Ms. Karen Silfa

Eleanor Roosevelt IS 143

ksilfa@yahoo.com

http://www.sustainablebabysteps.com/environment-affecting-human-health.html

Introduction

How does the environment affect human health? Do you know someone that is suffering from cancer, diabetes, heart diseases or asthma? Do you constantly see commercials that advertise prescription medication? Will we change our environment as to drive ourselves and other species to extinction? You have been selected by the mayor of our city to write environmental policies. First you will have to research the current policies that are implemented. Are they effective? What can be done to improve our environment and prevent illness? How should we plan for the future in this city?

Task

Your mission is to evaluate current theories and policies on environmental issues and it’s impact on human health. How should we plan for the future?

· PowerPoint Presentation

· Oral Presentation

Process

1. You will be working in assigned groups of four students.

2. Each group will create a PowerPoint presentation representing the six PPA’s, you must include pictures, data, charts and/or graphs. Also must have 12 to 16 slides that include the six steps of PPA. If you do not know how to create a PowerPoint presentation click on link.

3. Each group will make a five to seven minute oral presentation.

4. Read the information in each of the links below. Each group must reflect and complete six steps Public Policy Analyst worksheets as outlined below:

5. List of possible topics for your projects: (Choose one)

· Potential Contaminants and Pathogens in Air, Dusts and Soil.

· Drinking Water exposure to Chemical and Pathogenic Contaminants.

· Human Consumption of Chemical and Pathogenic Contaminants.

· Chemical and Pathogenic Exposure through Recreational Waters.

· Adverse human health effect associated with molds and indoor environment.

· Heavy use of prophylactic antibiotic: growing problem for human and animal health and the environment.

· Asthma and air pollution

· Association of Diabetes and the Environment

· Diabetes Type 1 and the environment

· Contribution of environmental factors and cancer risk

· Breast cancer and environmental risk factors

· Relationship of Lung Cancer and cigarette smoking

· Cancer and the environment : Gene environment interaction

· Heart Attacks and the environment

· Identify the problem and Worksheet #1

· Gather Evidence and Worksheet # 2

· Identify the cause of the problem and Worksheet #3

· Evaluate the Policy and Worksheet # 4

· Develop a solution to the problem and Worksheet #5

· Selecting the best solution and Worksheet #6

EACH GROUP MEMBER WILL HAVE A SPECIFIC ROLE.

STUDENT 1: Recorder/writer: This student will take notes and gather all the information that each group member will provide. This student will be responsible of printing and submitting the PPA worksheets,

STUDENT 2: Researcher: This student will gather information from the internet (must have access to a computer at home with a working printer). The other group members are still responsible of gathering information from the internet and submitting their finding to Researcher. The researcher must make sure that the information provided are from valid sources example educational sources (.edu) government sources (.gov) and organizational sources (.org) The information gathered will be used to complete your worksheets (PPA).

STUDENT 3 Timekeeper/ organizer: This student will be responsible of making sure that the group is on task. He/she will organize group meetings, plan conferences with the teacher. He/she will make sure that the group meet the deadlines for handing in the assignments.

STUDENT 4 Presenter: This person is responsible of conveying their findings to the class. He/she will be the main speaker in the oral presentation. The PowerPoint will be used as part of the oral presentation.

· http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=12

· http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/environmentalhealth.html

· http://www.oecd.org/els/healthpoliciesanddata/40396531.pdf

· http://www.wma.net/en/20activities/30publichealth/30healthenvironment/

· http://www.reportingonhealth.org/2012/07/13/how-does-environment-affect-health-urban-poor-1

· http://www.who.int/topics/environmental_health/en/

· http://www.teachersdomain.org/assets/wgbh/envh10/envh10_doc_spls58tg/envh10_doc_spls58tg.pdf

· http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/en/

· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_health

· http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/information/health-factors/environment-affect-skin.htm

