What you’ll learn!
Welcome to Session 2! This Session is all about the biological and environmental factors that can influence child development. As you work through this Session, you will learn about:
- Different biological factors that can affect growth and development of the child
- Different environmental factors that can affect growth and development of the child
- The short and long-term effect of these factors
- The way in which these factors may affect a child positively and negatively
Think first!
In the previous Session, you learned that the development of a child may be impacted by both biological and environmental influences. Can you remember what biological and environmental influences are? What is the difference between the two?
Type some notes in the box below before you move on.
Now click here to recap your learning on this topic from Session 1.
Biological and environmental influences
Biological influences are all about nature and the human body. It relates to anything that affects the function, health and behaviour of the body. In terms of child development, biological influences can have an impact from the point of fertilisation (when a baby begins to form in the mother’s womb), throughout pregnancy and beyond into the early years of life. These influences cannot be controlled.
Environmental influences come from the world around us – people, places, situations and experiences. They are external factors which can affect a child’s health, wellbeing and development. Examples include housing standards, diet, financial status, family life and access to opportunities. To a certain extent, these influences can be controlled.
Let’s begin this Session by taking a closer look at biological factors that can affect the healthy growth and development of a child. Click to move on to page 2 to get started.