141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

277963
Introducing environmental health education at the middle school level

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Judy Kramer , National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD
Alla Keselman , National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD
The project described in this presentation is designed to foster environmental health stewardship in local school communities by helping teachers improve environmental health literacy and leadership skills among their students. While the effects of environmental pollutants on human health are a growing concern and environmental health hazards are present in students' everyday lives, environmental health receives little attention in the schools. To fill this gap, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) developed Discovering the Connection: Your Environment, Your Health, an environmental health science curriculum for middle school. The curriculum, based on the NLM Tox Town Web site, is comprised of six units that engage students in information research and hands-on and communication activities about water and air quality, food safety, and chemicals in household products. The curriculum was developed by an interdisciplinary group of middle school teachers and educational researchers, and is currently being beta-tested in six schools across the country. Preliminary results suggest that environmental health can be successfully implemented in the schools, and that teachers and students are enthusiastic about the subject. This presentation highlights educational approaches fundamental to the curriculum, describes curriculum development process, provides an overview of the content, and gives an account of the curriculum implementation in six very different schools.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Advocacy for health and health education
Environmental health sciences
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe rationale for teaching environmental health in schools List six content units available in "Discovering the Connection: Your Environment, Your Health" curriculum Assess feedback from schools implementing the curriculum

Keywords: Environmental Health, Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have an MPH degree from the University of Michigan and work as a public health analyst in the Division of Specialized Information Services, National Library of Medicine (ICF International contractor).
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.