Open Wide and Trek Inside (Dental Health)

Objective

Students will explore the big topics covered in the "Open Wide and Trek Inside" dental health module — what mouths do, what's inside the mouth, tooth decay, organisms that live in the mouth, and how to keep the mouth healthy — by discussing and illustrating what they already know and want to learn about each topic.

Materials

• This resource (the "Open Wide and Trek Inside" module, specifically the list of lesson titles: "What Do Mouths Do?", "Open Wide! What's Inside?", "Let's Investigate Tooth Decay!", "What Lives Inside Your Mouth?", "What Keeps Your Mouth Healthy?", "What Have You Learned about the Mouth?")
• Chart paper or whiteboard and markers
• Plain paper and pencils/crayons for each student

Warm-up (~5 min)

1. Write the question "What Do Mouths Do?" on the board (this is the title of Lesson 1 in the module).
2. Ask students to call out or turn-and-talk with a partner about jobs their mouths do.
3. List their ideas on the board as a class brainstorm. Do not add any information beyond what students offer — this is just to activate prior knowledge before the main activity.

Main Activity (~25 min)

Explain to students that this module has several big questions about the mouth, and today the class will explore them one at a time.

1. (~5 min) "Open Wide! What's Inside?" — Have students fold a piece of paper in half and, on one side, draw a large mouth. Ask them to label or draw anything they think is "inside" a mouth. Have a few volunteers share their drawings.
2. (~6 min) "Let's Investigate Tooth Decay!" — Lead a short class discussion: "What do you think causes tooth decay?" Write student responses on the board as a group list. Encourage every student to contribute at least one idea.
3. (~6 min) "What Lives Inside Your Mouth?" — Ask students to think-pair-share about what (if anything) they think might live inside a mouth. Have a few pairs share their guesses with the class.
4. (~8 min) "What Keeps Your Mouth Healthy?" — On the other half of their folded paper, have students draw or list things they think help keep a mouth healthy. Invite several students to share their drawings/lists aloud.

Throughout, act as a facilitator recording student ideas — do not introduce new dental facts beyond what is in this module's lesson titles, since detailed lesson content is not provided in this resource.

Wrap-up / Exit Ticket (~10 min)

1. Write the final question on the board: "What Have You Learned about the Mouth?" (the title of the module's final lesson).
2. Give each student a small slip of paper.
3. Ask students to write or draw one thing from today's discussion that they found interesting or want to learn more about (e.g., something about what mouths do, what's inside them, tooth decay, mouth organisms, or mouth health).
4. Collect the slips as an exit ticket before students leave or transition to the next activity.

If Time Remains

Have students turn their folded paper into a two-panel poster: one side titled "Inside My Mouth" and the other titled "Keeping My Mouth Healthy," using their earlier drawings/lists. Students can add color and share their posters with a neighbor.