Health lessons from reality TV.EnviroMysteries: Breaking the Mold is the creation of a partnership between Maryland Public Television Maryland Public Television (MPT) is a not-for-profit, state-licensed public television network which serves the citizens and communities of Maryland and beyond through a variety of broadcast and non-broadcast activities. and the Community Outreach Outreach is an effort by an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. and Education Program of the Environmental Health Sciences Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is part of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was the first institution of its kind in the world. Founded in 1916 by William H. Welch and John D. that brings together two strong assets: cutting-edge environmental health knowledge and educational creativity. The result is a quality, award-winning video and accompanying educational website that teach high school students about the impact of indoor air pollution on human health. Targeted to 5th- through 9th-grade students, the 30-minute video teaches viewers about mold exposure, asthma, and scientific inquiry. It tells the story of a young girl, Kee, who captures a spot on Realville, a reality TV show where she lives with several housemates. Among these are Dara, who takes long showers, splashes water everywhere, and even uses Kee's towels. After experiencing a serious asthma attack during her stint on Realville, Kee becomes motivated mo·ti·vate tr.v. mo·ti·vat·ed, mo·ti·vat·ing, mo·ti·vates To provide with an incentive; move to action; impel. mo to learn more about asthma and its possible links to environmental exposures. As she learns more, she eventually tracks down the trigger for her attack: Stachybotrys mold growing behind the bathroom walls in the Realville house. By following Kee's experience, viewers learn about asthma, its environmental triggers An environmental trigger is a factor caused (or aided) by the environment. An example of an environmental trigger would be a component of a human's drinking water which holds the possibility of activating (triggering) a change in a person's body. , and how to reduce or prevent exposures to those triggers. The video is accompanied by a website at http://enviromysteries.thinkport. org/breakingthemold/, where teachers will find educational resources including lesson plans based on national curriculum standards, a list of suggested reference books, a directory of pertinent websites, and a glossary A term used by Microsoft Word and adopted by other word processors for the list of shorthand, keyboard macros created by a particular user. See glossaries in this publication and The Computer Glossary. of respiratory health terms. The site also provides discussion points to help teachers engage students as they watch the video. Together, the video, educational resources, and classroom activities empower empower verb To encourage or provide a person with the means or information to become involved in solving his/her own problems students to assume an active role in investigating environmental issues that can affect their health today and in the future. |
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