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This activity is designed to provide students with an overview of environmental health and to encourage them to think critically about how they can minimize their potential negative health impacts from environmental exposures. Objectives: Students will (a) define environmental health, (b) analyze media wherein environmental health issues are addressed, (c) classify environmental health issues by domains, and (d) select and apply appropriate prevention strategies for addressing environmental risks. Target audience: Middle school through college students with some adaptations. (Contains 3 figures.)

To use Lisbeth Schorr's term, children who are at risk for "rotten outcomes" are not randomly scattered throughout the society but are, rather, concentrated in impoverished neighborhoods. In recent decades, government policy and public opinion in the U.S. has reflected the belief that children who experience rotten outcomes are, at least in large part, somehow responsible for their own problems. I assert that the social influences which the child experiences in their neighborhood of residence also influence their life outcomes in both direct and indirect ways. Neighborhoods are social environments where children experience life: presenting risks and opportunities, offering or withholding resources necessary for success, creating experiences with and beliefs about social institutions and their representatives, and providing the ecology in which children develop into adults. This article summarizes contemporary scholarly perspectives and unpublished research that describe how neighborhoods influence life outcomes for children. It adopts a social capital perspective in addressing the influence of neighborhood's residents, places, and institutions on the child's safety, health, and education, distinguishing between compositional and contextual neighborhood effects. It concludes that the life outcomes of children, be they successful or rotten, are influenced by their access to the resources of immediate family and peer social networks (bonding capital), connections to other residents and their networks (bridging capital), and relations with representatives of broader social institutions as manifested in their neighborhood (linking capital).

Marine phytoplankton comprise the foundation of oceanic food webs and generate most of the Earth's oxygen. Of the many phytoplankton species in the ocean, a few dozen produce potent toxins, and at high concentrations can form what are called Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) or "red tides" that can discolor marine waters. Managers and scientists have been monitoring coastal waters and shellfish resources for HABs and their toxins to ensure seafood safety and understand why blooms occur. This educational activity focuses on a prominent HAB species that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Students will learn about the importance of HABs and PSP, as well as how scientists collect and use data to understand and predict blooms. Students will plot data on HAB species collected by scientists over multiple years of sampling. Students will also plot results over time and across regions, report on observed patterns, and complete grade-appropriate calculations. Lastly, group discussion will focus on determining whether geographic patterns exist that might influence where shellfish beds are closed. This activity is timely given the widespread wildlife mortalities and beach closures due to Florida red tide in 2017-2018, as well as widely publicized dog deaths in 2019 caused by exposure to freshwater cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms.

Virtual laboratory simulations are commercially available to train students; these creative resources are available to complete remotely without traditional time and safety restrictions of laboratory-based practical classes. We introduced a Health and Safety virtual laboratory simulation to a core large first-year science module. Having surveyed students using a combination of Likert-type responses, multiple answer questions and free text responses, students reported that it had increased understanding and knowledge. Additionally, students reported that the laboratory simulation was motivating and had increased confidence for actual practical classes. We also surveyed students one year after completing the simulation finding a similar pattern of responses; the simulation had been useful, increasing confidence and knowledge about Health and Safety. Our data show that the virtual laboratory simulation improved student understanding and was still perceived to have been useful one year after completion, providing evidence of a longer term impact of the simulation on student learning.

The International Labour Organization (1982) standards on occupational safety and health constitution introduced the standard that workers should be protected from sickness and injury emanating from their employment. The United States, Britain, and Botswana adopted the principle and designed rules for risk reduction at work. The British education system assigned the British Local Education Authority responsibility for the health and safety of school members, including learners. Similarly, the U.S. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) (2007) advised schools on health and safety issues. The argument differs from that of Botswana, where the focus is on selected economy sectors exclusive of school environments. Although the Republic of Botswana Revised Policy on Education (1994) is silent on this subject, the Curriculum Development and Evaluation Department (CDED, 2002, 2005) developed an initiative that included a module on "health and safety" in the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) syllabus. This module is an amalgamation of discrete components: namely, physical education, music, design, technology, home economics, drama, and dance. The module advises teachers to sensitize pupils to common hazards in the school and properly dispose of hazardous supplies to reduce risk and injury. The Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts (1999-2018) in the US thus recommends classroom practices to ensure the safety of learners and teachers. It is in this context that the qualitative study investigated the extent to which the "health and safety" module was implemented in primary school art and design lessons in four selected schools in Botswana.

The National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences has called for targeted efforts to engage underserved youth in environmental education programs that support environmental literacy and contribute to the development of a diverse workforce pipeline for environmental science-related occupations. Evidence suggests that career knowledge among low income and minority youth is more likely to be incompatible with post-secondary educational opportunities than other racial and ethnic groups. One approach to attenuating discordant college and career expectations among underserved youth is building networks for information sharing between secondary and post-secondary students. The purpose of this commentary is to describe the development and implementation of a high school curriculum on environmental science and environmental justice by Texas A&M University in collaboration with community engagement partners, students, and teachers at Furr High School, an innovative XQ Super School in Houston, Texas.

