Health and the Environment
Teacher: Tony Stadtherr
Office: Boys Locker Room
Email: tstadtherr@isd2071.k12.mn.us
Phone: (507) 726-2110 ext. 1741
Office Hours: 7:00 – 8:00, 11:00 – 12:00, 3:00 – 3:30
Course Credits: 3
Goal:
The goal of this class is to promote students’ understanding of their physical, emotional, and social
health needs as well as to develop skills and strategies to meet these needs and improve overall health
and well-being for a lifetime.
Student Responsibilities:
 Attend class - If you miss class, it is your responsibility to get notes from someone else in the
class or the teacher (outside of class time).
 Be prepared to participate.
 Complete assigned readings prior to class.
 Complete all class assignments.
 Show respect to fellow classmates and the instructor.
 Have fun. This can be a very enjoyable class if you and your classmates are willing to openly
express your thoughts.
Professionalism:
The Department of Health Science at Minnesota State University, Mankato expects all students
enrolled in Health Science courses to adhere to the following standards of professionalism.
 Interact with students, staff and, and community in a positive, professional manner.
 Respect the physical, emotional, and social boundaries of others.
 Respect diversity among groups of people and individuals based on age, ethnicity, race,
gender, socioeconomic status, exceptionalities, language, religion, sexual orientation, and
geographical area.
 Listen and value others’ ideas.
 Maintain confidentiality standards.
 Value and demonstrate honesty.
 Arrive on time and complete assigned tasks on schedule.
 Accept personal responsibility for one’s own actions.
 Use proper grammar and vocabulary in written and oral communication.
 Maintain personal hygiene.
 Dress appropriately.
Objectives: At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Assess their individual levels of wellness and understand enhancement strategies.
2. Describe current stressors in their lives and how to effectively cope with or eliminate the
sources of stress.
3. Analyze their current fitness level; develop a realistic health modification plan for their
current lifestyle.
4. Identify ways to manage weight and to improve communication and relationships with others.
5. Describe the health risks of addictive behaviors, including binge drinking, drug abuse, and
tobacco use.
6. Identify a lifestyle change they intend to make to improve their overall wellness.
Course Requirements:
Students are expected to attend class regularly and complete all course reading assignments. There
will be a mid-term exam, a final examination, and a final project.
 Participation: Students are also expected to participate in class discussions and are subject
to grading based on participation.
 Examinations: Exams will contain a combination of multiple choice, short answer and essay
questions. Questions will require higher order thinking instead of simple regurgitation of
knowledge. There will be a mid-term and final exam.
 Quizzes: At the end of each chapter, students will be quizzed on the material of that chapter.
Chapter quizzes could take a number of different forms. Reading quizzes will be
administered from periodically to make sure students are keeping up with their reading.
 Wellness Self-Assessment: Students will complete a wellness assessment that will serve as
the basis for a 4 to 8 page paper in which students assess their current health status. Students
will access a free online health assessment on their own time. Choose a health assessment that
asks about as many dimensions of health as possible. For example, one that asks about your
physical behavior and your mental health, etc.. Part of this assignment is finding the
assessment yourself. You are responsible for turning in your single page printout of the
assessment. The papers must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman, in a font not to
exceed 12 pt.
o In this paper, you will describe:
 Any “unhealthy” behaviors you currently engage in that you are not
prepared to change, why you engage in them even though they are
unhealthy, and what would encourage you to consider changing them.
 Any unhealthy behaviors you are currently contemplating changing and
why.
 If applicable, any behaviors you have already changed. Why you did, and
how you accomplished your goal.
 Any behaviors you are particularly proud of. What convinced you to act in
this manner?
 Consider all dimensions of health and not just one or two.
 Health Fair: The final project in this class will be an open to the public health fair held in
the high school cafetorium. Each student will choose a specific topic that is from our
textbook. From their students can narrow topics down. For example chapter four is on
nutrition. A topic from that chapter could be the benefits of becoming a vegetarian. Chapters
will be determined on a first come first serve basis.
 Extra Credit: Extra credit will be available on a weekly basis. To receive extra credit,
students will read and summarize an article in one or two paragraphs and present it to the
class. This is the only assignment that may be hand written. Also attach the article to your
summary. Articles that are related to the topic we are working on in class at the time are
worth 5 pts. Unrelated health articles are worth 3 pts. Students may present once per week
and can receive a maximum of 50 pts. per semester. I frequently re-tweet health articles on
Twitter and those articles are fair game.
