Center for Environmental and Rural Health Texas A & M University Public School – Higher Education Interface Through The Partnership for Environmental Education

Center for Environmental and Rural HealthTexas A & M University

Public School – Higher Education Interface Through

The Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural health (PEER)

Funded by: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciencesand the National Science Foundation

Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health (PEER)College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University

Typically have a more limited access to a variety of instructional resources.

Have special environmental health hazards unique to a rural setting.

PEER Emphasis

Primary developmental period for gaining personal competence and an interest in science.

Rural Schools

Middle Schools

PEER Long-term Goals: Environmental Health Science

Encourage teachers across all subjects to use environmental health science topics to motivate students and help them relate science instruction to real world situations.

Improve student enthusiasm for learning and increase overall academic performance.

Curricular Development

Professional Development

Scientists’ Visits to Schools

Public School – Higher Education Interface through:

Distance Learning Community

Develop an engaging model for integrating environmental health science into science, math, English, and social studies in grades 6th-8th.

EnvironmentalHealth Science

Social Studies Mathematics

Science English Language Arts

Integrative Approach

Public School – Higher Education Interface through: Curriculum Development

Consists of:

1. A written story-line narrative in which the characters (young teenagers) travel in space and time to different parts of the world where they are faced with various health problems which they are required to solve.

2. Standards-based problem-solving activities in the form of PowerPoint presentations which integrate environmental health science content into science and non-science courses.

Integrative Curriculum

Adventures stories are written by a professional children’s author for age appropriateness and content with each story requiring ~ 20 minutes to read.


Environmental health problems encountered in each location and time in history in the story narratives exemplify problems found in the U.S. today such as contaminated food and water, air pollution, and contagious or environmentally transmitted diseases.


World geography in grade 6

Texas history and geography in grade 7

United States history in grade 8

(e.g., Bioterrorism and Vaccinations)

(e.g., Agricultural Waste and Influenza Epidemic)

(e.g., Industrial Pollution and Air Quality)


The location and time in history of adventures are driven by the history content in each grade:

1. Ancient Egypt: Sickness from contaminated water

2. East Asia (China): Air quality and respiratory problems

3. Ukraine: Industrial or nuclear pollutants (cancer)

4. South America (Peru): Chagas Disease

5. Subsaharan Africa (Congo): Ebola or AIDS

6. South Asia (India): Infectious Hepatitis

World Adventure Travel and World Adventure Travel and Health Problem (6Health Problem (6thth Grade) Grade)

1. Central Texas: Yellow Fever epidemic

2. Coastal Texas: Influenza epidemic

3. South Texas: Rabies

4. Houston: Smog/Air Pollution

5. Texas Panhandle: Nuclear waste – contamination

6. West Texas: Agricultural waste – contamination

Texas Adventure Travel and Texas Adventure Travel and Health Problem (7Health Problem (7thth Grade) Grade)

USA Adventure Travel and USA Adventure Travel and Health Problem (8Health Problem (8thth Grade) Grade)

1. Bioterrorism/ Smallpox – Eastern US with earlier settlers, pre-1865

2. Brown Lung – Massachusetts, pre-1865

3. Cholera – New York 1832

4. Lead poisoning – Philadelphia, pre-1865

5. Tuberculosis – Baltimore, pre-1865

6. Understanding environmental risk

Social Studies

Science

Mathematics

English Language Arts

Hard River Escape involves a journey back in time to the Ukraine just after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, where the characters discover pollution along the Dneiper River and five-legged frogs.

Science and Non-Science Courses

Students take a quiz to check their reading comprehension of theadventure story.

Reading Comprehension Quiz


Social Studies

Science

Mathematics


This module investigates water contamination of workers during

the construction of King Tut’s tomb in ancient Egypt.


Social Studies

Science

Mathematics


The Jade Dragon involves air contamination and smoking in China as the adventurers

visit the Three River Dam that is being built.


Social Studies

Science

Mathematics


The Kiss of the Assassin focuses on pathogens and bacterial infectious diseases like Chagas Disease which can be transmitted by insects

that harbor bacteria or pathogens and serve as a vectors for disease.


Social Studies

Science

Mathematics


Congo Cry involves a journeyto the Congo where the characters are confronted with both animal and human infections of Ebola and AIDS.


Social Studies

Science

Mathematics


Midnight at the Marble Tomb focuses on the health consequences of raw sewage in streets, acupunc- ture, tattoos, body piercing,

blood transfusions, and organ donations in India.


Social Studies

Science

Mathematics


Texas: 1867 focuses on the Yellow Fever epidemic in Texas after the end of the Civil War and its effects on our communities.


