Activity 1: Medical Mavericks [4 points]
Over the years, many important discoveries have been made by clever people looking to help others. Two of these are women - Florence Nightingale and Marie Curie whose work has been widely recognized and appreciated. Both women lived extraordinary lives.
Florence Nightingale was born in 1820 in England. When she grew up, she trained to be a nurse and, as an adult, was sent to Turkey during the Crimean War to look after wounded soldiers. When she arrived, the hospitals were very dirty so she spent money to clean them up and to provide the soldiers with quality care. She saved many lives.
Marie Curie was born in Poland in 1867. Eventually, she moved to France and go to university. While
there, she learned a lot about physics, chemistry, and maths. She spent her career conducting experiments that led to the discovery of chemical elements. She was also the first person to use an x-ray machine to look at the human body. She earned two Nobel
Prizes for her work.
Nobel Prizes are given out every year to people who have done something extraordinary in six specific fields of study - Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Economics. When someone wins a Nobel Prize they are given a medal and a small amount of prize money. The prize money was originally donated by a very wealthy man named Alfred Nobel.
For this activity, let’s imagine that, like Alfred Nobel, you had millions of dollars and you wanted to share it. What would you do? Would you create an organization that gives out prizes and awards like Nobel or would you give the money to people you know personally? Please think about it carefully and then tell us what you would do. Post your work on your blog.
If I had millions of dollars, the first thing I would do would be to give money back to my parents for everything they've done for me and my family! The second thing to do would be to fill up homeless shelters and homeless banks with necessities. The third thing I would do would be to donate money to www.Teamtrees.org. Teamtrees.org is a website that plants trees for every dollar donated. For example, 1 dollar will equal to 1 tree planted. The fourth thing I would do is to pay off taxes, mortgages, debts and more. The last thing I would do would be to save the rest for my future!
Activity 2: iroko [4 points]
Dr Lance O’Sullivan is a Māori doctor who lives in Kaitaia, Northland. He has committed his
life to improving the health and well-being of both his patients and people in the local community. In 2014 he was named New Zealander of the Year.
Together, Lance and his wife, Tracy, have started some very cool projects in New Zealand including affordable clinics, the Kāinga Ora (healthy homes) initiative and the MOKO Foundation. The MOKO Foundation provides healthcare for students in school-based clinics. He has also started iMOKO, a digital initiative (programme) whereby people living in communities without doctors, can take photos of health issues and send them to doctors in Kaitaia. The doctors look at the photos, provide advice and can send a script to the local pharmacy so that the patient can get medicine. This programme is improving the health and well-being of people living in rural Northland.
For this activity, please think about your own health and well-being (hauora). What do you, or those in your family, do to stay healthy? Share five things that you do to stay healthy and strong on your blog.
I, personally, try to eat lots of fruit and vegetables and get plenty of sleep each night.
The five things I do to stay healthy are...
1. I don't eat too many fatty foods. What you eat is closely linked to your health, and eating a lot of fatty foods in one sitting can lead to weight gain.
2. I get regular exercise. Exercise can help prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and colon cancer, not that
3. I drink a lot of water instead of fizzys. Fizzy's have a lot of sugar in it which can really damage your teeth!
4. I make sure I get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep can weaken your immune system, cause thinking issues, and lead to weight gain.
5. I brush my teeth every. Brushing my teeth can prevent tooth and gum problems in adulthood.
Activity 3: Putting Our Heads Together [6 points]
Health is a complex and complicated topic. Most people believe that there are many dimensions (areas) of health - physical health, social health, mental health, emotional health, etc. Mental health is an area that is not often discussed. It is basically the way we think and feel about ourselves and the world around us. Sometimes our mental health can be affected by things that have happened in our lives, or by changes in our brains that we cannot control.
Here in New Zealand, people like Mike King (pictured) and John Kirwan have made the choice to speak publicly about the mental health challenges that they face. Overseas, people like The Duke
and Duchess of Cambridge, have joined the discussion about mental health and, like John and Mike, started a foundation to support people struggling with mental health challenges.
John Kirwan started the John Kirwan Foundation in 2018. Mike King founded The Key to Life Foundation, the I Am Hope and the Gumboot Friday campaigns while the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge started the Heads Together foundation in 2017. In each case, these foundations serve an important role in the community.
For this activity, we would like you to imagine that John Kirwan, Mike King and/or the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge called you up and asked you to design a new poster for their organization. Post a final copy of your poster along with a description of the poster on your blog