Oral Presentation Rubric

	1	2	3	4	Total
Organization	Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information.	Audience has difficulty following presentation because student jumps around.	Student presents information in logical sequence which audience can follow.	Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow.
Subject Knowledge	Student does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject.	Student is uncomfortable with information and is able to answer only rudimentary questions.	Student is at ease with expected answers to all questions, but fails to elaborate.	Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required) by answering all class questions with explanations and elaboration.
Graphics	Student uses superfluous graphics or no graphics	Student occasionally uses graphics that rarely support text and presentation.	Student's graphics relate to text and presentation.	Student's graphics explain and reinforce screen text and presentation.
Mechanics	Student's presentation has four or more spelling errors and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has three misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors.	Presentation has no misspellings or grammatical errors.
Eye Contact	Student reads all of report with no eye contact.	Student occasionally uses eye contact, but still reads most of report.	Student maintains eye contact most of the time but frequently returns to notes.	Student maintains eye contact with audience, seldom returning to notes.
Elocution	Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly for students in the back of class to hear.	Student's voice is low. Student incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation.	Student's voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly. Most audience members can hear presentation.	Student uses a clear voice and correct, precise pronunciation of terms so that all audience members can hear presentation.
				Total Points:

Worksheet Rubric
4	3	2	1	0
Fully completed with thorough and detailed answers to each question.	Fully completed with an answer to each question.	Partly completed with incomplete answers to some questions.	Partly completed with incomplete answers to all questions.	Not turned in.

Power Point Rubric
	4	3	2	1	0
Data	Information is well-detailed, credible, and relevant.	Information is detailed, credible, and relevant with minor gaps or inconsistencies.	Information is general, mostly credible, somewhat relevant with major gaps or inconsistencies.	Information is general, somewhat suspect, of dubious relevance.	Information is confused, suspect, and irrelevant.
Proposed Solution	Proposes a plausible and effective policy.	Proposes a possible policy with a few issues which hinder effectiveness.	Proposes a questionable policy with limited effectiveness.	Proposes an incoherent policy.	No policy proposed.
Citation	All sources are properly cited with no formatting errors.	All sources are properly cited with some minor formatting errors.	All sources are cited but are not in proper format or some sources are not cited.	Several sources are not cited or are referred to only briefly.	No citations at all.
Presentation	Makes good eye contact with audience, projects well and enunciates clearly, uses gestures and emphasis effectively.	Makes good eye contact with audience, projects well and usually enunciates clearly, uses gestures and emphasis.	Makes eye contact with audience, can usually be heard and understood, uses a few gestures and emphases.	Makes sparse eye contact, difficult to hear or understood, does not use gestures.	Cannot be heard or understood.
Appearance	Well-structured layout with high quality and appropriate graphics and effects which enhance the presentation message.	Structured layout with decent graphics and effects which generally fit the theme.	Some structural elements are used but overall layout is cluttered or distracting. Graphics and effects may be of inferior quality or inconsistent theme.	Cluttered, confusing, and hard to read with little or no attempt at consistent structure. Graphics and effects are of poor quality and unrelated to the information presented.	Poor design choices render slides unreadable. Poor quality graphics and effects are unrelated to the topic, or entirely nonexistent.

PPA Policy Rubric

	4	3	2	1	0
Information	Clearly and cogently describes problem and proposed policy.	Clearly describes problem and proposed policy.	Briefly summarizes problem and proposed policy.	Briefly and incompletely summarizes problem and proposed policy.	Not turned in.
Mechanics	No errors in grammar and usage.	Few errors in grammar and usage.	Several errors in grammar and usage.	Many errors in grammar and usage.	Not turned in.

Congratulations on completing your Web quest! In the process of completing this PPA web quest you learned about the environmental issues we are facing today. Also you should have seen how the environment affects our health today. As a Public Policy analyst you have identified the problem. You gathered evidence and identified the causes. You have evaluated the existing policies and developed solutions. Now it is time to take action and make a change.

English Language Arts
- Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding.
- Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.

Health
- Standard 2: Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe and healthy environment.

Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education
- Standard 2: Students will access, generate, process and transfer information using appropriate technologies.