Social Studies

Science

Mathematics


March Madness is set in Galveston and focuses on the influenza epidemic during World War I and its effects on the citizens of Texas.

Social Studies

Science

Mathematics


Science and Non-Science CoursesThree Rivers, Three Nations takes a look at bioterrorism, focusing on the use of smallpox during the French and Indian War in the 18th Century.

Public School – Higher Education Interface through: Professional Development

Regional workshops provide teachers with tech- nology training (Microsoft PowerPoint) and curriculum integration of environmental health science into science, math, English language arts, and social studies.


Explain the scientific method in a way that it can be easily used in their class (e.g., how is it like detective work?).

Provide content lectures

Provide informational resources.

Provide mentoring.

Pre-Service Teachers


Workshop Location: Date:

College Station, TX May 31-6/1, 2004 College Station, TX June 2-3, 2004

Edinburg, TX June 8-9, 2004Victoria, TX June 10-11, 2004Huntsville, TX June 15-16, 2004Santa Fe, TX June 17-18, 2004Temple, TX June 28-29, 2004Mt. Pleasant, TX July 15-16, 2004El Paso, TX July 27-28, 2004Lubbock, TX July 29-30, 2004

Teachers receive continuing education credit and up to $200 for travel and lodging expense.



Scientists’ Visits to Middle Schools and Scientists’ Visits to Middle Schools and Interactions with Middle School StudentsInteractions with Middle School Students

Over 20,000 students visited!

By using a small, single-engine aircraft, scientists have been able to make scientific presentations at schools that are remotely located.

Wings Across Texas – Experiential Learning for Middle School Students

Scientists Cannot Visit Every Middle Scientists Cannot Visit Every Middle SchoolSchool


Telecommunications (Internet) and a Distance Learning Community

• Online Science Curricula

• Virtual Scientists’ Presentations

• Virtual Interviews with Scientists and Educators

• Establishment of a Distance Learning Community

Online Environmental Health Science Curricula(http://peer.tamu.edu)


Distance Learning Community

NSF GK-12 Project

Graduate Fellows seek to provide materials, hands-on activities, and resources specifically requested by Middle School teachers.

This can be anything from finding answers to specific questions to finding a good website with needed information or activities.

• Adventure Booklet and CDs

• Workshop Schedule

• PEER Introduction

• Curriculum PowerPoint Slides

• Curriculum Supplements

• PowerPoint Basics

• Resources (includes definitions and concepts of toxicology)

Contents of Workshop Notebook

Read the adventure narrative and think of activities unique to your teaching experiences that might relate to the content of the story which would provide a basis for you to generate a PowerPoint slide in the TAKS-like format.

Assignment 1 – Adventure Narrative

Critique the curricular slides and write on the hardcopy provided your comments and suggestions for the improvement of content, age-appropriateness, etc. Also, identify 3 slides that you will modify in the next assignment to produce a TAKS-like activity within each of your 3 identified slides.

Assignment 2 – Evaluation/Critique of Curricular PowerPoint Materials

From our set of curricular slides, select and order an appropriate number of slides to produce a lesson set of slides that you might give to your class. In building this lesson set, produce 1 new slide and modify at least 3 of the existing slides. At the beginning of your lesson set, produce (insert) a new “Time and Description” slide, indicating the required amount of time for implementation of the lesson and how you envision that this lesson might be used (i.e., as an example of integration, or as a computer-use activity, or to introduce or enhance a topic, or to address certain TEKS, or to provide your students with examples of TAKS-like activities).

Assignment 3 – Build your own Lesson

Example of Slide Sequence in your saved file:Slide 1 – Your generated slide.Slide 2 – Modified slideSlide 3 – Modified slideSlide 4 – Modified slideSlide 5 – Time and use descriptionSlide 6 – The beginning of your complete,

entire lesson

Assignment 3 – Build your own Lesson (continued)

Once the lesson set is complete, make a copy of your 1 new and 3 modified slides and insert these copies at the very beginning of your lesson set. This will allow us to easily peruse your new and modified slides in your lesson.

Demonstrate your generated and modified slides, and be prepared to discuss your modifications.

All lessons sets from this workshop will be collected, burned on a CD (with other lesson sets from other workshops), and distributed back to all workshop participants.

Assignment 4 – Demonstrations of Produced Lessons

Request a CD of our Integrative Curriculum

Professional Development Workshops

Request for a Scientist’s Visit to Your School

Join the PEER Distance Learning Community

PEER Website: http://peer.tamu.edu

Public School – Higher Education Interface through: An Invitation to YOU!

Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural health (PEER)Texas A & M University

Documents

Center for Environmental and Rural Health Texas A & M University Public School – Higher Education Interface Through The Partnership for Environmental Education