Brain development can be damaged by environmental chemicals.
Philippe Grandjean, University of Southern Denmark and Harvard School of Public Health, explains the erroneous assumptions made over time about this. Studies from Faroe Islands, where people have been exposed to toxic agents, shows how this affects brains of children and their IQ levels.

This kit is a historical overview of American representations of chemicals from the three sisters to the Love Canal. It compares conflicting constructions about nuclear reactor safety, depleted uranium, Rachel Carson and DDT. Through analyzing diverse historic and contemporary media messages, students understand changing public knowledge, impressions and attitudes about chemicals in the environment.

A presentation with Professor Philippe Grandjean about the dangers of chemical interference with the developing brain. This presentation, “Children’s health - Risks to brain development from exposure to environmental chemicals”, presented on 6th November, 2019, meeting of the French High Council for Public Health (Haut Conseil de la Santé Publique, HCSP), at the Ministry for Solidarity and Health in Paris.

Students learn how the process of soil solarization is used to pasteurize agricultural fields before planting crops. Soil solarization is a pest control technique in agriculture that uses the sun’s radiation to heat the soil and eliminate unwanted pests that could harm the crops. The approach is compared to other pest control methods such as fumigation and herbicide application, highlighting the respective benefits and drawbacks. In preparation for the associated hands-on activity on soil biosolarization, students learn how changing the variables involved in the solarizing process (such as the tarp material, soil water content and addition of organic matter) impacts the technique’s effectiveness. A PowerPoint® presentation and pre/post-quiz is provided.

This course provides a review of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic principles used to examine interactions between humans and the natural environment. Mass balance concepts are applied to ecology, chemical kinetics, hydrology, and transportation; energy balance concepts are applied to building design, ecology, and climate change; and economic and life cycle concepts are applied to resource evaluation and engineering design. Numerical models are used to integrate concepts and to assess environmental impacts of human activities. Problem sets involve development of MATLAB® models for particular engineering applications. Some experience with computer programming is helpful but not essential.

This course provides a review of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic principles used to examine interactions between humans and the natural environment. Mass balance concepts are applied to ecology, chemical kinetics, hydrology, and transportation; energy balance concepts are applied to building design, ecology, and climate change; and economic and life cycle concepts are applied to resource evaluation and engineering design. Numerical models are used to integrate concepts and to assess environmental impacts of human activities. Problem sets involve development of MATLAB® models for particular engineering applications. Some experience with computer programming is helpful but not essential.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Environment-derived gut microbes can contribute to host health. In soil invertebrates, the gut microbiome is gradually assembled from the specific soil microecological region that the host inhabits. However, the effects of environmental stress on soil invertebrate microbiomes remain unknown. To learn more, a new study sought to characterize the gut bacterial taxa of the soil invertebrate Folsomia candida in the presence or absence of environmental concentrations of soil pollutants. Sequencing revealed that exposure to the fungicide azoxystrobin (AO), the antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC), or their mixture (AO) increased Gammaproteobacteria abundance. The Gammaproteobacteria response was closely associated with F. candida physiological and functional indicators, such as the locomotion (HAA) index and oxidative stress..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is an intriguing and publicized environmental problem. This swirling soup of trash up to 10 meters deep and just below the water surface is composed mainly of non-degradable plastics. These plastic materials trap aquatic life and poison them by physical blockage or as carriers of toxic pollutants. The problem relates to materials science and the advent of plastics in modern life, an example of the unintended consequences of technology. Through exploring this complex issue, students gain insight into aspects of chemistry, oceanography, fluids, environmental science, life science and even international policy. As part of the GIS unit, the topic is a source of content for students to create interesting maps communicating something that they will likely begin to care about as they learn more.

Pesticide self-poisoning is among the leading cause of suicide worldwide. This presentation provides us with an insight to the risk factors for pesticide self-poisoning, the global burden, prevention and treatment of self-harm with pesticides. The session use Sri Lanka as a case. The presentation is of relevance for researchers as well as for public health practitioners. It exemplifies how the different levels of intervention have to work very closely to make an impact.

The educational material consists of an introduction to the pesticide problematic together with five themes that illustrate different aspects of the problematic. Below you find video-clips from Bolivia that visualizes and concretizes the theme described in the fact sheet (downloadable PDF), including study questions that encourage the students to reflect upon the theme presented in the educative videos as well as in the fact sheet. Furthermore each fact sheet contains a reference list1 and grey boxes in the text with suggestions for further reading on the themes. 

