Environmental Health Curricula*

Grades K-4

Children's Health
This presentation is designed to introduce some of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's Children's Environmental Health programs to small children. Students will learn how Integrated Pest Management techniques are used to cut down on harmful pesticide usage, but still effectively eliminate household pests. They will also learn how indoor air quality can affect their health and what they can do to help protect our air. This lesson is best suited for grades K-3, and adheres to Indiana State Science Standards.

Environmental Health Lesson Plans
Idaho’s Environmental Health Education and Assessment program has developed award-winning environmental health lesson plans for Idaho school children. They address multiple subject areas across all grade levels and are aligned with Idaho's state exiting standards. These lessons address environmental health issues ranging from the accumulation of pollution in fish to computing cancer risks, and are suitable for grades K-12.

Frog Alert! Frog Alert!
Students examine the life and work of National Geographic Emerging Explorer Tyrone Hayes. They explain how Hayes' cultural and life experiences influenced his career choice and locations of study, and see how studying animals may provide insight into environmental hazards for humans. This lesson is best suited for grades K-2, and adheres to National Geography Standards.

The Frog Squad: Atrazine and Frog Populations
Students examine the life and work of National Geographic Emerging Explorer Tyrone Hayes. They explain how Hayes' cultural and life experiences influenced his career choice and locations of study, and see how studying animals may provide insight into environmental hazards for humans. This lesson is best suited for grades 3-5, and adheres to National Geography Standards.

Junior Pest Investigations
Did you know that a cockroach can travel five feet per second and live up to one week without its head? These interesting facts come straight from a lesson plan created by Orkin for teachers. The curricula aim to help teachers and students better understand the biology and ecology of organisms that can become pests under the right (or wrong!) circumstances, and to appreciate the benefits of an Integrated Pest Management approach. Resources include grading rubrics, quizzes and assessment tools.  This lesson is best suited for grades K-3 and adheres to National Science Education Standards.

Ugh! We DRINK This Stuff?
Students explain the processes involved in the cleansing and purifying of surface water. After a lecture and demonstration, students engage in an experiment that illustrates how water is cleansed before we drink it. This lesson is best suited for grades 4-8, and adheres to National Science Education Standards.

Grades 5-8

A Blast from the Past: Revisiting Chernobyl Twenty Years Later
Students revisit the April 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and compare the projected health, environmental, social and economic impacts to new scientific findings. They then create public service announcements educating the people of the region about these new findings. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel History, Health, Language Arts, and Geography Academic Content Standards.

Air Pollution and Health
Students become familiar with the environmental and health effects of pollutants, including greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide. Activities include identifying pollutants from gasoline-powered motors and identifying the effects these emissions have on human health and the environment. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-8 and adheres to Texas English, Language Arts, Reading, Science, and Health Education Essential Knowledge and Skills Standards (TEKS).

Chemicals, the Environment, and You
The National Institute of Health put together this module for environmental health. It includes six lessons, all addressing issues of chemicals and their relationship with the environment and human health. All lessons adhere to National Science Education Standards. Lessons include defining chemicals and where they occur, learning about chemical dosage and responses, and recognizing potential environmental hazards.

Cluster Busters: A Game of Disease Mystery Solving
Cluster Busters is a unique science curriculum in which students research disease clusters that might be induced by environmental toxicants. In the process, students utilize a range of skills, draw from various academic subjects, and learn the issues and processes of disease cluster investigation. The game introduces the concepts of epidemiology, risk assessment, and toxicology. The process of investigation encourages logical thinking and problem solving and enhances student familiarity with research techniques and statistics. This lesson is best suited for grades 7-12, and adheres to National Science Education Standards. This lesson is hosted by a more general website, which has more lesson plans and activity ideas that are in the process of being aligned with national standards.

Deadly Diseases: Understanding Contributing Factors in the Spread of Infectious Diseases
Students consider the social, political, environmental, economic, medical, and other conditions regarding why particular countries experience outbreaks of certain infectious diseases. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Science, Health, and Language Arts Academic Content Standards.

Ecocystem Services - Water Purification
Students use the example of natural water purification to show that healthy ecosystems provide services to people that are essential to life as we know it. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-8, and adheres to Benchmarks for Science Literacy.

