PULSE: Interdisciplinary Learning for High School
Promoting Understanding and Learning for Society & Environmental Health

PULSE is a nine unit curriculum that teaches environmental health and biomedical issues across the curriculum, in science, social studies, math, and language arts, It is funded by the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) Program, a component of the National Council of Research Resources (NCRR) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). SEPA grants bring together “biomedical and behavioral researchers, educators, community groups, and other interested organizations in partnerships to create and disseminate programs that give K-12 students and teachers and the general public a better understanding of life sciences”. For a fact sheet about the SEPA Program, click here.

PULSE is an interdisciplinary curriculum. It is designed to improve life science literacy by providing lessons for core high school subjects in the context of units 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.

The design of the units is constructivist in nature, using a learning cycle approach. PULSE draws upon the curriculum design methods of Understanding by Design (1998, Wiggins and McTighe). National standards in the four disciplines of science, social studies, language arts and math play a central role in the lessons. The PULSE curriculum development team is studying the impact of interdisciplinary curriculum and environmental health and biomedical topics on the learning of high school students.

PULSE highlights the researchers of the University of Arizona Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (SWEHSC) , who study how environmental factors affect human disease and illness. They are making major contributions to science education by passing on their knowledge and demonstrating excitement for carrying out health-related research. You may learn more about these researchers in the Scientist Profiles section of the website.

Human health is an important consideration in city planning. Links between air pollution and such illnesses as asthma and allergies have been established by biomedical researchers. The amount of air pollution present in a city is affected by the weather and air flow, human construction, and traffic patterns in that region. Through this unit, students build their understanding of how city development, air movement and air quality all contribute to respiratory illnesses. They demonstrate their grasp of this topic via their design of a “healthy air” city located in one of ten locations where large cities exist today. This unit addresses the education standards for 9th grade.

Click for Asthma & Air Quality Resources

Throughout human history disease has been linked to biological, social, political and economic forces. Epidemics have influenced history by where they occur, how they develop, and the impact they have on civilizations. People though, have learned to heal themselves and to cope with the aftermath of illnesses. Today, biomedical researchers are in the forefront of the battle to understand diseases and to find cures. In this unit, students explore disease and its relationship to the literature and the movement of people, trade and epidemics during the medieval period. They apply their understanding to current public health issues. This unit addresses the education standards for 10th grade.

Click for Infectious Disease & Epidemic Resources

Each year we increase the number of chemicals in commonly used. Many represent advances in technology or have improved our lives significantly. Unfortunately, they sometimes have a negative impact on human health, if used incorrectly or disposed of improperly. Toxicologists are the biomedical scientists who study the adverse effects of chemicals on living organisms. In this unit, the students develop an understanding of basic environmental toxicology while addressing basic chemical and physical properties of substances. As students gain an understanding about basic environmental toxicology they are also introduced to the health impacts of industrialization from a historical perspective. This unit addresses the education standards for 11th grade.

Click for Adverse Chemical Effects Resources
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The increase in knowledge in the field of chemistry has led to advances in almost every field imaginable. Agricultural practices, including the use of fertilizers and pesticides, have benefited from new discoveries in chemistry. However, there are issues of how these new chemicals impact human health. The Chicano movement and the health of migrant workers provide an engaging environmental health context to examine the relationships among human health, basic chemistry (soil chemistry, pesticide toxicity), and migration. Students study the research of environmental health scientists and create speeches concerning a community based health related issue that specifically targets their understanding of chemistry. This unit addresses the education standards for 11th grade.

Click for Fertilizers & Pesticides Resources

A powerful role of government is to protect the health of the citizens. 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.

Click for Coal Combustion Resources

Environmental health scientists study those aspects of human health and disease that are determined by factors in the environment. They also develop the theory and practice of assessing and controlling factors in the environment that can potentially affect health. In this unit, students draw upon understandings of the impact of the environment on human health gained in the physical sciences and other science classes to present a case in a moot court case. They highlight very current issues in the biomedical arena which they gain through research into cases related to environmental health or biotechnology and drug issues. This unit addresses the education standards for 12th grade.

Click for Government Laws & Policy Resources

The federal government supports millions of dollars in research grants to study health problems in America. In order to investigate cures to devastating diseases, human subjects are needed. The government ensures they are protected in the process. The researchers must help people understand the research in which they are participating. Using the issue of skin cancer, students learn about the role of government oversight in clinical studies. The issues addressed include how individuals become involved with biomedical research and an understanding of informed consent, Internal Review Boards (IRBs) and finally, how researchers explain their projects to participants. This unit addresses the education standards for 12th grade.

Click for Skin Cancer & UV Protection Resources