This health curriculum guide, intended for use with children in grades four through six, sees man's struggle to discover new knowledge for the prevention and control of disease in historical perspective. The contents of the guide are presented in outline form and cover the nature of disease, the history of disease, modern approaches to disease control, and the significance of disease to the individual and to society. For each content area and its sub-divisions fundamental concepts and understandings, teaching aids, and learning activities are suggested. The guide also supplies supplementary information--including infectious organisms, immunization, and antibiotics--which a teacher could incorporate into the lessons at a simplified level. Appendices include a time line to chart key advances in man's understanding of disease, an outline of the development of medicine and public health from the Stone Age to the present, information on noncommunicable diseases and ailments, and guidelines for independent study and class discussion. Multimedia resources are also listed. Outcomes of this unit in physical health are given in terms of understanding the basic differences between communicable and noncommunicable diseases, perspective gained on man's historical efforts to understand and cope with disease, familiarity with the mechanisms of immunity, and comprehension of the significance of disease prevention and control. (SES)