Air Quality Index

In this interactive activity adapted from "Air Quality Index: A Guide to Air Quality and Your Health" by the U.S. EPA, learn about common pollutants in the air we breathe, their health effects, and how their levels are reported.

Body Needs

This interactive feature from the NOVA "Dying to Be Thin" Web site describes the nutritional needs of the body and how to meet them.

Bubonic Plague

In this video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey, learn about bubonic plague and how city officials in San Francisco tried to contain its spread in the early 1900s.

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Can Organic Farms and Mosquito Control Coexist?

Learn about one town's conflict over the issue of spraying pesticides to combat disease-carrying insects, in this video segment from Greater Boston.

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Can We Slow Aging?

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, scientists discuss a family of genes called FOXO that can significantly extend life span in worms—and in humans.

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Careers in Environmental Health

This interactive activity produced for Teachers’ Domain examines some of the career opportunities available in the environmental public health field and describes how the work of professionals in this field directly impacts human health.

Chemical Hazards at Home

In this interactive activity from the National Library of Medicine, investigate some of the chemical hazards commonly found in homes.

Chemical Risks to a Fetus

Learn about the risks environmental contaminants pose for a developing fetus, in this video adapted from Contaminated Without Consent.

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Choosing Foods for Your Health

This resource includes two video segments adapted from Living With MyType2 and features diabetic teenagers Misty and Tim explaining how they carefully choose the foods they eat.

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Contaminants in the Arctic Human Population

In this video segment adapted from LOKE Films and the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, learn how human populations in the Arctic are affected by industrial contaminants in the food chain.

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Contaminating the Rockies

Learn how abandoned mines have been contaminating water supplies in the Rocky Mountains for decades in this video segment adapted from NOVA: "Poison in the Rockies."

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Did Environmental Exposure Cause a Disease Cluster?

This video segment from Greater Boston examines whether environmental toxins may be to blame for a rare skin disease.

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Don't Mess with Mercury

Learn about the dangers of mercury in this short video from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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Dr. Jay Giedd: The Adolescent Brain

In this transcript from FRONTLINE: "Inside the Teenage Brain," neuroscientist Dr. Jay Giedd discusses new research on brain development in teenagers.

Eating Healthy Foods

In this video adapted from Media That Matters, students explain how healthy foods help your body and processed foods can harm it.

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The Effects of Childhood Lead Poisoning

Learn about the long-term consequences of childhood lead poisoning and how to avoid them, in this video adapted from Lead Awareness for Parents by the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning.

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Environmental Hazards on the Farm

This interactive activity adapted from the National Library of Medicine identifies health hazards found on farms.

Environmental Hazards at the Coast

This interactive activity adapted from the National Library of Medicine identifies environmental health hazards in coastal areas.

Environmental Hazards in the City

This interactive activity adapted from the National Library of Medicine identifies environmental health hazards in a typical urban or suburban community.

Environmental Justice: Opposing a Toxic Waste Landfill

This video segment adapted from Earthkeeping: “Toxic Racism” talks about the early days of the environmental justice movement and how the health of minority communities can be compromised by the disproportionate numbers of hazardous waste facilities located there.

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Environmental Justice in Dallas

Follow a Dallas community's fight to receive federal Superfund status to clean up the damage from a high-polluting lead smelter, in this video segment adapted from Earthkeeping: "Toxic Racism."

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Epidemiologists: Disease Detectives

In this lesson, students learn about epidemiology and the role epidemiologists play in responding to disease outbreaks and protecting public health.

Eradicating Malaria with DDT

Learn about the role of the controversial chemical DDT in the worldwide malaria eradication program, and hear from an expert who advocates bringing it back, in this video segment adapted from Rx for Survival.

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The Ethical Considerations of Personal Genomics

In this media-rich lesson, students explore some of the ethical, legal, and social issues related to personal genetic testing and genome sequencing.

