REVIEWS


posters in different languages. It gives students the opportunity to display their understanding of the signal words that identify a product as hazardous. For those students whose first language is not Eng- lish, the signs they make are a helpful tool for their families to learn about common household products that may pose dangers to them or the environment. A third aspect of Levine’s unit on household hazardous waste raises awareness of bioaccumulation of chemicals as an example of the law of conservation of matter. Spitze, Thompson, and Levine are


among the hundreds of teachers in King County that have taken the Hazards on the Homefront workshop sponsored by the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program (LHWMP). From the training, teachers learn how easy it is to integrate this real-life subject into their existing curricu- lum and stimulate interest in science among their students. The training gives teachers the background information to recognize hazardous products and the various ways that we are exposed to them. It also in- cludes hands-on activities that teach about safer alternatives to hazardous products and provides time to observe and practice experiments that demonstrate the effect of household hazardous products on water quality, soil, plants and human health. Levine says, “Creating a sustainable


context for science content is paramount in educating students to understand that sci- ence is at the heart of contemporary society. The Hazards on the Homefront curriculum offers avenues to engage my students as they apply their content knowledge to real world water quality issues. One parent even commented that she was thrilled that her daughter was learning about safer chemical alternatives and on her way to making her own well-informed decisions.”


All of these concepts are contained


in the Hazards on the Homefront teacher guide, a set of lessons developed by LHWMP in 1994, and recently revised in 2009 in collaboration with the Washington Department of Ecology with funding from EPA, Region 10. Funding also covered a teacher training workshop in each of four other counties in Washington. The guide aligns with the current state science standards and received high ratings from as supplementary material from the Wash- ington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. For teachers unable to attend a workshop, the guide has been made available on the Washington Department of


Page 58


Ecologywebsite. LHWMP has nearly completed revis- -6th


ing the 4th grade version of Hazards


on the Homefront. This version builds the lessons around the Pacific Treefrog and how its survival relies on a habitat safe from the harmful effects of chemicals.


Just north of Seattle in the Shoreline


School District, Lisa Chen uses an activity in the guide that demonstrates the effect of household hazardous waste on groundwa- ter. The activity is also used by the district’s fifth grade teachers as part of their expanded FOSS Environ- ments Kit. The activity addresses the following elementary grade level expectations for Washington students: · Conduct or critique an experiment,


noting when the experiments might not be fair because some of the things that might change the outcome are not kept the same. · Gather, record, and organize data


using appropriate units, tables, graphs or maps. · Create a simple model to represent an


event, system, or process. White sand is poured into three plastic


cups. Powdered drink mix is added to one cup, sugar is added to another, and nothing is added to the third cup. By turns, the surface of each cup is given ten pumps of water from a spray bottle. Students observe and record the movement of the added sub- stance every 20 seconds for two minutes. The whole procedure is repeated two more times. Students discuss what the powdered drink mix and sugar represent, and also


consider the purpose of the cup to which nothing was added. An extension to this activity is to test


“Incorporating Hazards on the Homefront into our existing


elementary curriculum has made science more relevant to students’ everyday lives and made them think


about the impact their decisions have on the environment as well as their own health,” says Chen.


the effect of a household hazardous product on the height of plants. Adding small quantities of a different product to each of three terrariums (manipulated variable), measuring the growth of plants over time (responding variable), and comparing the results to a terrarium to which no product was added (control) is an easy set-up for the classroom. Common household products to use are flea pow- der, dishwater deter- gent, and window cleaner. At the end of the activity, stu- dents complete their investigative plans, describing their materials, prediction, procedure, and how the data supports their conclusion.


The lessons in the guide engage


students and have a real impact on their lives, giving them practical skills they can use the rest of their lives. The lessons can stand alone or be taught as a unit and are easy to incorporate into a teacher’s existing curriculum. Science teachers have included lessons on household hazardous products within the context of watershed health, soil studies, salmon habitat and general ecol- ogy. Health teachers have used activities in the guide that help students consider their exposure to hazardous products and under- stand how to reduce their risk by choos- ing safer products. Family and consumer science teachers have found the lessons to be relevant to purchasing decisions that affect family and pet health. Because many of the most hazardous products are used in woodworking, auto maintenance and home repair, technical and career education teachers have found the lessons to be useful in guiding students on proper selection, use, storage and disposal of these products to protect their health and safety. Even language arts, social studies and art teach- ers have found ways to use these lessons in their classrooms. For specific examples of how teachers have integrated household hazardous waste topics into their subject matter, visit the King County website. LHWMP has also developed adapta-


A student conducts an experiment to test the effect of dishwashing liquid on aquatic plants.


www.clearingmagazine.org/online


tions of some of the lessons in the guide for use in teaching English Language Learners to recognize household hazardous prod- ucts. These lessons cover label reading,


CLEARING 2010


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