In this lesson, you will explore how to incorporate age-appropriate topics in environmental public health into your K-4 classroom. The big ideas are:

• Different environments have different types of health hazards. Students may be more engaged if you focus on environments and hazards that are familiar and relevant to them.
• Students become empowered when given the knowledge to identify potential health hazards in their environment.
• Students can learn to minimize exposure to health hazards to protect their own health.
• Diet and exercise are a part of a person's environment and something that even the youngest students can take action to control.

Do you already cover any of these issues in your existing curriculum? Write down a few sentences that describe how you currently address these topics in your classroom. If environmental public health is not yet a part of your curriculum, describe why you would like to incorporate it.

For elementary students, the goal of an environmental public health lesson is to empower them to recognize hazards in their environment so that they can protect their own health. Although they may not yet understand the science of why certain things could make them sick, they can understand how to minimize exposure to them.

Issues of environmental public health can fit into the personal health curriculum. Some general learning standards that could be addressed include these topics from the National Science Education Standards, Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives:

• Environments are the space, conditions, and factors that affect an individual's ability to survive and their quality of life.
• Individuals have some responsibility for their own health. Students should engage in personal care—dental hygiene, cleanliness, and exercise—that will maintain and improve health.
• Different substances can damage the body and how it functions.

Write down what types of environments your students live in. For example, are they in an urban or a farm environment? What are some common potential hazards? How can you focus an environmental public health lesson to be most relevant to your students?

If you need more information, you can refer to the resources on the left. These are not appropriate for younger students, but could serve as background information for you.

Children may already be familiar with some common environmental hazards. For example, germs (bacteria, viruses, and other microbes) can pose significant health risks. They can infect the body and cause illnesses such as the common cold, flu, and diarrhea. Sunlight can also pose an environmental hazard. Prolonged exposure to the Sun's ultraviolet rays damages skin cells, which can cause sunburn, premature aging, and skin cancer.

Children can learn to protect themselves from these common environmental public health hazards. For example, they can make sure to:

• Wash hands with soap and water frequently (especially before eating, after using the toilet, after playing outside, and after contact with sick friends)
• Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when water is not available
• Use sunscreen, even on cloudy days
• Wear protective clothing and minimize time in the Sun (especially in the middle of the day when the intensity of sunlight is strongest)

For teachers of younger students (K-2), click the link on the left to watch the video "OrganWise Guys Shorts: Do the Handwash Rap" about how handwashing helps to prevent the spread of germs.

For teachers of older students (3-4), click "View" on the left to watch the video "How Effective Is Your Sunscreen?" about how sunscreen protects you from harmful sunlight.

How could you help your students understand how they can minimize exposure to harmful germs or damaging sunlight?

Although you may encounter health hazards in any environment, the home environment is a good place to start the discussion because it is familiar to children. They know their own homes and can think about the items that are located in each room. Toxic chemicals are commonly found in household products that children may encounter, such as plant sprays and cleaning products. Other common household dangers include mold, carbon monoxide, and lead. Many environmental public health hazards are not readily apparent.

Click "View" on the left to try an interactive activity about chemical hazards that are commonly found in the home.

After you try the interactive activity, write down some ideas about how you might introduce this activity (or the topic of chemical hazards at home) to your students.

Lead paint is a common source of lead poisoning in children. Exposure to lead can damage the brain and cause other health problems. Lead is especially dangerous to children because they are still developing and are more susceptible to its effects. Young children also tend to put hands and toys (which may have lead dust on them) in their mouths.

Newer paints do not contain lead, but homes built before 1978 are likely to have paint that contains lead. Peeling paint is hazardous and lead dust is often generated by opening and closing windows and doors that have been painted with lead paint. Children can learn that they should not eat paint chips or chew on painted surfaces, and that they should ask an adult to help keep the house clean and minimize lead dust.

How could you help your students protect themselves from lead paint?

Mercury is a toxic substance found in items around the home and at school, such as thermostats and light bulbs, and also can be in the air, in water, and in food. Mercury was commonly used in thermometers and other instruments before people understood how harmful mercury exposure could be. Since people have become more aware of the dangers of mercury, its use has become less common. For example, there are now alternatives to mercury thermometers, such as electronic thermometers or alcohol thermometers.

Click "View" on the left to watch a video about how to avoid mercury hazards.

After you watch the video, consider whether it raises any issues that your students might have trouble understanding. Would your students find this topic scary? How can you teach children about the dangers of mercury or other substances without frightening them?

People are exposed to environmental hazards by touching them, swallowing them, or breathing them in. The health effects of an environmental hazard depend on the exposure to it. The greater the exposure—in amount and frequency—the more harmful the hazard.

For example, people are commonly exposed to mercury by eating fish. Industrial pollution emits mercury into the environment, which pollutes streams, lakes, and oceans and enters the food chain. Fish accumulate mercury in their flesh when they eat contaminated plants or fish. Some types of fish (especially large predator fish such as shark, and swordfish) contain high levels of mercury. But the presence of mercury in some fish does not mean you need to avoid eating fish completely. There are health benefits to eating fish; it's just that there are more risks than benefits to eating certain types of fish. It is advisable to avoid fish known to have high levels of mercury and to eat fish with low levels of mercury in moderation.

Write down how you would work with students to help them understand the concept of levels of exposure. When you finish, you may want to check out the Mercury Calculator on the left. You may also want to share it with older students.

Diet and exercise are also key factors in a person's health. Environments that promote movement and a balanced diet can reduce the risk of health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. Educating children early about how diet and exercise affect their body can help them develop healthy habits for life.

This aspect of environmental public health can also fit into the personal health curriculum: From the National Science Education Standards, Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Nutrition is essential to health. Students should understand how the body uses food and how various foods contribute to health.

Unfortunately, many students live in situations where they don't have access to healthy food and opportunities for exercise. Keep these factors in mind as you think about what students can do at home to improve their diet and increase their activity level, and what you can do for them in the school environment.

For teachers of younger students (K-2), click "View" on the left to watch the video "Healthy Snacks" about choosing healthier foods.

For teachers of older students (3-4), click "View" on the left to watch the video "Food for Thought" about nutrition.

How could you help students choose more nutritious snacks and meals? How could you help them find ways to include more movement in their days?

In this lesson, you have explored ways to introduce environmental public health topics to your students. Now it's time to review your responses in previous sections to plan how to apply what you've learned. Click "review my work" above and view or print out the screen that pops up.

For your planning document, choose one of the following two options:

• Select one or more of the resources used in this lesson. Plan an activity around it for your students.
• Adapt one of your existing lessons to incorporate some of these resources or ideas.

Use the following questions to guide you:

• What environmental public health issue(s) are you focusing on?
• How can you make it relevant and understandable to your students?
• What can students do to minimize their exposure to the health hazard?
• What other actions can students take to protect their health?
• How will you assess your students' understanding?