PULSE: 12th Grade - Powerful Explorations of Health and Energy

Powerful Explorations of Health and Energy

One role government plays in protecting human health is considering the impact on health of laws and policies. For example, energy policy needs to consider the sustainability and effectiveness of a source. Students will ask:

How do you protect human health through laws and policy?

Our nation must also reflect health concerns related to the impact energy creating industries have on the environment and the environmental health impact of the use of energy sources. Exposure to mercury from coal fueled power plants is considered a health hazard by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has set emission limits for mercury. Biomedical scientists study the health effects of exposure to mercury.

In this unit, students simulate an energy task force meeting, which includes environmental health factors as a primary consideration. The students present the findings of their study and research with the goal of persuading a legislative body to create a policy to protect the public.

This unit addresses the education standards for 12th grade.

Major Project - Energy Task Force
A task force has been called together to talk about energy policies, but it isn’t all about how are we going to get fuel our world, we also must figure out how to do this with as little impact on human health as possible. Task force members include those who are particularly interested in this aspect of energy policy.

The final project, conducted through the government class, consists of simulating an energy task force meeting, which includes environmental health factors as a primary consideration. The students present the findings of their study and research with the goal of persuading a legislative body to creating policy to protect the public.

Image of Powerful Explorations

Scientist Profile - Dr. Clark Lantz

Teachers
For more information and background check out this great article
Messenger from the White House: Council on Environmental Quality
from Environmental Health Perspectives

Week - Connection	Physics	Government	Language Arts	Math
Week 1	Power- Who Needs It?	It’s All About Power	Coal and Oil
	Energy & Environmental Trade- offs	How does a Bill become a Law?
	Energy for Free		A Snapshot in Time
	How Much More is There?
Week 2	How Much More is There?	How to Write a Bill!	Reliable Sources
	Opposites Attract		Finding Sources


Week 3	Circuit Lab	Powers of Persuasion	Who is Your Audience and What do They Need to Hear?
	Electrical Engineers for a Day		Putting together a position paper
			Gathering the Appropriate Information
Week 4		Who has the Biggest Voice?
	Are they Really All that Different?
	Home-made Generator	Can I be Swayed?
			Writing the Position Paper
Week 5	Chemistry of Killer Coal	Is Congress for Sale?
	Killer Coal
	Chemistry Review & the Chemistry of Coal

Week 6	Clean Coal?	What Makes the Nation go Round?	Who is Your Audience and What do They Need to Hear?	Chernobyl 1 - Radiation Released Chernobyl 2 - Air Currents
	Chernobyl	The Power Grab
	Uranium on a Diet
	Cold Fusion?		Speakers in Action

Week 7	Coal Fusion? Cont…	Money Power	Refining Your Public Speaking Skills
		What is an Iron Triangle
			Stating your Position
			Stating your Position
Week 8		Energy Task Force

PULSE is a project of the Community Outreach and Education Program of the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center and is funded by:

an NIH/NCRR award #16260-01A1

The Community Outreach and Education Program is part of the Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center: an NIEHS Award

Supported by NIEHS grant # ES06694

Page Content: Rachel Hughes
Web Master: Travis Biazo