News Release

June 7, 2006
Contact: Jerry Carey
Phone: (856) 566-6171
careyge@umdnj.edu

UMDNJ Announces Annual Environmental Health Sciences Summer Institute
Free training and curricular materials for educators of grades K - 12

PISCATAWAY—The Center for School and Community Health Education at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health will offer its annual Environmental Health Sciences Summer Institute for Educators, July 10-21, in Piscataway, and August 7-11, 2006 in Newark.

Now in its 13th year, this series of free workshops educates teachers on how to employ public health topics such as toxicology, safe work environments for teenagers and infectious disease to deliver lessons that teach students critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills. This is the first year that the Summer Institute will be available in Newark.

Using small group settings, the Summer Institute emphasizes investigative experiments, hands-on activities, case studies, role-plays, and roundtable discussions with scientists. Teachers attending the workshops learn how to incorporate science and math concepts into their existing lessons, along with new methods to address education standards, including the New Jersey State Department of Education’s Core Curriculum Content Standards.

The Summer Institute workshops include an expanded version of UMDNJ’s award-winning ToxRAPTM program and MedMyst, a program developed at Rice University. ToxRAPTM (Toxicology, Risk Assessment and Pollution) Expanded shows teachers how to use illustrated stories, games, experiments, case studies, and other techniques in a program that follows a detective theme to study how pollutants affect health. MedMyst (Medical Mysteries) materials include a web-based adventure game that uses interactive activities to study such topics as germ theory, the immune system, and prevention measures for infectious disease.

Upon completion of a workshop, participants receive curricular materials - which may include lesson plans, student handouts, and oversized children’s book or games - and professional development hours. A $25 refundable registration fee is required for MedMyst and ToxRAPTM Expanded.

The programs are offered at no charge to K-12th grade teachers, through financial support from Johnson & Johnson, the National Center for Research Resources through Rice University, and Praxair Foundation, Inc. The summer institute is endorsed by the New Jersey Education Association, Professional Development Institute. Workshops are held at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute in Piscataway, the UMDNJ-School of Public Health in Piscataway and at UMDNJ's Stanley S. Bergen Building in Newark.

A schedule of the Environmental Health Sciences Summer Institute workshops follows. More information is available by contacting the Center for School and Community Health Education at (732) 235-9095, or by e-mail at csche-sph@umdnj.edu.

UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.

Schedule for 13th Annual Environmental Health Sciences Summer Institute for Educators, grades K-12

July 10-13, 2006
(9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.)
ToxRAP Expanded (grades K-5)

Experience the processes and tools employed by scientists during this expanded workshop. Teachers of grades K-5 will learn together about select environmental issues, including air and water pollution. Then, in separate breakout sessions, teachers will focus on grade-appropriate lessons and activities from the ToxRAP (Toxicology, Risk Assessment and Pollution) curriculum series, including "The Case of the Green Feathers"(for grades K-3) OR "What is Wrong with the Johnson Family?" (for grades 3-5). ToxRAP Expanded is ideal for teachers who have never attended a ToxRAP workshop or for those teachers who have only attended either the K-3 or 3-5 sessions. Teaching techniques include illustrated stories, problem-based learning, games, graphing, hands-on experiments and case studies. A detective theme is used to study pollutants and how they affect health; specifically focusing on natural air contaminants and hazards present in homes. Spanish-bilingual and all-Spanish versions are also available. A science background is not necessary to participate. A $25 refundable registration fee is required.

July 14, 2006
(9 a.m.-12:15pm)
Youth@Work (grades 9-12)

This workshop helps teachers to prepare students for the workplace and to teach them about common work injuries, hazard identification, hazard control, job rights and speaking up about workplace health and safety problems. Developed by the Children’s Safety Network, the "Safe Work/Safe Workers: A Curriculum for Teaching High School Students about Occupational Safety and Health" four-hour curriculum also includes alternative lessons for students with learning disabilities and is modified specifically to address New Jersey child labor laws.

July 14, 2006
(9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.)
EHP Student Lessons (grades 9-12)

Teachers gain new methods to connect learning to real-life research. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is working with representatives from universities nationwide, including UMDNJ, to develop comprehensive lessons that accompany its online resource, the Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) Student Edition. The lessons are designed to meet National Science Education Content Standards in biology, chemistry, environmental science, geology and/or physical science, and include descriptions of specific skills and content addressed to help teachers easily identify the standards met by the lesson. Lesson plans are posted on-line, and are available for download at no charge. New lessons will be highlighted during this workshop, so past participants may attend. A science background is recommended for teacher participants.

July 17-21, 2006 (Piscataway)
August 7-11, 2006 (Newark)
(9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.)
MedMyst (grades 6-9)

Introduces students to the process of scientific research through Rice University's (TX) MedMyst (Medical Mysteries) online materials. This web-based adventure game uses interactive, problem-based and multidisciplinary activities to teach about infectious disease. As scientists, historians and detectives, enter a futuristic world on a mission to discover the causes of diseases. By following clues, students explore chemistry, pharmacology, epidemiology, medicine, public policy, history and more. The Germ Theory, the immune system and treatment/preventive measures for infectious disease are among topics explored. Online maps, interviews, virtual electron microscope and m ore are used. Spanish version is also available. A science background is recommended for teacher participants. A $25 refundable registration fee is required.