content Standards
Standard Area IIIA: Lifespan Development
Content Standards
After concluding this unit, students understand:
Taken from the Essentials of
Psychology textbook
IIIA-1. Development as a lifelong process
IIIA-2. Research techniques used to gather data on the developmental process
IIIA-3. Theories of development
IIIA-4. Issues surrounding the developmental process (nature/nurture, continuity/discontinuity, stability/instability, critical
periods)
Key Questions:
Notes: from the National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula by the American
Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org/education/k12/national-standards.aspx)
Skills and Outcomes: When students have finished
Formative/Summative Assessments: Students
studying this topic, they will know and be able to:
What does “genetic
influence” mean?
How do feelings differ
from thoughts?
How do children
physically, mentally and
emotionally develop?
How do adolescents
physically, mentally and
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Preview Chapter 9 – are the teen years a time of
stress? Discuss
Mark up – read and mark up using post-it notes
“Exploring human development” on page 343 and
answer the question: what does genetic influence
mean?
Statistics: conduct interviews about a child’s
physical development by finding birth height and
weight, height and weight over various ages, and
physical accomplishments. Compile information
and discuss averages and meaning
Child development: intellectual
will complete the following products/other assessments to
demonstrate the skills and understandings they have
acquired.
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Illustrate: show the development changes in
physical, cognitive, and social development
through a Mind Map
Activity: Genetic Prenatal Screening and
impact with reflection
Journal: write thoughts on the conflicts of
adolescence and the problems that were
discussed in class: have you faced them yet?
Do you think you will? Do you feel
“typical?”
Freaks and Geeks: after watching the pilot
episode of the show “Freaks and Geeks”
emotionally develop?
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How do humans socially
develop?
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How do humans develop
morals?
How do needs motivate
actions?
What conflicts appear at
each stage of
development?
Categorize: introduce Jean Piaget’s theory of
intellectual development in infants. Place activities
into proper stages of his cognitive theory
Describe: each stage in own words of Piaget’s
theory of intellectual development
Adolescence – social development
 Writing: can a crisis ever be a good thing?
 Identify: explain the major crisis that occurs at each
stage of psychosocial development using Erik
Erikson’s either stages
 Focus: using Erikson’s stages, focus on the
adolescent stages using James Marcia and his
theory of four identity states
 Discussion: think of a situation involving a moral
decision, write this down and share with the class.
Discuss and determine what the moral question was
and how it was answered, and how it should have
been answered if different
 Case study: share the story of Jonathan’s personal
dilemma and have students share their judgements
of what he should do. Summarize your rationale for
each situation, look for similarities and differences
 Evaluate: introduce Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory
of moral development, have students write each
stage in their own words then explain their views of
Kohlberg’s stages
 Scenario: students will be provided with an
example of being straneded on a desert island and
asking for steps students would take to survive.
Introduce Abraham Maslow’s theory of hierarchy
of needs
 Summarize: explain Maslow’s theory in own
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students will apply James Marcia’s identity
states theory to the main characters, and
connect this and the idea of cliques to Malden
High School
Rubric: create a rubric for how students
should be judged in school. Create your
guidelines and provide a rationale for each
step with consequences.
Quiz/Test on development
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words
Apply: in class activity determining which needs
are being met by certain activities, and writing a
reflection on what stage they are currently in
Adulthood
 Discussion: what scares you about growing up?
 Notes: read “Death and Dying” on pages 382-383
and answer questions to use for discussion