Barry Schlegel, EdD, CIH, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute- Public Education and Risk Communication, The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey- School of Public Health, 170 Frelinghuysen Rd, Room 236, Piscataway, NJ 08854, 732-445-0220, schlegba@umdnj.edu, Laura Hemminger, MPH, CHES, Resource Center PERC, Liberty Plaza, 335 Goerge Street, Suite 2200, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, Alix Garzero, EOHSI, 170 Frelinghuysen Rd, Room 236, Piscataway, NJ 08854, and Audrey R. Gotsch, DrPH, CHES, School of Public Health, Univeristy of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 683 Hoes Lane West, P.O. Box 9, Piscataway, NJ 08854.

“The Case of the WTC Dust” is a new curriculum that uses the World Trade Center disaster to teach middle school students about environmental health, risk assessment and risk management. It utilizes an existing concept map and framework developed in the highly successful ToxRAP™ (Toxicology, Risk Assessment and Pollution) curriculum series for grades K-9. This new addition to the ToxRAP™ series builds students’ critical thinking, problem solving and decision making skills by asking students to investigate a fictional residential building contaminated with dust from building renovations and the collapse of the WTC. Students become health hazard detectives and carry out a scientific investigation with hands-on activities that involve taking dust samples, conducting laboratory analyses, interpreting the results and making recommendations about the health risk. In the culminating activity, students conduct a debate assuming the roles of the major stakeholders including the building residents, building renovation contractor, environmental consultants, environmental health scientists, New York City (NYC) public health representatives, EPA representatives and the press. Taking into account scientific evidence, students must reach a conclusion about what cleanup methods should be used and who should pay for the cleanup. Nine teachers in grades 7 through 10 have successfully pilot-tested the curriculum in the classroom. The curriculum was made possible by grant number P30 ES05022 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to
• describe instructional activities that can be used to teach middle school students about environmental health, risk assessment and risk management and
• explain how the environmental health events surrounding the World Trade Center disaster can be used as a teaching strategy in the classroom.

Keywords: Public Health Education, School-Based Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute / University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Public Health
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Employed by organization whose products or services are being discussed.