 Book Presentations: Each student will pick two books from the list I have provided (first
come, first serve). If you find a different book that you think would fit the criteria, check
with me for approval. The presentation should be about 10 minutes in length and should
summarize what you learned from reading the book.
o Book List
 Psychological Health
 College of the Overwhelmed by Kadison & DiGeronimo
 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
 The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
 Stress Management
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 Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales
 Surviving Survival by Laurence Gonzales
 Why Don’t Zebras get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky
Nutrition
 Deadly Feasts by Richard Rhodes
 Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
 Mad Cowboy by Howard Lyman
 Diabetes: Sugar Coated Crisis by David Spero
 Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
 Food Politics by Marion Nestle
 Grain Brain by David Perlmutter
Fitness
 Born to Run by McDougall
 Spark: How Exercise will Improve the Performance of your Brain
by Ratey & Hagerman
 Autobiography of Yoga by Paramahansa Yogananda
Weight Management
 Fat Politics by J.Eric Oliver
Drug Use & Abuse
 The Long Run by Shubaly
 Everything I Never Wanted to Be by Dina Kucera
 American Junkie by Tom Hansen
Alcohol & Tobacco Use & Abuse
 A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
 Smokescreen by Philip Hilts
Relationships
 How to be an Adult in Relationships by Richo & Hendricks
 Crazy Love by Leslie Morgan Steiner
Sexuality
 The Sexual Spectrum: Why We’re all Different by Olive Johnson
 Gay, Strait, and the Reason Why by Simon LeVay
Communicable Disease
 Virus Hunters of the CDC by McCormick and Fisher Hoch
 Secret Agents by Madeline Drexler
 Lab 257 by Carroll
 The Great Influenza by John Barry
 Living Terrors by Osterholm,
 The Demon in the Freezer by Preston
 AIDS: Science and Society, (6th) Edition (Jones & Bartlett)
 Killer Germs by Zimmerman and Zimerman
Chronic Disease
 A Compromised Generation by Michelle Tortora
Consumer Health
 Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Personal Safety
 Why Does He Do That by LundyBancroft
 Understanding and Preventing Campus Violence by Michele Paludi
Environmental Health
 Living Downstream by Sandra Steingraber
 Our Stolen Future by Theo Colborn
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Aging
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Others
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How Much Risk A Guide to Understanding Environmental Health
Hazards by I. Goldstein
The Water We Drink by Barzilay, Weinberg and Eley
Merchants of Doubt by Oreskes & Conway
Seven Strategies for Positive Aging by Robert Hill
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Tell my Sons by Mark Weber
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
Supper Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs
David & Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

Class assignments must be turned in on time. Ten percent will be deducted for each day
that an assignment is turned in late. After one week, the assignment will not be accepted.
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All assignments must be typed and double-spaced using Times New Roman font size 12.
Unless otherwise stated, handwritten assignments will not be accepted. If you turn in a handwritten instead of a typed assignment, you will not receive credit for that assignment. If the
assignment is more than one page, papers must be stapled, NOT FOLDED AT THE
CORNERS.
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Grading Scale:
A = (90–100%)
B = (80–89%)
C = (70–79%)
D = (60–69%)
F = (less than 60%)
Academic Integrity:
It is expected that all papers and exams will be the work of the individual student. If academic
dishonesty is suspected, the student will receive an automatic F in the course and the university policy
will be strictly enforced. Plagiarism will not be tolerated.
Any work turned in for credit must be the work of the individual student. Signing someone else’s
name to your work or copying assignments from another student (past or present) constitutes
Academic Dishonesty. This will result in an automatic F in the course, and the university policy will
be strictly enforced.
Disabilities Act (ADA):
MSU provides students with disabilities reasonable accommodation to participate in educational
programs, activities or services. Students with disabilities requiring accommodation to participate in
class activities or meet course requirements should first register with the Office of Disability Services,
located in 0132 Memorial Library, telephone 389-2825, TDD 711 and then contact me as soon as
possible.
COURSE OUTLINE
*Scheduled course outline is subject to change with notice from the
instructor*