• Students will develop a basic understanding of the issues surrounding lead poisoining.  Specifically they will learn:
  
  • the health effects of lead poisoning
  • primary sources of lead and how it enters the body
  • roles federal and state agencies play in establishing laws and lead poisoning prevention programs
  • lead laws and how government agencies oversee and enforce t
  
  Assessment
  

  Students will be assessed on the completion of the following:

  • "L" in a K-W-L chart (role-govern-lead-KWL.doc)
  • in-class worksheet students will fill in throughout the lesson (role-govern-lead-studentworksheet.doc); two parts (one for each day)
    
  • short essay assessment at end of lesson (role-government-lead-assessment.doc)
    
  
  
  

Per class

• computer connected to Internet and LCD projector
  
• EPA-eliminationplan2000 - PDF file
    (View)
• role-government-lead-standards  (View)
• role-govern-lead-teacherresources  (View)
• role-govern-lead-teacheranswerkey
  AnswerKey for student worksheet.
    (View)
• role-government-lead-health-laws
  Power Point presentation
  Day 1 - Lead Poisoning Overview
  Day 2 - Government
    (View)
• role-govt-lead-assess-teacheranswerkey
  AnswerKey to student assessment
    (View)
• • clear container that holds approx. 2 1/2 gallons of water
  • clear container that holds approx. one quart
  • red food coloring
  
  
  

Per student team/group of 4

• flip chart paper, markers
  
• role-govt-lead-studentgroups-handout  (View)

Per Student

• role-govern-lead-KWL  (View)
• role-govern-lead-SHmoreinfo  (View)
• role-govern-lead-studentworksheet
  Student worksheet - 2 parts
    (View)
• role-govt-lead-assessment
  Final Assessment
    (View)

• lead-based paint - paint or other surface coatings that contain more than 0.50% (1/2 percent) lead by weight or more than 0.7 milligram per square centimeter as measured by the x-ray flourescence method
• person at risk - child under the age of six years or a pregnant woman; both are particularly vulnerable to lead-based paint hazards.
• lead hazard reduction - reduction or elimination of lead-based paint hazards
• blood lead level - a measure of lead in the blood; > 10 mcg/dl is considered a level of concern by the CDC

Set-up Directions:

You will need the following materials:

• Computer connected to an LCD projector and Internet access
• Lead Prevention presentation (role-government-lead-health-laws.ppt) loaded onto the computer; use Slides 1-22 for Day 1.
• Any posters or brochures you have ordered set up around the room (see list of recommended resources in role-government-lead-teacherresources.doc)
• Clear container that can hold up to 2 1/2 gallons of water; one clear container that can hold up to a quart; red food coloring
  
• Optional - a variety of consumer productions, some of which contain lead:  cosmetics, can of paint, candy, an old pipe, jewelry, hair dye, child's toy, etc.

Make enough copies of the the following:

• KWL chart (role-government-lead-KWL.doc)
• Student Worksheet (role-govern-lead-studentworksheet.doc)

Distribute KWL Chart and Student worksheet to students at the beginning of the lesson.

Draw a large KWL chart on the board, or have a blank electronic copy projected on the screen.

Teacher Presentation & Motivation:
Begin by having a class discussion about what students know in general about lead, lead poisoning, health effects, and government responsibilities. Students can fill in the Know section of the KWL chart as you guide the discussion and have them fill in the appropriate category. Show some of the products you've brought in (if you've done so) and ask students which ones they think might contain lead.  If they're not sure, direct them to fill in the W-What I Want to Know portion of their chart.  Note, they shouldn't just fill in what they want to know about lead sources, but everything they want to know about lead poisoning.

Continue to move through the various categories, guiding students to talk about what they know and want to know. 

Tell students that lead poisoning is very dangerous and unfortunately common in certain groups of people.  Tell students that for the next two days they will explore issues around lead poisoning, and the various roles government agencies play in lead poisoning prevention. Segue into presentation.

Activity 1 - Lead Poisoning Overview
Using the notes provided directly in the PowerPoint presentation (role-government-lead-health-law.ppt) guide students through Day 1 of the presentation (slides 1-22) and faciltiate a conversation.  Make the lesson as interactive as possible, discussing with students the topics and issues to ensure understanding.  Ask probing questions throughout the presentation, and direct students to complete the worksheet as the class collectively discusses the answers.

When showing slide #6 (how lead affects children and adults differently), and to illustrate what >10mcg/dl means, do the following with the clear containers:

1. Explain that the large clear container represents approximately the amount of blood in an adult who weighs 160 pounds.  Measure 10 mcg/dl of red food coloring and drop it into the water.  Note that the water turns pink
2.  Next drop the same amount of food coloring into the smaller container and explain that the quart represents the approximate amount of blood in a small child (around age 2).  Note that the water is darker, illustrating how the same amount of lead is more harmful to a young child because they have less blood; the concentration of lead is greater.