EnviroHealth Connections: Air/Atmosphere
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on air and atmosphere topics. For example, lessons range from researching indoor air pollution and asthma, to testing products that protect against UV radiation, to comparing the air quality index with other places in the country.

EnviroHealth Connections: Cancer
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on cancer and its relation to environmental factors. For example, in one lesson, students analyze real cancer data and try to identify potential cancer clusters. In other lessons, students use a study of geography to address questions about cancer, learn about cell structure, and explore evolutionary medicine and its potential applications to the study of cancer.

EnviroHealth Connections: Food/Nutrition
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. The resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on food and nutrition. For example, students learn about organic farming and compare the use of chemical pesticides versus organic methods. Students also study the potential effects of genetically modified food and artificial sweeteners, in addition to the accumulation of mercury in food from the ocean.

EnviroHealth Connections: Societal Issues
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on societal issues regarding the environment. For example, students perform a hand washing experiment, discuss nuclear power, learn about the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and examine social justice issues particularly related to pollution.

EnviroHealth Connections: Toxicology
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on toxicology. For example, in one lesson, students learn about the potential dangers of cosmetics and personal care products. In another, students test common items for lead and discuss the negative effects on the human body, as well as what governments have done to prevent lead poisoning.

EnviroHealth Connections: Water/Land/Soil
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on water, land, and soil issues. For example, students learn about pH and the impacts of acid rain, as well as water cleanliness. Also, students examine the environmental effects of the trash produced on a daily basis.

Environmental Health Lesson Plans
Idaho’s Environmental Health Education and Assessment program has developed award-winning environmental health lesson plans for Idaho school children. They address multiple subject areas across all grade levels and are aligned with Idaho's state exiting standards. These lessons address environmental health issues ranging from the accumulation of pollution in fish to computing cancer risks, and are suitable for grades K-12.

Is My Sunscreen Working?
Students test the effectiveness of various sunscreen products using UV-sensitive bacteria. This lesson is best suited for grades 5-8, and adheres to National Science and Health Education Standards.

Isn't It Ionic?: Researching the Health Hazards of Organic Solvents
Students research the properties and health risks of organic chemical solvents. They then create a 'Safety with Solvents' newsletter to share with others in their school and community. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Science, Geography, Health, and Language Arts Academic Content Standards.

It's Up In the Air!: Conducting Scientific Research on the Air Quality in Your School Community
Students conduct a scientific experiment that reveals what types of particles are in the air at their school. Students then report on these results and write letters to the Environmental Protection Agency. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Science, Geography, and Language Arts Academic Content Standards.

Lung Attack and Recipe for Ozone Activities
The Health Observances and Public Education (HOPE) Partnership has put together several formal education Health Observance Packages for educational purposes. Particularly, the middle school curriculum on air, ozone, and pollution addresses environmental health issues in its use of computer simulations and internet research to study air quality, lung function, and the health effects of pollution. This lesson adheres to National Science Education Standards. This resource also includes curricula about vehicle pollution, allergies, and asthma.

Organic Feud: Assessing Reasons to Buy or Abstain from the Organic Foods Market
Students examine possible pesticide exposure in their fruit and vegetable consumption. They then compile fact sheets exploring various organic food issues and interview their parents about the food choices they make for their children. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Health, Science, and Language Arts Academic Content Standards.

Petri-fied of Bacteria: Examining Bacteria Growth in Samples from the School Environment
Students examine the existence of bacteria all around them and consider the roles, both positive and negative, that bacteria play. Over a period of several days, students conduct an experiment in which they predict, determine, carefully log, and evaluate bacteria samples taken from the school environment. This lesson plan is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Health and Science Academic Content Standards.

Sound the Alarm: Can Frogs Really Tell Us What's Wrong?
Students examine the life and work of National Geographic Emerging Explorer Tyrone Hayes. They explain how Hayes' cultural and life experiences influenced his career choice and locations of study, and see how studying animals may provide insight into environmental hazards for humans. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-8, and adheres to National Geography Standards.

