Skin: Caring for the Largest Organ

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the basic structure, function, and care of skin. Youth will be introduced to the topic with an online interactive quiz. They will read about the skin, including tips for its care, then get creative by designing products and giving persuasive presentations.

Introduction

This lesson focuses on three aspects of skin: its basic structure, the jobs it does for our bodies and how to care for it. You can introduce the topic by having young people take the Online Quiz either individually or as a larger group. Discuss the answers. Were there any answers that surprised you?

Give each of the young people a copy of the Skin Handout. Review the diagram and headings. If time permits, youth may want to read this before starting the activity below.

Activity

1. In small groups, invent new skin-care products and try to “sell” them to the rest of the class. The youth can do this as a written advertisement (preferably with some art…like a magazine ad), a pretend radio ad (spoken with no actions) or a pretend video/television ad (incorporating actions). Be sure to include:
   • a description of your product (a cream, a cleanser, or something less common…be creative!)
   • the problem it solves
   • why people should buy it.
2. Young people do skits or presentations for others about skin health and skin care. Tell them the goal is be persuasive…to convince their peers to do their best to keep their skin healthy. If they have access to the Internet you can allow them to look up additional information.

Conclusion

Skin health and skin care will always be an important part of our lives. Encourage young people to take the handout and newsletter home as references they can keep and perhaps share with other family members.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which also includes these tips, so that families can continue discussing skin health at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

• “Acne” – Allina Health Patient Education
• The Layers of Your Skin
• The Layers of Your Skin (Russian)
• The Layers of Your Skin (Somali)
• The Layers of Your Skin (Spanish)