Another way to illustrate the idea of how much 10 mcg/dl is:

• tell students to imagine pouring 5000 2-liter soda bottles of water into a small square swimming pool measuring 3.16 meters on each side, and 1 meter deep (approx. 10.5 ft x 3 ft deep), filling it to the brim.  
  
• Dissolve ten 100-milligram aspirin tablets into the water.  The water in the pool now contains 10 mcg/dl of aspirin.  The water represents the blood in the body and the aspirin represents the lead.

Wrap Up:

Wrap up the lesson by asking students why they think lead poisoning should be of concern to them.  Where might they go for help or to learn more?  Since it's a preventable disease, ask students who should take responsibility for lead poisoning prevention?

Tell students that tomorrow they will investigate the roles that some agencies play in helping to prevent lead poisoning.

Note, if you end early and have extra time, continue with Day 2.

Set-up Directions:
You will need the following materials:

• Flip chart paper and markers (enough for each student group)
• Computer connected to LCD projector and Internet access
• Lead Poisoning Presentation, slides 23-43 (role-government-lead-health-law.ppt)

Make enough copies of the following:

• Executive Summary of the Maryland Elimination Plan (page 3); one per student
• List of government agencies for Student Groups (role-government-lead-studentgroups.doc)
• Slides 24, 25, 26, 32, 33 for students (charts to help with Final Assessment).
  

Make sure students have Part 2 of their Student Worksheet.

Optionally, pre-assign student groups for brainstorming activity. There will be five groups.  Depending upon class size, each group might have 4-7 students.

Begin with Day 2 slide (#23).


Teacher Presentation & Motivation:
Review with students what they learned on Day 1 about the dangers of lead poisoning.  Ask again who might have responsibility for lead poisoning prevention.
Segue into Day 2 (slide #23) of the presentation.  Tell students they will need to continue to fill in their worksheet during the discussion.


Activity 1 - History of Lead Poisoning
Show slides 24, 25, 26.  See teacher notes directly in presentation. Topics:

• Lead poisoning history
• US was slow to respond to dangers
• Changing definition of lead poisoning (1970-91) went from >60 mcg/DL to >10 mcg/DL
• Correlation between ban of lead based paint and gasoline to significant reduction in blood lead levels
  

Activity 2 - Student Groups: Brainstorming
Slides 27-28

Emphasize that government regulations have made tremendous strides in reducing the number of children who have lead poisoning.  But, approximately 1/2 million children per year still have lead poisoning.

Assign students to one of the five groups (either pre-assigned or random).

• Federal (CDC, EPA, HUD)
• State (MDE, MD Lead Commission)

Distribute Student Group handout (role-govern-lead-studentgroups.doc) and review the various government agencies.  Do not discuss at this point their responsibilities for lead poisoning prevention. Provide each group with flip chart paper and markers to take notes.

Have students brainstorm in their groups for about 10-15 minutes what they would do if they had responsibility for eliminating lead poisoning.  Have them consider:

• What is the problem, and why does your agency have to do something about it?
• What are the goals your agency should try to achieve?  Be specific in terms of time frame and numbers.  Also, be realistic; what can you expect people to really do?
• What are the ways in which your goals can be achieved?
  

Activity 3 - Government Agencies and Laws
The remainder of the lesson uses slides 29-43 to cover the various government agencies and their roles in lead poisoning prevention.  Discussion topics and teacher notes are provided directly in the presentation.  As you discuss the topics, you should also visit the links provided to the various websites for more detailed information.

Take note in particuar, on Slide #29 (Continued Role of the Government), the first link goes to the EPA's elimination plan, a separate presentation in the form of a PDF file.  Showing this presentation helps to establish context for the federal government's elimination plan and need for subsequent state plans. 

For Slide #36 - Class Discussion on Maryland's Elimination Plan, you will need to distribute the Executive Summary (page 3 of the plan) for student review and discussion.

--------------------------------------
Modification of slide #29

• if you have access to a computer lab and have an extra day for student research, have students conduct research on their assigned agency and report to the class the role of the agency.

Wrap Up:
To wrap up the lesson, ask students if they think Maryland will achieve it's mission by 2010. Why or why not?  What factors might contribute to a successful mission?

For homework or the next day, distribute the essay questions (role-govt-lead-assessment.doc) in order to assess understanding.  Following the assessment, also collect the KWL Chart and student worksheet.

Distribute to students the handout on where they can go for more information (role-govern-lead-SHmoreinfo.doc).