Understanding Media Influence

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Lesson Overview

Lesson Title: The Impact of Media on Body Image
Unit: Body Image Empowerment (Lesson 2 of 5)
Year Level: Year 6
Subject: Health and Physical Education (HPE)
Lesson Duration: 60 minutes
Class Size: 30 students

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Australian Curriculum Links

Learning Area: Health and Physical Education
Strand: Personal, Social and Community Health
Sub-Strand: Being healthy, safe and active

Content Description (AC9HP6P03):
Investigate the impact of emotional responses on relationships and recognise strategies to develop positive self-identity and promote mental health and wellbeing.

Content Description (AC9HP6P06):
Analyse how identities are influenced by people and places, and how we can positively influence the wellbeing of ourselves and others.

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General Capabilities

• Critical and Creative Thinking – students evaluate digital and print media messages.
• Personal and Social Capability – recognising internalised body ideals and building resilience.
• Ethical Understanding – understanding fairness and respect, particularly around body diversity.

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Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Understand how media influences perceptions of body image.
• Identify unrealistic body standards portrayed in media.
• Develop critical thinking skills to question and challenge media messages.
• Begin to form a positive self-concept unaffected by external pressures.

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Success Criteria

Students will be successful when they can:

• Analyse advertisements or social media posts to identify body image messages.
• Explain how these messages can impact someone's self-esteem.
• Contribute respectfully and insightfully to class discussions.
• Generate at least one positive affirmation or action promoting a healthy body image.

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Resources Required

• Printed screenshots of advertisements and Instagram-style posts (variety of fitness, fashion, food, and tech products). Ensure cultural diversity and body variety. Avoid highly sexualised content.
• Chart paper and markers
• Sticky notes (different colours)
• Access to whiteboard or interactive screen
• Mindfulness bell or singing bowl (optional)

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Preparation for Teacher

• Curate 6–8 media samples targeted toward preteens (downloaded/printed prior to class).
• Arrange classroom into 5 small working stations.
• Display the term “body image” visibly in the classroom.
• Create a wall space for a “Media Myth Busters” display board.

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Lesson Sequence

1. Introduction & Warm Up (10 minutes)

Activity: Walk the Line: Media Influence Edition

• Place a masking tape line across the floor. Explain that one end of the line represents "Strongly Agree" and the other "Strongly Disagree".
• Read statements aloud and ask students to place themselves along the line based on their opinion:
  • "Celebrities on TV always look perfect."
  • "Social media shows what people are really like."
  • "The way someone looks affects how successful they'll be."
• Encourage brief explanation from volunteers standing at various points.
• Purpose: get minds active and create a non-judgemental space for differing perceptions.

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2. Mini Lesson: Media Messages (10 minutes)

Teacher Input:

• Display 2 contrasting images: one highly-retouched ad for a sports drink, and one realistic, candid image from a sports day.
• Ask:
  • What do these images suggest about success or health?
  • Are these messages true for everyone?
• Discuss terms: ideal body, airbrushing, influencer, representation.

Explain that media often promotes certain body types as “ideal,” which can affect how we feel about ourselves—even if they don’t reflect reality.

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3. Group Rotation Activity: Truth or Transformation? (25 minutes)

Stations: 5 groups of 6 students rotate through stations every 5 minutes.

Station	Focus	Activity
1	Instagram Image	Critique likes and filters used. Write 2 hidden messages the image might be sending.
2	Fitness Product Ad	Identify body types shown. Circle persuasive words and phrases. What’s missing in this ad?
3	Magazine Cover (Youth)	Compare headlines with images. Match headline to image message. Realistic or not?
4	"Before and After" Post	Discuss changes in the photo. What story is it trying to tell? How does it make us feel?
5	YouTube Fitness Thumbnail	Predict the video content. What assumptions are being made about the viewer’s body? What’s the purpose of this image?

Each group leaves sticky note reflections at each station: red = something unrealistic, green = something positive, yellow = a question they have.

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4. Discussion: Media Myth Busters (10 minutes)

Whole-Class Reflection:

• Revisit the sticky note insights and group key takeaways on a poster titled: “Media Myth Busters”
• Prompt with:
  • Which images felt unrealistic?
  • What do they tell us about the "perfect" body?
  • How does comparing ourselves make us feel?

Teacher records ideas and builds a visual mind map showing "Media Images" → "Our Feelings" → "What We Can Do Differently".

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5. Conclusion & Takeaway Task (5 minutes)

Positive Body Empowerment Affirmation

• Students write a message or mantra on a strip of paper that they would tell someone struggling with body image.
• Examples:
  • “You are more than your looks.”
  • “Real is powerful.”
  • “Health isn’t one size.”
• Stick affirmations on a shared display titled “My Body, My Power”.

Optional Mindfulness Moment:

• Ring the mindfulness bell and have students close eyes and repeat a calm affirmation in their head three times before packing up.

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Assessment Opportunities

Formative:

• Observation during small group activities and discussions.
• Review of sticky note reflections for critical engagement.
• Quality of student-generated empowerment affirmations.

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Differentiation Strategies

• Provide visual supports for EAL/D students including word banks and visual cues.
• Allow alternate responses (drawing, speaking) for students who may have difficulty expressing thoughts in writing.
• Scaffold higher-order thinking with sentence stems like:
  • “This image might make someone feel ___ because ___.”
  • “One false message this gives is ___.”

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Key Vocabulary

• Body Image
• Media
• Representation
• Ideal
• Retouching
• Self-esteem
• Empowerment
• Social Media
• Influencer

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Reflection for Next Lesson

The next lesson will explore personal values and how they shape a healthy body image, moving from media influence to internal understanding. Student reflections and affirmations created in this lesson can become visual prompts to carry forward.

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Wow Factor Tip 💡

Create a Mix & Match Wall:
After this lesson, keep the sticky notes and student affirmations to build an evolving classroom display. This becomes a living repository of critical thought and positivity generated by the students themselves. It also reinforces the learning outcomes throughout the unit.

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End of Lesson 2 in “Body Image Empowerment” Unit