Human cognition is influenced by natural selection which results in better information retention related to survival and faster visual recognition of potential threat. Plants are excellent models for studying human preferences because of the long evolutionary connectedness of humans with plants as food sources, although research in this field is scarce. We created visual detection tasks to investigate human responses to toxic and non-toxic plants using a sample of children (N = 80) and adolescents (N = 80). As predicted, toxic plants were detected significantly sooner than non-toxic plants. Children showed faster plant detection times than adolescents and females were faster in identification of plants than males. There were, however, no differences in toxic plant identification skills with respect to age and gender. These results suggest that plant toxicity, as an example of survival-relevant information, meets with increased attention on the part of humans and needs to be incorporated into teaching botany.

We provide context and motivation for an instructor to use real-life examples in the calculus classroom. To this end we describe two specific project ideas, one related to the devastating impact of methylmercury fungicide in a grain seed supply and the other to a catastrophic methane leak. By using calculus in contexts that have social justice implications, we hope to empower students to reason for themselves, to use mathematics as a powerful tool to deepen their understanding of the world, and ultimately, to effectively confront the challenges society faces.

Green is often used as a synonym for environmental or ecological, especially as it relates to products and activities aimed at minimizing damage to the planet. Scientists and engineers have long had important roles in the environmental movement. Their expertise is focused on a variety of issues, including increasing energy efficiency, improving air and water quality, and sustaining natural resources. With interest in such projects growing, there should be additional opportunities for these scientists and engineers in the future. Some discussions of these occupations classify workers by environmental issue, such as air quality, solid waste management, or land conservation. Others group them by project category, such as environmental protection, environmental health and safety, and natural resources management. This article uses the latter method to describe the job duties, employment, outlook, wages, and training requirements for conservation scientists, environmental engineers, environmental scientists, and hydrologists.

In the absence of scientific clarity regarding the potential health effects of occupational exposure to nanoparticles, there is a need for guidance in making decisions about hazards, risks, and controls (Schulte & Salmanca-Buentello, 2007). Presently, no guiding principles have been universally accepted for personal protective equipment that is worn to prevent exposure to nanomaterials. The purpose of this article is to survey the literature and determine if research has been completed that validates whether or not occupational exposure to nanomaterials is potentially hazardous to the health of humans.

Objectives: This teaching idea is designed for students to learn about the ingredients in cigarettes and the potential short-term health consequences of these ingredients, as well as to learn about the general effects of smoking. Students will complete an activity to use this information in a hypothetical, but potentially, real-world situation. Target Audience: Middle school students. (Contains 4 figures.)

Workers on prison farms in the United States commonly grow produce and row crops and raise livestock. Teaching good agricultural practices to prisoners and prison staff increases the safety of the food produced and reduces the likelihood of an illness outbreak. We developed a food safety curriculum for use on prison farms in Iowa. In developing the curriculum, we encountered many challenges that resulted in modifications in the content and delivery method. We present the content of the curriculum and provide educators with a better understanding of challenges and potential solutions related to working with prison farms.

Alternative farming techniques are often more efficient and conserve resources more effectively than conventional farming, which can harm the environment with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers (Pimental 2005). To learn the theory, application, and related science concepts of sustainable farming techniques, students can collaborate to create an alternative farming system in the classroom. This article describes a unit on aquaponics, a soilless method of farming that blends aquaculture and hydroponics. A symbiotic relationship forms between fish and plants to create a healthy system for farming with minimal water usage through a recirculation system. A simple aquaponics system consists of a fish tank with live fish beneath a plant grow bed. A small aquarium pump moves water from the fish tank up to the plant grow bed, and then gravity returns it to the fish tank, making a continuous cycle. The authors developed this lesson for a ninth-grade biology class, but it can be adapted to any grade level.