Surrounded by Radiation: Exploring the Sources of Naturally Occurring and Human-Generated Radiation
Students explore ways in which people are constantly exposed to naturally occurring and man-made sources of radiation. Students then create and play a board game featuring different hypothetical scenarios of radiation exposure. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Health, Geography, Language Arts, and Science Academic Content Standards.

Testing Bangladesh's Waters: Evaluating an Environmental Crisis in the Geography Classroom
Students assess the causes and effects of massive arsenic contamination in the water supplies of 43 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts. Students evaluate why this contamination occurred, how it affects the population of Bangladesh, and why this environmental catastrophe is proving so difficult to solve. Students then locate related news articles and compare the presentation of this news to that found in the New York Times article read in class. Although the article is out of date, this lesson can be used as historical content, and applied to current conditions. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Geography Academic Content Standards.

The Wrath of Hurricane Mitch: Devastating a Country's People and Infrastructure
Students investigate how hurricanes and other natural disasters can devastate the elements of the infrastructure of a country, as well as the lives of its people. Students then work in committees, each focused on one element of a country's infrastructure, to analyze the existing infrastructure problems in Honduras caused by Hurricane Mitch, devise possible solutions for these problems, and assess how each aspect of a country's infrastructure is interdependent. Students also determine how lesser developed countries and developed countries differ in times of catastrophe. Although this lesson is out of date, it has many modern applications. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Science and Geography Academic Content Standards.

Ugh! We DRINK This Stuff?
Students explain the processes involved in the cleansing and purifying of surface water. After a lecture and demonstration, students engage in an experiment that illustrates how water is cleansed before we drink it. This lesson is best suited for grades 4-8, and adheres to National Science Education Standards.

What Are the Health Impacts of Air Pollution?
This lesson contains three activities that are focused on the health symptoms caused by specific pollutants. Students engage in a questioning game activity analyzing a series of case studies. This lesson is best suited for grades 7-11, and adheres to Delaware State Civics, Geography, History, and Science Standards.

What is the Risk?
Students apply their growing understanding of the concepts of toxicology (dose, response, individual susceptibility, potency, and threshold) to their discussion of the 1950s tragedy in Minamata, Japan. They learn how to assess the risk of people to specific chemical hazards and make decisions about how to manage that risk. This lesson is best suited for grades 7-12, and adheres to National Science Education Standards.

Grade 9-12

A Blast from the Past: Revisiting Chernobyl Twenty Years Later
Students revisit the April 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and compare the projected health, environmental, social and economic impacts to new scientific findings. They then create public service announcements educating the people of the region about these new findings. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel History, Health, Language Arts, and Geography Academic Content Standards.

A case study of "A Civil Action"
Students explore the steps needed to determine if a water source is contaminated and how it got that way. They then suggest a possible cleanup action, and review a portion of the film "A Civil Action." This lesson is best suited for grades 9-12, and adheres to North Carolina Science Curriculum Standards.

Alarming Frogs: The Life and Work of Emerging Explorer Tyrone Hayes
Students examine the life and work of National Geographic Emerging Explorer Tyrone Hayes. They explain how Hayes' cultural and life experiences influenced his career choice and locations of study, and see how studying animals may provide insight into environmental hazards for humans. This lesson is best suited for grades 9-12, and adheres to National Geography Standards.

Atmospheric and Marine-Based Interdisciplinary Environmental Health Training
The Ambient Project offers health-science based modules including curricula and activities based on four environmental themes: Air, Water, Soil, and Food. All modules include charts detailing each lesson's adherence to Florida Sunshine State Standards (including Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies).

Chemicals, the Environment, and You
The National Institute of Health put together this module for environmental health. It includes six lessons, all addressing issues of chemicals and their relationship with the environment and human health. All lessons adhere to National Science Education Standards. Lessons include defining chemicals and where they occur, learning about chemical dosage and responses, and recognizing potential environmental hazards.

Cluster Busters: A Game of Disease Mystery Solving
Cluster Busters is a unique science curriculum in which students research disease clusters that might be induced by environmental toxicants. In the process, students utilize a range of skills, draw from various academic subjects, and learn the issues and processes of disease cluster investigation. The game introduces the concepts of epidemiology, risk assessment, and toxicology. The process of investigation encourages logical thinking and problem solving and enhances student familiarity with research techniques and statistics. This lesson is best suited for grades 7-12, and adheres to National Science Education Standards. This lesson is hosted by a more general website, which has more lesson plans and activity ideas that are in the process of being aligned with national standards.

