Lesson Seed: Environmental Health Challenges
Reading (grades 5-8) Standard 2 Comprehension of Informational Text
Indicator
A. 4. Determine and analyze important ideas and messages in informational texts
Expectations:
2A.4.g. Synthesize ideas from text
2A.4.j. Connect the text to prior knowledge or experience
Objectives:
Students will identify environmental health challenges discussed by experts and hypothesize
the connection between the expert and the challenge from biographical information.
Students will identify their own connection with the environmental health challenges.
Students will ask others about environmental health challenges and present the results to the
class.
Materials and/or Set Up:
Computer lab with internet access and Flash version 8
Access for all students (individually or in groups) to view videos on Meet the Experts
http://experts.thinkport.org/envirohealth/default.aspx section of EnviroHealth website, at
Thinkport.org
graphic organizer (attached below)
Relevant Vocabulary: environmental, health, challenge, chemicals, toxic, global
warming, greenhouse gases
Introduction/Motivation: Find 3 cartoons that highlight environmental challenges. Ask
students to select the one they understood the quickest or that they think is the funniest.
Ask them why it is funny or why it was easy to understand. Elicit the comment that what
we are most familiar with or concerned with is often easiest to understand.
Activities
Ask students to look at the Meet the Experts section of the EnviroHealth website
(http://experts.thinkport.org/envirohealth/default.aspx ) select looking at each question and
select question #9: “What do you think is the greatest environmental health challenge that
we face? “
Students will view the video of each person’s response to that question and record the
information on a graphic organizer. Ask students to think about why they think that this
person chose this issue as their greatest environmental challenge. They should read the
Lesson Seed Author: Karen Kotchka
School: William H. Lemmel Middle School, Baltimore City Public Schools
Lesson Seed: Environmental Health Challenges
pop-up brief bio of each person that comes up when placing the cursor on their photo and
think about how their job and/or personal interests may have affected their choices.
After reading the biographical information and thinking about what the person said, they
should fill in the second column of the organizer asking them to make a claim or hypothesis
about why this person chose this issue. Finally ask students to think about what personal
connection they have with the environmental challenge that the expert identified and write
that into the last column of the organizer.
Model this process for the students across the graphic organizer by demonstrating and
thinking aloud. Then guide students through a second person, asking them for the
responses to put in the graphic organizer. Students should complete the activity for an
additional five experts of their choosing.
Conclusion/Wrap Up
Have students choose one of the experts they listened to and share their hypotheses as to
why the expert chose that environmental health challenge. Ask students:
 to share their personal connections with the environmental health challenges raised
by the experts.
 how and when they became aware of this connection to the environmental question.
 what they think it will take for people to take personal action on the environmental
health challenge.
Follow Up/Extension
Students will follow up with a homework assignment to interview five people in their
family or community and ask them the same question the experts answered: What do you
think is the greatest environmental health challenge that we face? They will decide upon an
appropriate method of presenting the results of the survey – bar graph, circle graph, chart,
table, etc. and present their findings to the class.
Students can choose from among the top five challenges raised by all survey respondents to
do a follow-up research project.
Lesson Seed Author: Karen Kotchka
School: William H. Lemmel Middle School, Baltimore City Public Schools
Name:
____________________Class: ____________ Date: _____________________
Meet the Experts Environmental Health Challenges
Name of Expert
Michael Trush
Tomas Guilarte
Greatest
Environmental Health
Challenge
Why I Think They
Chose This Challenge
My Personal
Connection to This
Environmental Health
Challenge