Factory Farms and Organic Alternatives

In this video adapted from the series Race to Save the Planet, learn how agricultural pesticides can help increase the amount of food produced, but can also damage soil and wildlife in the process. See how organic farming addresses some of these challenges.

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The Facts About Concussions

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students explore brain injuries called concussions: what they are, how they occur, the challenges in diagnosing them, and ways to protect yourself from them.

A Family Disease

This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" explores the implications of genetic testing for breast cancer.

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Farm Nitrates in the Water Supply

Learn how nitrate runoff from farm fertilizers can negatively impact human health and how a water treatment plant is tackling the challenge, in this video excerpted from Big River.

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Fever!

This video describes the role of the brain in regulating body temperature and how sometimes fever is employed to fight off infection.

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Finding Cures Is Hard

This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" explains the difficulty of curing genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis.

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Finding Disease Genes

This video segment from NOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life" explains the process of finding genes that cause disease.

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Fishing for Safe Food

This interactive game adapted from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is a fun way to learn which types of fish contain low levels of mercury and are safe to eat and which contain high levels and should be avoided.

Frenetic Genetics

Students learn about the types of genetic information contained in the human genome – physical traits, behaviors, and propensity for diseases, in this video from Faces of America.

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Gene Inheritance

Students explore the process of meiosis and how genes, including those that cause disease, are passed from one generation to the next.

Genetic Drift and the Founder Effect

This image of polydactyly illustrates one symptom of Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, which is commonly found in the Amish. Ellis-van Creveld is one example of the founder effect and genetic drift.

Geospatial Revolution: Food Deserts

Food deserts refer to a lack of easy access to nutritious food. They exist all over America as an outcome of poverty. This video from Penn State Public Broadcasting’s Geospatial Revolution shows how geospatial technology can help change this reality.

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Get Insured

In this video segment from Your Life, Your Money, an electrician and mother keeps her family and finances secure with a good job and good insurance benefits.

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Getting Fit at the Gym

In this video adapted from the In the Mix, watch the kinds of exercise students do to keep in shape.

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Green Chemistry

Learn about a study in which participants discovered contaminants in their homes, and how green chemistry may provide alternatives to such everyday toxins, in this video adapted from Contaminated Without Consent.

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Growing Up, Growing Old

This collection of six images captures the magnificence of human development -- the transformation from baby to woman.

Guess What's Coming to Dinner?

Browse through a table full of genetically modified (GM) foods to see what's available now and what's to come. From the FRONTLINE/NOVA: "Harvest of Fear" Web site.

Health

Students are asked to explain how advances in technology have affected people's health.

The Health Benefits of Exercise

In this video adapted from Living with MyType2, a teen with diabetes works out with a coach and learns some of the health benefits of exercise.

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Healthy Eating

In this lesson, students learn about nutrition and healthy food choices. They explore the difference between "everyday" and "sometimes" foods and think about where they can find different foods.

Heart Disease: America's Leading Cause of Death

Learn why heart disease, a largely preventable condition, is the leading cause of death in this country today, in this video adapted from The Hidden Epidemic: Heart Disease in America.

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The Science Behind Appetite

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, tells the story of a ballerina battling anorexia. It explains how serotonin regulates appetite, and presents some of the health risks that accompany the eating disorder.

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How Big Is the Oil Spill?

Compare the size of the 78,000-square-mile BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to more familiar things, in this video adapted from Need to Know.

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How Does Your Environment Affect Your Health?

In this media-rich self-paced lesson, students explore how environmental factors affect human health and how they can reduce their exposure to health hazards in their environment.

How Effective Is Your Sunscreen?

Aaron and Justin investigate which sunscreen best keeps out harmful ultraviolet rays from the Sun, in this video from DragonflyTV.

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How Genetic Disorders Are Inherited

Learn how genetic disorders are passed from parents to children as explained in this excerpt from Blazing a Genetic Trail, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.