Deadly Diseases: Understanding Contributing Factors in the Spread of Infectious Diseases
Students consider the social, political, environmental, economic, medical, and other conditions regarding why particular countries experience outbreaks of certain infectious diseases. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Science, Health, and Language Arts Academic Content Standards.

Ecosystems and Well-Being: How Environment Affects the Health of Canadians
Students locate, rank and relate data that suggests how environmental determinants affect the health of Canadians. They see how to collect, synthesize and compile environmental information. This lesson was originally created with Canadian students in mind, but can be modified for use with American high school students.

EnviroHealth Connections: Air/Atmosphere
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on air and atmosphere topics. For example, lessons range from researching indoor air pollution and asthma, to testing products that protect against UV radiation, to comparing the air quality index with other places in the country.

EnviroHealth Connections: Cancer
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on cancer and its relation to environmental factors. For example, in one lesson, students analyze real cancer data and try to identify potential cancer clusters. In other lessons, students use a study of geography to address questions about cancer, learn about cell structure, and explore evolutionary medicine and its potential applications to the study of cancer.

EnviroHealth Connections: Food/Nutrition
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. The resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on food and nutrition. For example, students learn about organic farming and compare the use of chemical pesticides versus organic methods. Students also study the potential effects of genetically modified food and artificial sweeteners, in addition to the accumulation of mercury in food from the ocean.

EnviroHealth Connections: Societal Issues
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on societal issues regarding the environment. For example, students perform a hand washing experiment, discuss nuclear power, learn about the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, and examine social justice issues particularly related to pollution.

EnviroHealth Connections: Toxicology
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on toxicology. For example, in one lesson, students learn about the potential dangers of cosmetics and personal care products. In another, students test common items for lead and discuss the negative effects on the human body, as well as what governments have done to prevent lead poisoning.

EnviroHealth Connections: Water/Land/Soil
This Maryland education website provides activity guides and lesson plans pertaining to the environment's effect on human health. These resources are standards-based and best suited for middle and high school students. Resources focus specifically on water, land, and soil issues. For example, students learn about pH and the impacts of acid rain, as well as water cleanliness. Also, students examine the environmental effects of the trash produced on a daily basis.

Environmental Health Lesson Plans
Idaho’s Environmental Health Education and Assessment program has developed award-winning environmental health lesson plans for Idaho school children. They address multiple subject areas across all grade levels and are aligned with Idaho's state exiting standards. These lessons address environmental health issues ranging from the accumulation of pollution in fish to computing cancer risks, and are suitable for grades K-12.

Health, Pollution, and Safety: Why Should We Care?
In this lesson plan full of activities, students learn about the impact of current transportation practices on public safety and health, understand the global impact of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and identify the effects of alternative fuels. This lesson is best suited for grades 9-12, and adheres to Texas English, Language Arts, Reading, Science, and Health Education Essential Knowledge and Skills Standards (TEKS).

Isn't It Ionic?: Researching the Health Hazards of Organic Solvents
Students research the properties and health risks of organic chemical solvents. They then create a 'Safety with Solvents' newsletter to share with others in their school and community. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Science, Geography, Health, and Language Arts Academic Content Standards.

It's Up In the Air!: Conducting Scientific Research on the Air Quality in Your School Community
Students conduct a scientific experiment that reveals what types of particles are in the air at their school. Students then report on these results and write letters to the Environmental Protection Agency. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Science, Geography, and Language Arts Academic Content Standards.

Organic Feud: Assessing Reasons to Buy or Abstain from the Organic Foods Market
Students examine possible pesticide exposure in their fruit and vegetable consumption. They then compile fact sheets exploring various organic food issues and interview their parents about the food choices they make for their children. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Health, Science, and Language Arts Academic Content Standards.

Petri-fied of Bacteria: Examining Bacteria Growth in Samples from the School Environment
Students examine the existence of bacteria all around them and consider the roles, both positive and negative, that bacteria play. Over a period of several days, students conduct an experiment in which they predict, determine, carefully log, and evaluate bacteria samples taken from the school environment. This lesson plan is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Health and Science Academic Content Standards.

