Science Take-Out Kits for Environmental Health Education

描述（由申请人提供）：全世界近25%的死亡和疾病与环境因素有关（世卫组织，2006年）；因此，至关重要的是，一般公众对环境如何影响他们的健康以及他们如何保护自己免受环境暴露有基本的了解。不幸的是，环境健康内容通常是在非常有限的基础上，如果有的话，在中学课堂上（Martina， 2009年）。该项目的目的是开发、试点测试和评估以环境健康科学（EHS）主题为重点的科学外卖工具包的使用情况。这些工具包的设计将使中学生物教师能够轻松地将EHS活动整合到他们现有的课程中。该项目由以下两家公司合作：“Science Take-Out”，这是一家小型企业，生产预先组装的“袋装实验室”科学工具包，其中包含学生参与动手科学活动所需的所有材料。罗彻斯特大学环境健康科学中心的社区外展和参与核心，该中心为学生、教师和公众创建了许多教育和外展活动。在第一期str项目中，我们将：为中学生物系学生制作6套不同的环境健康科学外带教材（包括教材活动、教材和教师指南）。2. 为科学教师组织3个焦点小组，评估科学外卖工具包的原型。3. 试点在中学生物教室测试6套科学外卖工具包。这个拟议的项目意义重大，因为它将培养中学教育工作者的能力，使他们能够利用实际的科学活动，将EHS信息纳入课堂课程。这些新工具包将结合所有Science Take-Out工具包常见的“袋装实验室”易用性特点，以及让学生学习重要的EHS概念的活动，例如：剂量-反应关系；环境因素对身体系统和生物过程的影响；不同生命阶段对环境因子易感性的变化；防止环境暴露。这个拟议的项目是创新的，因为科学外卖EHS工具包将采用独特的特征组合，增加教师采用它们的可能性：(1)工具包活动将使用科学过程技能

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nearly 25 percent of death and disease, worldwide, is linked to environmental factors (WHO, 2006); therefore, it is critical that the general public has basic understanding of how the environment affects their health and how they might protect themselves against environmental exposures. Unfortunately, environmental health content is typically covered on a very limited basis, if at all, in secondary school classrooms (Martina, 2009). The purpose of this project is to develop, pilot test, and evaluate the use of Science Take-Out kits that focus on topics in environmental health science (EHS). The kits will be designed to enable secondary school biology teachers to easily integrate EHS activities into their existing curricula. This project is a partnership between: "Science Take-Out, a small business that manufactures preassembled "lab in a bag" science kits containing all materials needed for students to engage in hands-on science activities." The Community Outreach and Engagement Core of the University of Rochester's Environmental Health Sciences Center, which has created numerous education and outreach initiatives for students, teachers, and the general public. During this Phase I STTR project we will: 1. Develop 6 different Science Take-Out kits (including kit activities, materials, and teacher guides) on various topics in environmental health science for use with secondary school biology students. 2. Conduct 3 focus groups for science teachers to evaluate prototypes of the Science Take-Out kits. 3. Pilot tests the 6 Science Take-Out kits in secondary school biology classrooms. This proposed project is significant because it will build the capacity of secondary school educators to use hands-on science activities to bring EHS messages into their classroom curricula. These new kits will combine the "lab in a bag" ease-of-use features common to all Science Take-Out kits with activities that engage students in learning important concepts of EHS such: as dose-response relationships; effects of environmental agents on body systems and biological processes; changes in susceptibility to environmental agents at different life stages, and; prevention of environmental exposures. This proposed project is innovative because the Science Take-Out EHS kits will employ a unique combination of characteristics that increase the likelihood of their adoption by teachers: (1) The kit activities will use science process skills to increase students' understanding of EHS concepts; (2) The fully assembled kits will make the hand-on EHS activities easy, economical and convenient for teachers to implement, and; (3) The clear and concise teachers' guides will be appropriate for teachers who may not have a background in EHS.