Occupational training is a crucial feature in enhancing workforce efficiency and the expertise involved in any profession. This is carried out through a variety of ways such as institutional training, basic instructions, excursions, industrial training, laboratory lessons, workshop operations, field studies, intensive problem-solving based seminars, personal contacts with experts and various "extempore modus operandi" in one's chosen profession, and extracurricular activities. This study analyses the associated occupational exposure incidents of Nigerian engineering students during their 6-month industrial work experience. Data were collected using a pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire having 5-point Likert scale and closed format. The defined conceptual basis and aim of the study guided the questionnaire development. These include employer imposed factors, job/work factors, and trainee (student) factors. The analyzed data showed that the level of occupational exposure incidents observed among Nigerian engineering students in their places of attachment was minimal. However, the observed levels of occupational exposure in this study were a result of uncontrolled hazards which cause occupational diseases among industrial trainees (students). This goes to state that appropriate basic safety practice which is one of the major work ethics in engineering profession should be given utmost consideration by all concerned parties to ensure reduction of hazards in work environment to its barest minimum.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with poorly understood etiology. Many maternal exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding potentially interfere with neurodevelopment. Using data from two age- and sex-matched case-control studies in Jamaica (n = 298 pairs), results of conditional logistic regression analyses suggest that maternal exposures to fever or infection (matched odds ratio (MOR) = 3.12, 95% CI 1.74-5.60), physical trauma (MOR 2.02, 95% CI 1.01-4.05), and oil-based paints (MOR 1.99, 95% CI 1.14-3.46) may be associated with ASD. Additionally, maternal exposure to oil-based paints may modify the relationship between maternal exposure to pesticides and ASD, which deepens our understanding of the association between pesticides and ASD.

The general objective of this study was to analyze the development and implementation process of a waste management project (WMP) at a public school in the city of Porto Alegre in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, that offers a course for chemistry technicians. To that end, an initial diagnostic analysis of the commonly produced waste from the practical classes was carried out, and a WMP was developed to meet the needs of the technical course in order to minimize the waste produced during experimental activities and provide instructions for its adequate disposal. Additionally, teachers and students attended training courses for guidance on waste separation and identification procedures. The use of questionnaires before and after the implementation of the WMP and the training courses showed an increased level of awareness of the individuals involved throughout the study. The results provide evidence that the existence of a WMP in the school improves environmental awareness of critical professionals and citizens, who are responsible and aware of their role in society.

At many universities, silver nitrate is used in teaching laboratories, and a resulting waste product is often silver chloride. Silver chloride is not a compound that can be discarded into a sink as it has harmful effects to the environment; however, commercial waste disposal is costly, and replacement of the silver nitrate reagent is expensive. Silver chloride may be recycled back into silver nitrate, reducing costs for universities and burdens on the environment. For this study, multiple methods were tested to convert silver chloride into silver nitrate, a useful compound. The percent recovery, percent purity, cost, time required, facilities needed, and safety of the processes were compared, and an ideal method was identified to convert silver chloride waste into a useful species. This process could be used to reduce waste and cost for a university.

Demand for environmentally responsible stewardship is increasing, and the education technology sector is responding. Former L&L Senior Editor Caprice Lawless offers an overview of local and national e-waste legislation and resources for related classroom projects. (Contains 3 resources and 13 online resources.)

At the intersection of online education and preparedness, Johns Hopkins University's (JHU) Center for Public Health Preparedness provides all-hazards preparedness and response training for public health and public safety professionals. This report comes from Jonathan Links' keynote address to the Sloan Summer Research Workshop in Baltimore, Maryland in August 2006. (Contains 6 figures and 2 tables.)

The tendency for the press and public to over-react on safety. The need to balance risk against benefit. The difference between hazard and risk. Preventative or protective steps (control measures) to reduce the risk from particular hazards. Examples in school science, including the use of eye protection and alternative strategies, if eye protection is not available. The ability of teachers to supervise a class dependent on the size of the class. The need for supervision dependent on the nature of the practical activity and the risk involved in it, as well as the nature of the class, and the skills and behaviour of the students. (Contains 1 footnote.)

We evaluated the effectiveness of group safety training and in situ feedback and response interruption to teach preschool children to avoid consuming potentially hazardous substances. Three children ingested ambiguous substances during a baited baseline assessment condition and continued to ingest these substances following group safety training. In situ feedback and response interruption resulted in a decrease in opening ambiguous containers; this decrease was maintained when ambiguous novel containers were presented and when assessments occurred in a novel setting and with a novel experimenter. For 2 children, these gains were also maintained during a brief follow-up period. Twelve children did not ingest ambiguous substances prior to training, and group safety training did not evoke inappropriate ingestion. (Contains 1 figure.)

Under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act of 2007, DHS has the authority and funding to regulate security at facilities storing chemicals considered to be high-risk (P. L. 109-295, Section 550). This article discusses the Department's efforts to enhance the security of facilities that store chemicals that could be stolen or used by terrorists to inflict mass casualties. It also details the steps necessary to comply with federal regulations once a facility has determined they are storing Chemicals of Interest (COI) as defined by Appendix A of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Final Rule. The rule expects facilities to develop a layered approach to security measures, with a written plan that describes each component and how it--in combination with other security measures-- will address the identified Risk-Based Performance Standards (RBPS). The owner/operator of the facility will also be required to maintain and update the Site Security Plan (SSP) on a regular basis. Facilities covered by the rule have flexibility in determining the methods they will use to meet the requirements. DHS will assess the adequacy of those security measures by reviewing the written SSP and conducting site visits.