Pounds of Pollution: What's in the Air and How Bad is it?
Students create a display of 2-liter bottles which represent the amount of air pollution emitted by a vehicle. They familiarize themselves with terms and concepts involved with car emissions, and learn about the health effects of these pollutants. This lesson is best suited for grades 9-12 and adheres to Texas English and Science Essential Knowledge and Skills Standards.

Preserving Health Through Biological Diversity
Students discuss the benefits of biodiversity, particularly as it relates to human health. They write an essay explaining the possible effects of human activities on the emergence of new diseases. This lesson is best suited for grades 9-12, and adheres to Benchmarks for Science Literacy.

Promoting Understanding and Learning for Society and Environmental Health
PULSE is an interdisciplinary curriculum. It is designed to improve life science literacy by providing lessons for core high school subjects that address environmental health and biomedical research. These topics are equally relevant and motivating within science classrooms and also in those of geography, language arts, government, world and American history, and mathematics classes. For example, lesson topics range from the health impacts of arsenic in drinking water and the history of epidemics, to the agricultural use of fertilizers or pesticides and current biomedical issues and the policy changes they can influence. Lessons adhere to National standards in science, social studies, language arts, and math.

Surrounded by Radiation: Exploring the Sources of Naturally Occurring and Human-Generated Radiation
Students explore ways in which people are constantly exposed to naturally occurring and man-made sources of radiation. Students then create and play a board game featuring different hypothetical scenarios of radiation exposure. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Health, Geography, Language Arts, and Science Academic Content Standards.

Testing Bangladesh's Waters: Evaluating an Environmental Crisis in the Geography Classroom
Students assess the causes and effects of massive arsenic contamination in the water supplies of 43 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts. Students evaluate why this contamination occurred, how it affects the population of Bangladesh, and why this environmental catastrophe is proving so difficult to solve. Students then locate related news articles and compare the presentation of this news to that found in the New York Times article read in class. Although the article is out of date, this lesson can be used as historical content, and applied to current conditions. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Geography Academic Content Standards.

The Wrath of Hurricane Mitch: Devastating a Country's People and Infrastructure
Students investigate how hurricanes and other natural disasters can devastate the elements of the infrastructure of a country, as well as the lives of its people. Students then work in committees, each focused on one element of a country's infrastructure, to analyze the existing infrastructure problems in Honduras caused by Hurricane Mitch, devise possible solutions for these problems, and assess how each aspect of a country's infrastructure is interdependent. Students also determine how lesser developed countries and developed countries differ in times of catastrophe. Although this lesson is out of date, it has many modern applications. This lesson is best suited for grades 6-12, and adheres to McRel Science and Geography Academic Content Standards.

Toxicology 3: Toxicology and Human Health
Students examine the clinical effects of environmental toxicants on living organisms by collecting and analyzing scientific data and identifying methods of detection and diagnosis. This lesson is best suited for grades 9-12, and adheres to Benchmarks for Science Literacy.

Water, Water, Everywhere - Is it Safe?
Students explore the contents of untreated water, using a microscope to find organisms. They then create their own filtering system to clean the water. Finally, students research water-borne pathogens that may be increasing in number due to effects of climate change. This lesson is best suited for grades 9-12, and adheres to National Science and Health Education Standards.

What Are the Health Impacts of Air Pollution?
This lesson contains three activities that are focused on the health symptoms caused by specific pollutants. Students engage in a questioning game activity analyzing a series of case studies. This lesson is best suited for grades 7-11, and adheres to Delaware State Civics, Geography, History, and Science Standards.

What is the Risk?
Students apply their growing understanding of the concepts of toxicology (dose, response, individual susceptibility, potency, and threshold) to their discussion of the 1950s tragedy in Minamata, Japan. They learn how to assess the risk of people to specific chemical hazards and make decisions about how to manage that risk. This lesson is best suited for grades 7-12, and adheres to National Science Education Standards.

Do you have environmental health curricula you'd like to share?  Email it to us!

*The curricula listed on this webpage have been selected in light of their adherence to state, national, and/or NAAEE educational standards and are thus suitable for classroom use.