This course gives an overview of integrated pest management focusing on corn and soybeans and introducing the basics of scouting, plant pathology, management of insects, diseases, and weeds, and discusses pesticides and human and environmental topics related to their use.

This lesson plan and complimentary resources describes and classifies common pests, favorable conditions for pests, and the way pests affect plants and cause losses. Students will explain Integrated Pest Management and methods used to control plant pests. Lesson plan from the New Mexico Animal, Plant, and Soil Science Lesson Plan Library.

This kit explores how sustainability has been presented in the media with a particular focus on issues related to food, water and agriculture. Each of the 19 lessons integrates media literacy and critical thinking into lessons about different aspect of sustainability. Constant themes throughout the kit include social justice, climate change, energy, economics and unintended consequences.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"RNA interference (RNAi), a popular technique for gene silencing using double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs), can be used to manage insect pests. Once eaten by insects, the dsRNAs target specific genes to reduce growth or cause death. Multiple factors affect RNAi efficiency, but it’s unknown if the gut microbiota, which encounters the ingested dsRNAs in the gastrointestinal tract, is a factor. A recent study investigated the effects of RNAi on a major tree pest, the willow leaf beetle, and explored the influence of the microbiome with molecular biology techniques. The ingested targeted dsRNAs were highly lethal to non-axenic beetles (with gut microbes) but were less lethal to axenic (microbe-free) beetles despite equivalent gene-silencing effects. All dsRNAs altered the microbiota composition and induced overgrowth of gut bacteria, especially Enterobacter and Pseudomonas, perhaps in part because their degradation provided food for the bacteria..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"Plant health is essential for food production, but plants are often affected by pathogens that can threaten plant performance including crop yield. Unfortunately, we can often only predict plant health when pathogens have infected plants and can no longer be controlled – and by then it is too late. To counteract pathogens, farmers often apply extensive amounts of pesticides throughout plant growth. But excessive pesticide use is costly and affects the biodiversity of the surrounding species. A recent study sought to find a way to predict plant health before planting. Researchers investigated different classes of soil microbes throughout the growth of tomato plants. They found that bacterial predators called protists were the best predictors of pathogen dynamics in growing plants..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

Over the course of three sessions, students act as agricultural engineers and learn about the sustainable pest control technique known as soil biosolarization in which organic waste is used to help eliminate pests during soil solarization instead of using toxic compounds like pesticides and fumigants. Student teams prepare seed starter pots using a source of microorganisms (soil or compost) and “organic waste” (such as oatmeal, a source of carbon for the microorganisms). They plant seeds (representing weed seeds) in the pots, add water and cover them with plastic wrap. At experiment end, students count the weed seedlings and assess the efficacy of the soil biosolarization technique in inactivating the weed seeds. An experiment-guiding handout and pre/post quizzes are provided.

This is a video of 1 min and 33 seconds, showing an illustration of how acetylcholinesterase inhibitors work in the human body. This can be a useful video if you teach about pesticides and their health effects.

The basis for this project draws from Dr. DuCoste’s experiences with water treatment and Dr. Powell’s experiences in pesticide monitoring of ground and surface water and pesticide regulation. The intent is to provide an avenue for students to experience how scientists study and develop solutions to environmental problems.

This course deals with the principles of infrastructure planning in developing countries, with a focus on appropriate and sustainable technologies for water and sanitation. It also incorporates technical, socio-cultural, public health, and economic factors into the planning and design of water and sanitation systems. Upon completion, students will be able to plan simple, yet reliable, water supply and sanitation systems for developing countries that are compatible with local customs and available human and material resources. Graduate and upper division students from any department who are interested in international development at the grassroots level are encouraged to participate in this interdisciplinary subject.
Acknowledgment
This course was jointly developed by Earthea Nance and Susan Murcott in Spring 2006.

This course deals with the principles of infrastructure planning in developing countries, with a focus on appropriate and sustainable technologies for water and sanitation. It also incorporates technical, socio-cultural, public health, and economic factors into the planning and design of water and sanitation systems. Upon completion, students will be able to plan simple, yet reliable, water supply and sanitation systems for developing countries that are compatible with local customs and available human and material resources. Graduate and upper division students from any department who are interested in international development at the grassroots level are encouraged to participate in this interdisciplinary subject.
Acknowledgment
This course was jointly developed by Earthea Nance and Susan Murcott in Spring 2006.